YR Media Receives Grant for Initiative to Expand Curriculum Development Integrating Youth-Driven Content that Promotes School Well-Being

Award-winning youth media organization celebrates $600,000+ investment from The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, launching a unique collaboration between teachers and students

OAKLAND – February 9, 2022 – YR Media (formerly Youth Radio) today announces a grant of over $600,000 from The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), a generous investment that will enable the expanded development of YR Media curriculum tools and other learning resources for the organization’s teen and young adult content creators, school practitioners, educators, and leaders who seek to foster positive relationships, a sense of belonging, and cultural identity affirmation in their school communities. Additionally, the investment will support real-time research to track the impact of YR Media’s youth reporting, using youth-made media in classrooms and piloting curricula that integrates youth media to explore issues of identity and belonging in schools.

With this funding, YR Media will grow their education programming with a new editorial series and curriculum that is co-created with teachers and youth. Also, in the coming year, the YR Media team and its intergenerational cohort of educators and students will host a live event featuring youth voices and research findings illuminating the impact of integrating youth media into curriculum to support school well-being. The project will also produce a white paper with the research findings to share with educators, youth and education administrators and policy makers across the nation.

“As we enter the third academic year of pandemic-based schooling, YR Media’s youth-led and co-created curriculum tools continue to be a resource for teachers and students who need classroom content and toolkits that foster better classroom dynamics,” said Kyra Kyles, CEO, YR Media. “This investment from CZI will allow us to expand upon our capacity to deliver on that promise with a high level of impact.”

“We have found that teachers and leaders are hungry for innovative learning materials–particularly those created with students themselves,” added Monica Clark, PhD, Teach YR Director, YR Media. In addition to delivering those resources, we provide  metrics and research exploring the effectiveness of integrating culturally responsive curriculum into the classroom, with a vision toward implementing in school districts at large.” 

For more information on the program, please visit Teach YR. Funding for “Teachable Moments'' was provided by CZI. For more information on YR Media, please visit yr.media. 

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 About YR Media

YR Media, formerly Youth Radio, is an award-winning national network of  diverse young journalists and artists from underrepresented communities who create content for this generation. Headquartered in downtown Oakland, California, our non-profit has spent 25 years helping future generations build crucial skills in journalism, arts and media. We produce journalism, music, graphic design, podcasts and documentaries that disrupt and shape the mainstream narrative.