Mission

Our mission is to provide high-quality, sustainable professional development for K-12 educators to integrate the filmmaking process, often referred to as digital storytelling, into core academic areas.  With a strong emphasis in writing, the SHIFT model is committed to strengthening teacher practice, increasing student achievement, and developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. 

The SHIFT program changes how teachers teach and students learn. 

The goals of SHIFT are threefold:

1. Inspire teachers and increase the use of creative technology integration

2. Stimulate classroom climate and excite students through the learning process

3. Increase student achievement through enhanced instruction

History

Embracing the dynamic nature of digital media and the evolving needs of both students and educators, Spy Hop Productions, a nationally recognized youth media organization in Salt Lake City, Utah, launched the SHIFT professional development model in 2006, training teachers to integrate the filmmaking process into core academic instruction.  In 2010, after providing professional development workshops to over 600 teachers across the U.S., Spy Hop Institute For Teachers (SHIFT) incorporated as an independent organization. 

Today there is a vital need for programs like SHIFT, in part due to the increasing pressure to hold teachers accountable for higher standards of student achievement. Accompanying this urgency is an evolving youth culture where young people are not only media consumers, but also media producers. In 2007 the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported significant statistics representing the number of American teens who socialize online, create media, and post media on the Internet. The SHIFT experience was designed to combine high learning standards with media production instructional strategies relevant to youth today, engaging them in critical 21st century learning. Visit the Partnership for 21st Century Skills for more information.

Since inception, SHIFT has achieved many significant milestones, including:

• Launched in 2006 with funding from a Comprehensive School reform grant
• Trained over 600 educators and support staff in Utah, California, Washington, and Wisconsin
• Incorporated into a Washington State National Science Foundation grant to provide science journalism instruction and programs for middle and high school students
• Partnered with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) to train MPS high school health educators
• Contracted with Salt Lake City and Ogden School District Title 1 departments to increase achievement in language arts and other academic areas
• Received support from Utah State Office of Education and the Utah Legislature to extend high quality professional development for arts educators across the state
• Awarded Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) federal grant to train school-wide high school faculty