Youth

Youth and teens are the heart of any community. Through their questions, their struggles, and their dreams, the young people of East Austin help shape their neighborhoods and the future. They embrace old traditions, such as dancing folklorico, while inventing new ones, like beatboxing, that one day, too, will be "old." Many question their lives and the world around them, like Yolanda Solis and Alejandro Mendez. Yolanda was born in Austin, while Alejandro was born in Mexico. Both go to school in Austin, and have very different takes on what it means to be Mexican-American.

Young people explore and shape their world in many ways. At Reagan High, a digital filmmaking program gives students the tools and skills to record student life and make their own movies. They say that digital arts, whether film, music, or web sites, are the voice of their generation. One such student production is "piercing."