INDIANAPOLIS — A group of Indianapolis students is heading into the school year with enhanced creative skills.
It's all thanks to a summer Youth Branding Camp through Indy's YEP We Design Foundation.
Von Watts created the foundation to empower underserved youth through creativity, character building and entrepreneurship.
"I wanted to be able to have the kids have access to creative tools so we can empower and impact the creative thinking," Watts said.
This summer's Youth Branding Camp was the second session where students spent weeks exploring their creative skills.
"I learned how to redraw things to make them look more realistic and make them look better," said camper Joseph Pawelczak. "I also learned how to shade my drawings, so there can be a shadow on there."
Adina Sconiers is a camper who said she enjoys amination. She hopes to develop her skills at a young age.
"I like to color and paint and draw," Sconiers said. "And I like watching animations, so I really want to do animating."
Fellow camper Savouria Browne spent the summer working on her photography skills.
"I learned how to take pictures," Browne said. "How to get the perfect angle and how to get the perfect shot."
Watts said the camp uses a goal-setting book by Tamika Catchings to guide the students. She said students complete "vision and mission" exercises as part of the process.
The YEP We Design Foundation offers programming year-round, according to Watts. She said the next program is scheduled for this fall.
It will be an entrepreneurship camp.
"It's going to be similar to what we've done here," Watts said. "But basically, we'll go a step further."
Through the upcoming entrepreneurship camp, Watts said students will be able to market and sell their products to local partners.
Watts suggests monitoring YEP We Design's social media and website for camp sign-ups.