Preparing for the Future

Youth Communication provides Chicago area youth with multi-media vehicles to voice their ideas and discover their talents. Arts exhibitions and performances culminate in an annual Youth Communication Arts Festival.

Our organization, Youth Communication Chicago is a non-profit agency with an active 501(c) status; Federal Employer Identification Number: 36-2894281.

Celebrating 50 years serving youth.

Founded 1976

YCC

YOUTH LED MEDIA AND ARTS!

Journalism   -   Teen Newspaper   -   Arts Workshops   -   Mentoring Programs   -   Annual Arts Festival

YOUTH MUST BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD!

Youth Communication is a youth-led media organization that was founded in Chicago in 1976 by Sister Ann Heinze to facilitate positive teen self expression and emotional development through journalism and the publishing of a teen newspaper titled New Expression. Today our services are expanding to include Arts Integration programs and an annual teen-run Arts Festival. Youth Communication in Chicago, YCC shares teen perspectives and accomplishments with their community to foster understanding, empathy and celebration.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION

The Youth Communication Chicago Collection dates from 1997 to 2010 in 8.44 cubic feet (12 boxes). The collection strength lies in the complete run of New Expression, the YCC publication from 1977 to 2010. Other collection material includes negatives, proof sheets, information sheets, and photographs produced for articles and a small amount of office files containing manuals and other paperwork.

YCC helps teens develop their full potential through teen journalism and arts integration programs that inspire them to succeed in school, work, and community. YCC’s programs are grounded in the belief that reading, writing, and the arts stimulate the imagination and contribute to emotional healing, self actualization, and constructive and compassionate communities. 

OUR HISTORY

A federal study on the state of high school journalism conducted in 1974 found that urban minority students were underrepresented and did not have a strong voice. These findings caused Sister Ann Heintz, a Chicago school teacher, to establish Youth Communication, a non-profit organization, in 1976. Now known as Youth Communication Chicago (YCC), the organization continues to serve urban

high school journalists by offering a forum in which to be heard and has worked with more than 3,750

Chicago students since it was founded.

The Chicago high school journalists research, contribute, write, and edit articles to produce the news publication, New Expression, that reports on current events, issues, college and career news, business, entertainment and sports. The publication is circulated throughout the Chicago-land area and is available at high schools and other locations.

For its early years, New Expression was funded by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, Urban Dynamics/Inner City Fund, Leo Burnett USA, and the Continental Bank Foundation.

"Youth must be heard and understood. The expression and sharing of their experiences, concerns, and solutions is critical to their ability to shape their present and future worlds. Youth Communication provides Chicago area youth with mass media vehicles to voice their ideas" is the organization's mission.

OUR PROGRAMS

1) Core Writing Program: Professional journalists and editors work with teens to produce true stories about the most important issues in their lives. In those stories, the writers show how they used social and emotional competencies to manage challenges and achieve their goals.

2) Publishing Program: The teens' stories are published in New Expression print and online Magazine. Select stories are later republished in themed anthologies.

3) Arts Integration Program: Elements of the teens’ stories are explored through artistic disciplines including: visual arts, music, dance, theater, architecture, photography, fashion and filmmaking, in small class sizes and one on one mentorship programs. Teens learn to engage their senses and wire their brains for successful learning while enhancing their emotional well-being, motor and social skills.

4) Arts Festival Program: Teens produce an Annual Youth Communication Arts Festival to share their achievements with family, friends and community. Through the experience of dignified co-creation, teens inspire other teens to explore personal issues with creative tools, focusing on empowered self expression. The festival fosters inclusive communities which affirm identity, cross-cultural understanding, and peace while awakening a passion and appreciation for academics, the arts and life long learning.

LET'S CONNECT

Our organization, Youth Communication Chicago is a non-profit agency with an active 501(c) status; Federal Employer Identification Number: 36-2894281.