Invitation to Teens to Create Content

In the Lab, students will:

💡 Design and lead their own creative projects

🎙 Learn how to record, edit, and publish podcasts

🎥 Create short-form documentaries and videos

📱 Explore social media storytelling

🧠 Build media literacy and critical thinking skills

🤝 Work in teams and connect with the local community

Program Focus by Semester

• Spring 2026:
  Media literacy, audio production, storytelling, and podcasting

• Fall 2026:
  Audio skills plus video production and short-form storytelling

Each semester blends hands-on studio time with guided workshops, creative challenges, and real-world media practices.

The Content Creation Lab is a youth-led creative space where students can:

• Try new ideas
• Collaborate with peers
• Learn by doing
• Explore issues they care about
• Share their voices through media

We believe teens learn best when they are empowered to ask questions, solve problems, and create meaningful work. The Lab encourages students to look at their own communities as sources of stories, inspiration, and discovery.

The Content Creation Lab is more than a class—it’s a creative community.
Here, students can:

• Experiment without fear
• Build confidence and communication skills
• Develop leadership and teamwork
• Discover new career pathways in media and storytelling

As the Lab grows, it will also serve as a space for innovation—testing new ways of teaching youth media and sharing those approaches with educators and communities across Illinois.

The Content Creation Lab is a partnership between:

• Department of Media and Cinema Studies and the College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Illinois Community Media Project
• Illinois Public Media

The Lab is supported by a grant from the College of Media and draws on the professional facilities and mentorship at Illinois Public Media.

Together, we are building a program that reflects the spirit of Boldly Illinois—reimagining how a public university can serve, connect with, and empower its communities.

At the heart of the Content Creation Lab are three core commitments:

Collaboration. Inclusion. Empowerment.

These values guide how we teach, create, and grow—ensuring every student feels seen, supported, and inspired to share their story.

The Content Creation Lab is a hands-on media studio designed to help high school students build real-world skills in communication, storytelling, critical thinking, and collaboration. Students can easily participate in the program as it fits in with their schedule and to the level that works with their interests.

The Content Creation Lab will operate for a series of weekends each semester on Saturdays. For Spring 2026, workshops will be held on April 4, April 11, and April 25 from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. There is no cost for participation, but attendees must register for each session; space is limited. 

Based at Illinois Public Media, the Lab provides a safe, structured, and inspiring environment where teens learn how media works—and how to use it responsibly. Students are guided by trained undergraduate and graduate mentors and supported by professional media producers in state-of-the-art podcast and production studios.

Through podcasting, audio storytelling, video, and digital media projects, students gain:

• Confidence in speaking and presenting
• Technical skills in recording, editing, and storytelling
• Media literacy and critical thinking
• Teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving experience

Most importantly, the Lab helps students discover their voice and see how their ideas can matter in their community. Whether your teen is college-bound, creatively curious, or exploring future careers, the Content Creation Lab offers meaningful, future-ready learning.