The McCormick Foundation - Education Development Center & C-JAM Educator Equipment Fund

The Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), through its new Chicago Journalism, Art and
Media Project (C-JAM), is pleased to announce the creation of the C-JAM Educator
Equipment Fund. The goal of this fund, sponsored by the McCormick Foundation’s Journalism
Program, is to help educators gain access to the technology they need to better integrate
journalism and media making into learning. The fund was previously known as the Chicago
Youth Media Technology Fund and was administered by Roosevelt University’s
Communications Department.

This initiative grows out of the McCormick Foundation’s commitment to youth media and news
literacy work both inside and outside of schools. Equipment package grants are intended to
further Chicago-area educators’ use of media with young people (for news gathering,
interviewing, documentary, community exploration, etc.) both in schools and community-based
settings.

The grants are available as equipment packages and interested applicants can select the
package that best matches their needs and project ideas. Potential applicants are educators
who currently incorporate media production in their classrooms or in their youth programs (for
example, to produce audio podcasts on community issues or videos on the environment).
The three equipment packages are:
• Video Production
• Audio Production
• Print/Photo/Graphic Production & Design

The C-JAM project team and advisory committee with education, journalistic, and youth media
expertise will determine awards based on the stated need and compelling nature of the
application. The project team may follow up with further questions. Technology awarded
through this program will be for the use of the applicant but will become the property of the
school or nonprofit where applicants work.
Winning educators will join a community of like-minded educators from across the metropolitan
area for on-going professional development to support their integration of media making.
Activities will include workshops on production techniques, digital/news literacy, curriculum
development, etc. Participating educators will have access to an online community to request
assistance, post related events, connect with peers in their vicinity and other networking
opportunities.

For more information please visit: http://cjam.edc.org
Deadline for this round of grant applications is March 21, 2011.

About C-JAM
The Chicago Journalism, Arts & Media project (C-JAM) is a new initiative to support
educators in the greater Chicago area who are integrating media making experiences into their
instruction. C-JAM intends to develop a community of practice of like-minded educators that
together explores and advances journalism, digital art, and media making as strategies for youth
engagement, civic participation, and academic enhancement.