Walk & Capture Juniors is a creative journey into street photography where young creatives explore the surrounding neighborhood to capture candid moments through their own lens. Together, we’ll walk to the JFK Community Center and Park (an 11-minute walk from our location 500 Seneca St.) on a photo hunt using our digital cameras.

• Along the way, young creatives will learn about the elements of photography such as perspective, composition, and lighting. Upon returning to the GFP suite, they’ll use iPads to edit their favorite photos and create poetic reflections inspired by their chosen images through expressing what they see, feel, and imagine through creative writing.

• In the case of rain, our young creatives will stay inside and explore visual storytelling through the building environment.

*If you have any concerns about this walk feel free to reach out to Aitina Fareed-Cooke at (716) 449-9551

Schedule

• Drop-off: 11:45 AM (earliest)

• Start time: 12:00 PM

• Walk departure: 12:20 PM

• Return to building: 1:15–1:20 PM

• “Shake & Break”: 1:20-1:30PM

• Choosing & editing our top image: 1:30-2:30PM

• Show & Tell: 2:30PM (Parents are welcome to attend!)

• Dismissal: 3PM

Tools We’ll Use:

Camp digital cameras, iPads for editing, pens/pencils, and paper

Why It Helps:

Journeying through our neighborhoods helps us slow down, observe deeply, and appreciate the beauty around us. Photography fosters mindful awareness and helps students build social-emotional connections while nurturing belonging, creativity, and pride in their surroundings.

Social-Emotional Growth:

Students will cultivate care for their environment and community which is the foundation for healthy connection and personal growth.

Special Fokus

• Metaphor connections: Photography as life’s lens. Every image reflects how we see ourselves and our world. Just as a photo can focus on detail or blur distraction, we learn to sharpen our focus on what truly matters.

• Choice and responsibility: Young creatives choose how to frame what they see and take responsibility for capturing respectful, authentic moments while developing decision-making and empathy and honoring others’ spaces.

At-Home Support

• Family Reflection Prompt: Ask your young creative: “What photo from today means the most to you, and why?”

• Simple Challenge: Take a short walk together this week and photograph one thing that makes you feel grateful. Share your images with each other and describe how it connects to your day.

Supervision and Experience

This group will have at least five adults/professionals, maintaining roughly a 2:1 student-to-adult ratio. Among the adults:

• Joshua Cooke: A New York State certified 4th-grade teacher from Southside Elementary

• Aitina Fareed-Cooke: College Professor and has over 20 years of experience working within community driven youth development organizations within leadership roles and as a teaching artist

• Collectively, the adult team brings 40+ years of youth development & educational expertise, ensuring a supportive, safe, and enriching environment.

This series is funded and supported by: Aitina Fareed-Cooke/The Creative Arts Strategist, Get Fokus’d Productions, Youth Time Foundation DAF, & Arts Services Inc.