Every once in awhile you have a banner year. The spring of 2017 was one of those years.
There was a group of journalism students that always hung out in my room, and would do just about anything for me. Or was it the lollipops? One of those students I had the pleasure to work with was Asia Youngs Bailey. She came into my Digital Media class her junior year as a budding young artist. But whenever you took the time to get to know her, you could feel something different. Something special. When I happened upon a broadcast internship, I chose two students based on their availability, meaning they had afternoons off. Or should I say they chose me. This is the story of Asia, one of the broadcast interns for Bellaire High School for the spring of 2017.
"The Mayor is going to be there", she said. But this would not be the first time Bellaire High School senior, AP-Photography student and Three Penny Press journalism staff member Asia Youngs Bailey would meet City of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. Nor the second.
"The Mayor is going to be there", she said. But this would not be the first time Bellaire High School senior, AP-Photography student and Three Penny Press journalism staff member Asia Youngs Bailey would meet City of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. Nor the second.
She also met Mayor
Turner in January when she was given the opportunity to interview Mayor Turner
and First Daughter Ashley Turner as a student broadcast intern under the direction of
Stephanie Coleman of Tre’ Magazine and Tony Cox of KPFT 90.1 Houston.
The
interview was held at City Hall with the assistance of the HTV crew.
The
interview of First Daughter Ashley Turner was printed in the March edition of
Tre’ Magazine, which can be found online at the following link starting on page
29.
Her first radio
broadcast was aired on KPFT 90.1 Houston on January 23. Here is a link to the
program posted on her high school journalism newspaper website, The Three Penny
Press. This piece focuses on the evolution of hair for African American women,
including her own struggles with her hair and the importance that has had to
her life.
Asia is more than just
a talented artist. She has a heart for helping others as she has curated
several shows to help showcase and promote student artists.
Asia is a member of
the Teen Council for the Contemporary Art Museum Houston, which curated
“Origins of the Self”. The exhibit in the Zilkha Gallery opened in January, and
featured 85 pieces from 63 local teen artists. The exhibit is on view until May
7.
“Eye on Houston: High
School Documentary Photography” was an annual exhibition by The Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston that ran from January to April. High School students from all
over the city were showcased as they captured the diversity of Houston’s neighborhoods.
The exhibit included 67 pieces presented by 37 junior and senior photographers
from school all over the city. Asia had 2 pieces in the show, both shot in
Houston’s Third Ward district. The photograph of a teenage boy sitting under
the porch of a white house sitting out of the rain,
showing his camera to 2 small children who are also seeking shelter from the
rain, was shot in the Project Row Houses. Asia spoke at the opening as a
student representative. This was her second year to be in the “Eye on Houston”
exhibit.
Other 2017
accomplishments include:
* Regional Silver Key
award from Scholastic Art and Writing
* Exhibition at Silver
Street Studios
* Interview and
portfolio critique with renowned photographer and artist Dawoud Bey sponsored
by MFAH
Asia will spend her
summer working as a broadcast intern at KPFT 90.1 where she has a weekly show on Friday afternoons called Kicks. You can check out her podcast shows on facebook at www.facebook.com\KICKS.
She is preparing to
enter the Photography and Art program at University of North Texas in Denton in
the fall.
To encourage the
students to go further with their talents, Mayor Turner shared a quote his father
used to say about how if “a gift has been given to you, you now have it, and
you are the only one that can use it.” The art scholarship awarded serves to
acknowledge such gifted students who are able to reach higher.