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If you are neutral in situations of injustice,

you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral,

the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

This informs how we understand our role as journalists and humans.

Conversations From the Open Road is a Road-Trip to experience our world in a meaningful way.

We are a student journalism, digital media crew probing the challenging issues and individual stories in our communities.

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We listen to and learn from people on the front lines of injustice.

HERE IS THE FINAL TRACK OF STUDENT SHORTS FROM 2019/2020

Envisioning Justice and Tiny Homes for Neighbors in Need

To remind you that there's far more happening than the deep listening and learning, here's our tribute to the friendships we build:

Tiny House Crew

Envisioning Justice Crew

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We would be grateful to you for any donation you offer to our scholarship fund.

CLICK HERE:

Digital Magazine

to learn a bit more of who we are!

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Since

Since 2014, 3-5 crews each summer have hit the road as strangers and return bonded by the shared compassion for

all who we met along the way and a deeper understanding of the struggles

in our world.

It’s a road trip in the truest sense of the word: we thrive in the unknown and

have little interest in indulging in the luxuries of tourism, but instead seek the

comradery and fellowship with lots of other humans on this wild journey through life at this moment.

In Brief:

6 Open and Interested High School Students, from Vermont

1 or 2 College Students

2 Charming Leaders ( A Once Secondary Education Teacher and a Freelance Film/Audio Professional)

9 Creative and Collaborative Geniuses

9 open and humble minds.

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10-14 days on the road

2 mini- vans, a collection of media equipment, and sleeping bags.

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This is a Citizen-Journalism, StoryCorps-inspired investigation;

Culminating in a collection of Documentary, Mixed-Media Shorts,

reflecting the various threads of a place and its people.

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We start with a concern and question, then road-trip to the communities on the front lines.

We learn from local people, experts in the field, and relevant organizations.

ALWAYS enjoying adventures from the local landscape.

Each student creates a documentary short, which becomes part of our collection shown at school and community presentations and film festivals around Vermont.

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We will help to facilitate the process of earning credit from a student's host school, if desired.

THANK YOU to Vermont Folklife Center, for their collaboration and non-profit sponsorship of our program

Our Philosophy:

* Our FIRST priority is to listen and appreciate each person with an open heart and mind.

* We believe that learning from and listening to people is the cornerstone of a compassionate understanding of our world.

* Learning through Experience and natural context endures.

* We all learn with and from each other. 'Student Voice' is the minimum and starting point of what we intend to cultivate.

* Sharing a reciprocal and relational moment with strangers, in order to weave a closer, better humanity is transformative.

* There is no single story, to any person and place. We are not shaping a documentary, but a collection of mixed-media shorts that reflect our experience of the complexity of a place, people and this moment.

* We are NOT looking for answers, but rather the humanity within every struggle and inspiration.

* Being a Citizen requires empathy, gained in knowledge and experience of the issues effecting our community.

* Genuine Knowledge comes from probing the complexity within every issue.

* Traveling, creating and learning collaboratively is an electric experience, and worth more than an individual pursuit.

* It is time to be Content-Creators, not just passive recipients of knowledge.

* CFTOR embodies a way to educate that directly challenges the 2 traps of our current pedagogy: silos of knowledge and the segemented schedule.

About Us:

We have worked in education and/or radio journalism and film for a decade. We haved joined our efforts to start this program in order to combine what we love: working with young adults, collaborative creation, expression through film, wrestling with current and relevant issues, and experiencing the varying geographies and cultures within our country.

Contact Info

conversationsfromtheopenroad@gmail.com

mary.beth.simons@gmail.com