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Girls Rock Camp Launches Free After-School DJ and Podcast Program for Teens

 The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls will launch an Arts & Activism program this spring for teens ages 16 through 18.
The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls will launch an Arts & Activism program this spring for teens ages 16 through 18.
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Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls/Jena Cumbo

BROOKLYN — Teens can master their turntable techniques at a new Brooklyn afterschool program focusing on digital media and mentorship.

The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls launches its Arts & Activism initiative this spring, aimed at teenage girls ages 16 through 18 who will learn how to DJ, make their own podcasts and participate in a paid summer fellowship at the summer camp.

The four-month series starting April 19 is open to teens from moderate- to low-income households and will combine music with social justice, according to rock camp founding director Karla Schickele.

“We wanted to start this to create more opportunities for in-depth programming and leadership opportunities for teen women,” Schickele, 48, said.

“Some teens come to us as campers, and some are ready to be mentors themselves. We really were interested in providing access to digital literacy as well.”

Participants will attend the after-school program for eight weeks out of the organization’s Irving Place space on the Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant border, and take field trips to local cultural and community events and museums.

During the summer, they’ll be invited for a seven-week fellowship to help out at the rock camp’s sessions in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The Willie Mae Rock Camp, founded in 2004 by a group of New York City-based female musicians, provides instrument instruction, educational workshops, songwriting lessons, band practice and a finale showcase for girls ages 5 through 18.

“All along it’s been about empowering girls, but also making a community where girls from different communities can come together,” Schickele said. “It’s creating a space where people can come together, it’s different from just sitting next to each other on the subway.”

“To create something together I think is really meaningful.”

There are four rock camp programs: Ladies Rock Camp for adults on the weekend of June 24, Rock Camp Jumpstart for girls ages 5 through 7 from July 11 to 15, two sessions of Girls Rock! Camp from July 2 to 30 and Aug. 15 to 20, open to participants ages 8 to 18, and the Art & Activism series.

During the camp, students form their own bands and are assisted throughout the week by coaches. They write their own songs, and for the older groups, participants pick an instrument to focus on, whether its drums, electric bass or guitar, turntables, keyboards or vocals.

Volunteers guide the girls along the way, whether they’re silk-screening their own band shirts, dismantling old toys to rewire them into instruments, or discussing power and privilege during workshops.

Previous musical experience isn’t required for attendees, tuition is based on a sliding scale, and the session culminates in a grand concert performance from each group.

“The songs they write don’t sound like anything else,” Schickele said, adding that topics range from friendship to global warming from the perspective of a polar bear.

The rock camp has helped to launch more than 350 bands, according to the founding director, since many stay together after the week is through.

“Girls who come really bring that experience with them, whether or not they play music the rest of the year,” she said.

“The experience of being in a place like rock camp really changes how you look at the world and how you view your own power.”

Applications for the free Arts & Activism program are open through April 10. For more information, visit the Willie Mae Rock Camp website here.