Youth Communication Celebrates
25 Years of True Teen Stories
by Teens for Teens about Teens

Event featured works by New York City teen writers and the
debut of a short film executive-produced by award-winning
documentary producer Ric Burns

On January 18, Youth Communication celebrated its 25th anniversary with live performances and a short film executive-produced by esteemed documentary filmmaker Ric Burns. The sold-out event, held at Symphony Space located on 95th Street and Broadway in New York City, featured performances highlighting the ground-breaking work and writing cultivated by this acclaimed New York City youth organization.

Professional actors offered moving dramatizations of stories published over the last 25 years in Youth Communication's award-winning magazines, New Youth Connections, distributed to students at nearly 250 New York City public schools, and Represent, read in group homes, foster homes, and child welfare agencies nationwide. Performances of true-life stories include "They Called Me 'Crack Baby'" by Antwaun Garcia, who overcame the stigma and taunts of having been born to a drug-addicted mother, learned to read at 10, and is working on his Associates Degree at LaGuardia Community College; "Who is Bönz Malone?" by the alum turned actor/writer/producer whose film credits include Slam, winner of the 1998 Sundance Prize for Best Feature and the just-released "On the Outs"; and "Bum-rushed by my Past", by 17-year-old Natasha Santos, who was recently adopted after having spent six years in foster care.

The stories were adapted for the stage by director Tamilla Woodward, a graduate of Yale School of Drama, and by dramaturg Sharahn LaRue McClung.

The film, Changing Lives, One Story at a Time, follows Garcia and Santos working on stories at Youth Communication to find their voices as writers and be heard. In addition to Burns, the film was produced by Marilyn Ness and Amy Brown.

Many authors that make up the impressive Youth Communication alumni were first published by Youth Communication while in high school: They include:

• National Book Award finalist Edwidge Danticat.
• Newsday Middle East Bureau Chief Mohamad Bazzi.
•Former New York Times South Africa Bureau Chief
Rachel Swarns.
• Daily News editorial board member Lion Calandra.
•Novelists and writers James Earl Hardy, Ernesto Quiñonez, and Veronica Chambers

"We feel both proud and privileged to have played such an important role in the lives of the thousands of teens who have participated in our program," said publisher, executive director and founder Keith Hefner, who won the prestigious MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship for his work in journalism and youth development.

Youth Communication magazines and books have won dozens of awards, including the Coming Up Taller award from the President's Council on the Arts and the Humanities for being one of the best youth programs in the nation and the Judges' Award for overall excellence from the Association of Educational Publishers.

For more information about Youth Communication's impact on teen writers and teen readers call Loretta Chan at 212-279-0708 x. 115.

EDITOR'S NOTE: PHOTOS AVAILABLE