Madison Civics Club Youth Grants recognized the Sun Prairie Media Center KIDS-4 program and the Simpson Street Free Press.

KIDS-4 of the Sun Prairie Media Center was selected for its proposal to continue to educate fourth through eighth graders in media literacy and video-production technology. With the $1,000 grant awarded by the Madison Civics Club plus matching funds, another video-production workstation will be added.

Here is the acceptance speech given by Grace Richmond on behalf of KIDS-4.

My name is Grace Richmond and I am 13 years old. I have been in KIDS-4 for 3 years. KIDS-4 is a program that teaches kids media literacy. Students who participate in KIDS-4 are taught how to use video equipment to produce programming for the KIDS-4 TV channel. Each week students create fun and creative skits at KIDS-4. Also, participants volunteer their time to go out into the community to film current events. Sun Prairie Media Center is the home of the KIDS-4 program.

The grant money that we receive from the Madison Civics Club will be used to purchase new equipment for Sun Prairie Media Center and KIDS-4. The new equipment will feature video editing software that will be offered to community members. Specifically, this equipment will allow a new chapter to be added to the KIDS-4 curriculum, this chapter will be called “Digital Editing”. Students like myself will be able to develop digital video projects on the equipment and incorporate them into our work at KIDS-4.

I go back to KIDS-4 every year because it is a way for me to express myself with improv acting and filming, but one area I don’t know much about is digital editing. I look forward to learning the new equipment at KIDS-4 this year.

I consider it amazing and a privilege that we have the KIDS-4 program in Sun Prairie. So - from me, and all the kids in KIDS-4, thank you for supporting our great program.

Rachel Packard, Program Coordinator at Sun Prairie Media Center and Advisor to KIDS-4;
Jessi Gerg, KIDS-4 Assistant, Sun Prairie High School;
Frederica Freyberg, public affairs speaker, WHA-TV;
Grace Richmond, student speaker for KIDS-4, Patrick Marsh Middle School, Sun Prairie

Madison Civics Club Co-Chair Laura McFadden, Grace Richmond, speaker for KIDS-4, Frederica Freyberg, host of WPT's Here and Now, Jessi Gerg, KIDS-4 assistant, Sun Prairie High School, Kristi Williams, MCC Co-Chair (with check!)

Jessi Gerg, Gwen Ifill, Grace Richmond, and Rachel Packard

The Simpson Street Free Press was selected for the newspaper's proposal to fund the hiring of editors and writers in order to increase the online presence of the Simpson Street Free Press, one of the nation’s outstanding after-school programs, so honored in 2008 at the White House.

Adaeze Okoli spoke on behalf of the Simpson Street Free Press. Here is a copy of her remarks.

My name is Adaeze Okoli, I am a senior at Middleton High School, and I am the Assistant Editor at Simpson Street Free Press. I would like to say thank you to the Madison Civics Club for recognizing our work and choosing to support us. Your generous donation will allow us to hire two additional high school high-school age editors. As our readership expands, so too does our need for qualified writers and editors. Your donation will help me do my job and reach young people throughout Dane County.

At the Simpson Street Free Press, that's what we're about: writing, research, and core subject academics. Science is cool and history is fun, and if you want to go to college you need to know how to write well. We are proud, you stand with us as we spread these messages and work to bridge the achievement gap. Thank you Madison Civics Club.

MCC member Joanne Cantor and Aarushi Agni, Assistant Editor/Teacher at Simpson Street Free Press.

Simpson Street Free Press staff with Frederica Freyberg. Aarush Agni, Assistant Editor/Teacher; Alex Lee (West High freshman), Writer; Adaezi Okoli (Middleton High senior), Senior Teen Editor; Deidre Green, Managing Editor; Frederica Freyberg (host of WPT's Here and Now), Pallav Regmi (Hamilton Middle School 8th grader), Writer; Kristi Williams, MCC Co-Chair, Taylor Kilgore (LaFollette High junior), Teen Editor; Laura McFadden, MCC Co-Chair. 

Simpson Street Free Press Editors and Writers with guest speaker Gwen Ifill.
Alex Lee, Pallav Reemi, Deidre Green, Aarushi Agni, Gwen Ifill, Adaeze Okoli, Amira Caire, and Taylor Kilgore 

Adaeze Okoli, Gwen Ifill, Grace Okoli (Adaeze's mom)