HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

Photography wasn't the only skill students from Youth Opportunity Boston were exposed to. Michael Poskus of Charles River Publishing teaches some of the kids how to use a folding machine. Watching intently are (from left) Tori Davis, Christian Amado, Damian Stampley, and Bryan Stewart. (Staff Photo Kris Snibbe/Harvard News Office)

For the second summer in a row, Youth Opportunity Boston's talented membership has published the YO Journal. This year's colorful issue is jampacked with photos, articles, and opinion pieces straight from the 'hood. The topic for the fall 2004 issue is, appropriately enough, politics.

Youth Opportunity Boston is an organization that gives young people between the

For more information, visit Youth Opportunity Boston. YO Journal photo gallery I YO Journal photo gallery II More photo galleries

ages of 14 and 21 the opportunity to be employed, whether or not they have previous job experience. This summer, more than a hundred kids got on-the-job savvy that will prove invaluable in the future.

Among this summer's projects were a photography class with Harvard News Office photographers Stephanie Mitchell and Kris Snibbe, a garden mosaics project run by Boston Natural Area Networks, and a video documentary project. And, of course, the YO Journal, which is the product of a partnership that includes Youth Opportunity Boston, Charles River Publishing, the Harvard University Office of News and Public Affairs, and the City of Boston's Back Streets Program. The journal is a culmination of both the News Office's photography class and a journalism class, taught again this year by John Lenger, the assistant director for publications at the Harvard News Office.

This current issue addresses topics such as the voting age and national conventions. It also has a cogent explanation of the workings of the electoral college and poses the provocative question, "When will a woman or person of color become president?"