SPOT 127 Youth Media Center After-school Programs
3320 South Price Road, Tempe, AZ 85282
About
SPOT 127 Youth Media Center After-school Programs offer hands-on activities in video production, audio engineering, digital photography, and social media. The program includes photo, audio, and video storytelling, with specific training in storytelling, audio, photography, and videography within a journalistic framework. Students participate in project-based work in digital photography, video and audio production, and social media.
• Ages: 14–18 years old
• Schedule: Spring after-school program from January 12 to May 14, 2026; week-long Summer Bootcamp sessions in June and July 2026; Fall 2026 after-school program from September to December 2026
SPOT 127 Youth Media Center After-school Programs are part of an award-winning, multi-award-winning digital media center that offers free, year-round in-school and after-school instruction, as well as free summer boot camps. The mission of SPOT 127 is to empower teens to develop their skills through digital media and technology. The programs include a virtual 101 Course for beginners in digital media and an in-person 201/202 Course for returning students. SPOT 127 was created through the collaboration of Friends of Public Radio Arizona, Rio Salado College, and KJZZ 91.5 FM, and is a service of public radio aimed at serving high school students in the metro Phoenix area. The youth media center has served more than 150 students each year since spring 2012 and offers free in-school and after-school programs along with summer boot camps.
The program’s roots reach back to 2007, when the Teen Radio program sent skilled journalists into local high schools to work with students, and in 2011 KJZZ expanded the project into SPOT 127. The Maryvale center opened in 2012, and in 2015 SPOT 127 established the Carl Matthusen Youth Leadership Award, which includes a $1,000 scholarship for a participant who has exhibited leadership excellence while at SPOT 127. In April 2014, Carstens Family Funds established the Carstens Family Funds Scholarships, which cover the total cost of attending any school within the Maricopa Community College District for four SPOT 127 graduates, and a second scholarship opportunity was created in 2016 through support from the Jack Pfister Scholarship Fund. SPOT 127 is a Qualifying Charitable Tax Organization, and under the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit, each state taxpayer may donate up to $495 (individuals or married couples filing separately) or $987 (married couples filing jointly) per year to qualifying charitable organizations and claim a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit, with no out-of-pocket cost to donate to SPOT 127 because donors redirect their state tax liability to the organization.
SPOT 127 has partnered with several high schools and offers workshops to high schools during school hours throughout the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, including areas in a Qualified Opportunity Zone, which is an economically distressed community. Through its project-based curriculum, students gain critical leadership and 21st-century career skills, develop media literacy competencies while honing their media creation and critical-thinking skills, and are encouraged to create multimedia pieces that shine a light on issues facing their communities.
Last updated January 8, 2026.
• Ages: 14–18 years old
• Schedule: Spring after-school program from January 12 to May 14, 2026; week-long Summer Bootcamp sessions in June and July 2026; Fall 2026 after-school program from September to December 2026
SPOT 127 Youth Media Center After-school Programs are part of an award-winning, multi-award-winning digital media center that offers free, year-round in-school and after-school instruction, as well as free summer boot camps. The mission of SPOT 127 is to empower teens to develop their skills through digital media and technology. The programs include a virtual 101 Course for beginners in digital media and an in-person 201/202 Course for returning students. SPOT 127 was created through the collaboration of Friends of Public Radio Arizona, Rio Salado College, and KJZZ 91.5 FM, and is a service of public radio aimed at serving high school students in the metro Phoenix area. The youth media center has served more than 150 students each year since spring 2012 and offers free in-school and after-school programs along with summer boot camps.
The program’s roots reach back to 2007, when the Teen Radio program sent skilled journalists into local high schools to work with students, and in 2011 KJZZ expanded the project into SPOT 127. The Maryvale center opened in 2012, and in 2015 SPOT 127 established the Carl Matthusen Youth Leadership Award, which includes a $1,000 scholarship for a participant who has exhibited leadership excellence while at SPOT 127. In April 2014, Carstens Family Funds established the Carstens Family Funds Scholarships, which cover the total cost of attending any school within the Maricopa Community College District for four SPOT 127 graduates, and a second scholarship opportunity was created in 2016 through support from the Jack Pfister Scholarship Fund. SPOT 127 is a Qualifying Charitable Tax Organization, and under the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit, each state taxpayer may donate up to $495 (individuals or married couples filing separately) or $987 (married couples filing jointly) per year to qualifying charitable organizations and claim a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit, with no out-of-pocket cost to donate to SPOT 127 because donors redirect their state tax liability to the organization.
SPOT 127 has partnered with several high schools and offers workshops to high schools during school hours throughout the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, including areas in a Qualified Opportunity Zone, which is an economically distressed community. Through its project-based curriculum, students gain critical leadership and 21st-century career skills, develop media literacy competencies while honing their media creation and critical-thinking skills, and are encouraged to create multimedia pieces that shine a light on issues facing their communities.
Last updated January 8, 2026.
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