Bringing Oberlin College and community together through collaborative media-making

Staffed by Oberlin College students, staff, and faculty, Apollo Outreach is dedicated to helping young people tell their stories on both the big and small screen.

From paper-making and theatre games to stop-motion animation and computer-generated special effects, our workshops and residencies give students of all ages hands-on experience with a wide range of media. We transport our media production studio to classrooms around Lorain County, host free events and screenings at the Oberlin Public Library and the Apollo Theatre, and run our flagship two-week Summer Media Workshop each year.

Apollo Outreach believes that media can be a force for local and global education, understanding, community building, and change.

Through hands-on media workshops, Apollo Outreach creates spaces where young people can explore storytelling across a wide range of formats. From stop-motion animation to collaborative film projects, participants gain practical experience while developing their own creative voices. Each session is designed to meet students where they are, encouraging experimentation and discovery in a supportive environment that values process as much as the final product. The goal is not simply to teach technical skills but to nurture confidence, curiosity, and a lasting appreciation for what media can communicate.

Collaboration sits at the heart of every Apollo Outreach initiative. Oberlin College students, staff, and faculty work alongside community members to design programming that reflects shared goals and local needs. This partnership model ensures that workshops remain responsive and relevant, drawing on the energy and expertise of everyone involved. By bridging campus and community, the program builds relationships that extend well beyond a single project, fostering an ongoing exchange of ideas and resources that strengthens both the college and the neighborhoods it serves.

Media literacy is about more than understanding how a camera works or how to edit a sequence. Apollo Outreach approaches literacy as a broader form of empowerment, helping participants learn to observe carefully, interpret thoughtfully, and express themselves with clarity. Through exercises in filmmaking, printmaking, and other media forms, young people develop communication skills that translate into every area of their lives. They gain tools for analyzing the images and messages that surround them daily, becoming more informed citizens and more confident leaders in the process.

The program brings a fully equipped media production studio directly into classrooms and community spaces throughout Lorain County. Rather than asking participants to travel to a central facility, Apollo Outreach meets communities where they are, removing barriers to access and making creative technology available to those who might not otherwise encounter it. This mobile approach transforms familiar environments into sites of imagination and production, proving that meaningful media work can happen anywhere when the right resources and guidance are in place.

Summer programming offers an intensive opportunity for young people to immerse themselves in media creation over an extended period. During these longer sessions, participants can dive deeper into particular forms, developing projects that reflect sustained effort and growing expertise. The summer format also allows for more ambitious collaborative work, as groups have the time to conceive, plan, and execute ideas that might be impossible within shorter timeframes. These experiences often become formative moments that shape how students see their own capabilities and potential.

Apollo Outreach recognizes that storytelling takes many forms, and its workshops reflect that diversity. Participants might explore the tactile process of paper-making one day and experiment with computer-generated effects the next, discovering connections between seemingly different media. This broad exposure helps young people understand that creativity is not confined to a single discipline and that skills developed in one area often illuminate another. By moving fluidly across formats, the program encourages a flexible, open-minded approach to making and thinking.

The impact of collaborative media projects extends far beyond the individuals directly involved. When young people create films, prints, and animations that reflect their perspectives, they contribute to a broader community conversation about identity, place, and change. These works offer glimpses into how the next generation sees the world and what they hope it might become. Apollo Outreach believes that supporting youth voices is not just an educational priority but a vital investment in the cultural and civic life of the entire region.