Our Mission
SPOT 127 empowers teens to develop their skills through digital media and technology. We continuously innovate our free multi-award-winning programs to meet the needs of our communities through free, year-round in and after-school instruction.
SPOT 127, a multi-award winning media center, empowers teens to find their voices and engage with their communities through photo, audio and video storytelling. We are an innovative educational outreach initiative that is a service of public radio, aimed at serving high school students ages 14-18 in the metro Phoenix area. Our free in-school and afterschool programs along with our summer boot camps provide mentoring and instruction in multimedia production.
SPOT 127 serves high school students from 14-18 years of age with an emphasis on reaching students who would not otherwise have access to learn or improve on digital skills. SPOT 127 serves the greater Phoenix area and has targeted areas that are in a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ), which is an economically distressed community. We are able to grow a base of students who primarily live in the QOZ areas through the virtual formats we offer. Many of our students are the first to attend college, coming from homes where college was never achievable.
Our project-based curriculum offers hands-on training in digital photography, video and audio production and social media. In addition to technical skills, our students gain critical leadership and 21st-century career skills to put them on a path to higher education and lifelong success. They also develop media literacy competencies while honing their media creation and critical-thinking skills. We aim to inspire students to create multimedia pieces that shine a light on the issues facing their communities.
The History of SPOT 127
SPOT 127 was created through the collaboration of Friends of Public Radio Arizona, a 501(c)(3) organization, Rio Salado College and KJZZ 91.5 FM. The Maryvale center opened in 2012, but the program's roots reach back to 2007, when KJZZ piloted its Teen Radio Project. The Teen Radio program sent skilled journalists into local high schools to work with students.
In 2011, with the support of Rio Salado College and Friends of Public Radio Arizona, KJZZ expanded the project into SPOT 127. The youth media center has served more than 150 students each year since spring 2012.
In 2015, SPOT 127 established the Carl Matthusen Youth Leadership Award, in honor of KJZZ's longtime general manager. This award and $1,000 scholarship goes to a participant who has exhibited leadership excellence while at SPOT 127.
In April 2014, Carstens Family Funds established the Carstens Family Funds Scholarships. The generous scholarship for four SPOT 127 graduates covers the total cost of attending any school within the Maricopa Community College District. A second scholarship opportunity for SPOT 127 students attending Maricopa Community Colleges was created in 2016 through support from the Jack Pfister Scholarship Fund.