Success Stories:

Free Spirit Media is always striving for excellence. We are achieving great results in four key areas: student-produced work, student experience, student and youth development, and participant advancement.

Student videos have won numerous prestigious awards, including: the Crystal Pillar ('Student Emmy') for best documentary from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Hometown Video Award for best documentary, outstanding documentary - making a difference, best PSA, and best sports telecast from the National Alliance for Community Media, and various awards at the Future Filmmakers Festival, the Chicago Youth Media Festival, and more.

The educational and experiential opportunities that FSM is making possible help to engage and motivate our participants. From innovative group exercises in the classroom to intense hands-on production projects, students 'learn by doing.' The FSM newsletters linked to this page contain many wonderful stories of student experience and achievement.

Free Spirit Media designs its classes and programs to promote student and youth development around a specific set of skills. These "hard skills," which include the creative and technical skills of media production, and "soft skills," which include the individual and group skills necessary for project work, are tracked with FSM's skill rubric. Students progress from level one ("new at this") to level four ("excellent"). Each level serves as a benchmark of student growth. When students reach level four, they are afforded greater responsibility and independence to produce original work and participate in professional collaborations.

The most important long-term measure of Free Spirit Media’s value is in the advancement of young people into higher education and careers. Almost all of the high school students that FSM works with intend to attend college. Many hope to further their media education by majoring in broadcasting, communications, and journalism. FSM is helping our students to set goals and take the steps necessary to make sure that their college dreams are realized. As most FSM participants will be first-generation college students and come from low-income families and have attended underperforming schools, the challenges are great. Still, recent FSM alumni are finding success at schools including the University of Illinois, Columbia College, Syracuse University, and Clark Atlanta.

FSM has partnered with schools and organizations that share our belief that college is a highly relevant option and important step for the inner city youth we serve. Knowing that the high cost of college is a huge barrier for students from low-income families, FSM has helped students navigate the financial aid process. Along this line, FSM has developed a partnership with Columbia College Chicago, which provides several Open Door scholarships to FSM participants. Beyond college, FSM is helping students develop connections in the professional and independent media production field. Several FSM graduates are now doing freelance video work in Chicago.