MMT2015 - Medill Media Teens

Spring 2015
ABOUT OUR
PROGRAM
On one end, we have a sociallyconscious group of mentors
who study journalism at
Northwestern University’s
Medill School. On the other, a
group of smart, motivated teens
from the Gary Comer Youth
Center. Amazing things happen
when we come together:
We create multimedia. We study journalism.
We laugh and have great fun!
Our teens get one-on-one
guidance from some of the
best journalism students in
the country.
Our mentors get to be big
brothers and sisters to teens that
teach us a lot about life.
Our goal is to help our teens
become better candidates for
jobs or college admissions.
They will graduate from
the two-year program with
the skills, equipment and
confidence they need to produce
multimedia. Even if they decide
not to study journalism in
college, our teens will leave this
program knowing that they
can do anything they put their
minds to.
Gianina Cottrell and Abbey Kutlas take a selfie at “The Bean” in MillenniumPark.
ABBEY’S OUTDOOR
ADVENTURES
By Gianina Cottrell
First-year teen
Have you ever asked your
parents what was the origin of
your name? It’s probably one
of the most important things
that makes a person an different
from everyone else. Abbey
Kutlas recalled that her name
was given to her by her bookenthusiastic parents.
“I was named after an author,”
she said. “His name was
Edward Abbey.”
This author was known for his
books about environmentalism, a
subject that Kutlas’ father, being
an outdoorsman, is passionate
about.
“He [Kutlas’ father] was inspired
by Abbey in a lot of ways,” she
claimed. “My dad rafted the
Grand Canyon twice and we go
backpacking a lot.”
Throughout her childhood,
Kutlas can recall numerous times
she bonded with her father, while
doing many outdoor activities.
They mostly left her mother
behind, since she was more of an
inside person.” She doesn’t want
to go anywhere she can’t plug in
her hairdryer,” she joked.
Since Kutlas lived in Nebraska,
which is basically in the middle
of the country, it was easier to
take road trips to different places
to do outdoor activities. She
recalls all the trips her father took
her on as a child. “We went to
Rocky Mountain National Park
in Colorado, Arches National
Park, and Canyonlands National
Park in Utah, the Grand Canyon,
Yosemite National Park in
California, Mesa Verde and
rafting in the Green, Yampa and
the Colorado Rivers,” she said.
“My dad and I, that was kinda
our thing, because he worked
a lot, so it was usually just my
mom and I at home,” she said.
“I didn’t see him as much in the
week or on the weekend, but it
was like my dad and I’s thing to
go backpacking. He used to call
them Daddy-Abbey dates when I
was younger.”
The quietness of the woods and
the chance to experience nature,
without her electronics, gave her
a good perspective on life and
more insight on who her father
was, who she was and what she
was capable of doing.
You’re probably wondering what
this has to do with her name.
It’s simple really. Your name is
given to you by your parents.
It’s something given to you
that is a reflection of them. It
can represent their hopes and
dreams, or what they believe in,
and are passionate about.
“One of my favorite Edward
Abbey quotes is ‘We need the
possibility of escape as surely
as we need hope.’ I feel like that
escape for me came through the
adventures I have been on with
my father and it’s all thanks to
Edward Abbey.”
From left: Mentor Julia Jacobs, teens Ryan Davis, Diamond Delay, Kanaesha
Barnes-Love and Semaj Lawshe.a
Rip the runway
By Kanaesha Barnes-Love
Second-year teen
sisters rather than being about
fashion”.
Morgan Jackson, a journalism
student at Northwestern
University, loves to dress.
Even though Morgan is not
into fashion, she appreciates the
opportunity to come together and
develop a healthy community at
school.
“My style is kind of eclectic at
times. I find things and buy things
that I like and put it together
before I leave the house,” said
Jackson. She’s not much into
planning, yet her outfits still come
together.
