Summer program at UA teaches foster teens about social work careers, service
Al.com – June 21
A program in its second year at the University of Alabama is teaching teens in foster care about careers in social work and giving them the opportunity to work in the community with local agencies. Sebrena Jackson, founder and program director of National Social Work Enrichment Program, said the six-week program gives high school students from across Alabama an opportunity to be exposed to college life and teaches them about social work as a potential college major and career. “A key component is our partnership with local agencies, where the students get an opportunity to actually have a work experience, a paid internship or volunteer experience for the summer so they can be exposed to different populations where social workers serve,” Jackson said. Agencies where students have been serving include The Arc, Tuscaloosa One Place, the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, Phoenix House and West Alabama AIDS Outreach. At last year’s camp, students worked with the Tuscaloosa Volunteer Reception Center and other agencies to help to provided services to tornado victims. The students, who moved into dorms on June 4 for the camp, are also learning skills including personal finance and leadership.
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 21
NBC 12 (Montgomery) – June 21
‘Brave’ debuts Pixar’s first female protagonist
Tuscaloosa News – June 22
There’s been a lot of buzz about “Brave,” the new Disney/Pixar movie that opens in theaters today, about a rebellious Scottish princess. Pixar has been making feature-length movies since 1995’s “Toy Story,” and each release since then has landed among the 50 highest-grossing animated films. But there’s one huge difference that separates this new release from the other movies Pixar has made over the last 17 years: “Brave” is the first with a female lead character…“What has worked in the past for women has been the melodrama where something happens to her, or the princess story where she’s just looking for love,” said Kristen Warner, an assistant professor in the department of telecommunication and film at the University of Alabama. “It’s so hard for women to get these rare parts where she’s not searching for love because it is very much a male-dominated industry.” “During test screenings, they use quadrants each containing men, women, teens and older people,” Warner said. “A movie that is well received in all four quadrants is something they that they think can be successful.”