“It feels great and welcoming
especially at Northwestern where,
as a person of color, you often
feel a sense of otherness,” she
said. “It feels good to be around
people you can relate to and be
comfortable with.”
Though she does not consider
herself fashionable, Morgan is
still involved in the fashion world.
Today, she will be a model in an
African clothing fashion show.
Everyone within the fashion
show is connected because
each model wears a piece from
the same fashion designer. The
shows are very unified and can
be an inspiration on someone’s
own style. For Morgan, her
involvement in the shows has an
impact on her stylistic outlook.
“The clothes are not a
representation of myself because
they’re someone else’s,” she said.
“But being in the fashion show is
about being apart of a community
and bonding with my African
(continued on page 4)
Our mentors and teens show off valentines they created for their mentor families.
Chef
Extraordinaire:
Iman Wade
By Pierce Wilks-Rogers
Second-year teen
Gary Comer College Prep senior
Iman Wade is known for his skills
on the basketball court and artistic
capabilities, but in his free time
Wade can be found making new
dishes in the kitchen.
When he was 11 years old,
Wade watched his dad make
Thanksgiving dinner one year.
From there, he started cooking
with his dad and developed a huge
passion for it.
“I feel empowered to make the
masterpiece, and I see cooking as
art,” he said.
Wade is looking for a way to
combine his passion of cooking
and art for a future job. He was
particularly inspired by a visit he
took to an art restaurant where
the chefs drew customers’ faces on
pancakes.
“It was cooking and art in one,”
Wade said. “It’s not just one form
of art. You can use different forms,
and I didn’t know cooking was
one of them.”
His favorite things to cook include
Chinese food, Jerk Chicken, and
his best recipe is Italian chicken.
“[Italian chicken] takes the
longest and everything counts like
mistakes and lots of ingredients,”
Wade said.
He aspires to make the world’s
best pizza with everything on it
one day. “Mostly, I know people
that enjoy pizza, so why not?”
When he cooks, Wade listens
to a variety of music, mostly
instrumental. Glory by Common
is one of his favorite songs to
listen to while cooking.
“It gives me confidence,” he said.
“Say if I’m making a daily meal,
I can add my own mix to it. The
song can motivate me to throw
in what I like and give me better
decisions on what to cook and
how I should cook it.”
Wade received a lot of advice and
tips from his dad about how to
become a better cook.
“When my dad cooked, it was the
best thing ever, and I thought why
could I be like that,” Wade said.
(continued on page 4)
Teen Pierce
Wilks-Roger
and mentor
Katherine
Nagasawa
take a selfie
during class.
RIP THE RUNWAY
from page 2
“To an extent, it may open my
eyes to new styles that maybe
I can incorporate into my own
wardrobe, because my style is not
just one type of style,” she said. “I
can look like a girl one day then a
athlete the next.”
Morgan has a style of her own,
one that comes from within.
Depending on the place or the
feelings of Morgan, that is when
she chooses what to wear. She
dresses how she feels, which is
different from fashion.
Fashion is wearing the latest
and the greatest, and that is not
Morgan.
“When I think of fashion, I think
of people who are into fashion,”
she said. “I don’t necessarily think
of normal people. When I think of
fashion I do not think of myself.”
On a cold winter day, a typical
look for Morgan is black leggings,
a blue cotton v- neck, an Aztec
printed Columbia sweater, her
hair pinned up, long cotton socks
with reindeers, and Timberland
boots.
This emphasizes the fact that
Morgan felt like dressing up to the
weather. This is not considered
fashion because she was not
wearing the latest or greatest
clothing, but she knew that she
still looked presentable.
CHEF
from page 3
Wade is interested in using
his cooking skills to help the
homeless and plans to give back
by giving people in need better
meals than just soup.
“They get small potions of meals,
and I want them to get better
meals,” he said.
In the future, Wade plans
to study art in school while
continuing cooking.
“My dream job would be to play
in the NBA or have my own art
company that makes logos or
become a popular, well-known
chef,” he said.