The Educational Video Center (EVC) is a nonprofit youth media organization dedicated to teaching documentary video as a tool for social change and as a means to develop the artistic, critical literacy, and career skills of young people. Founded in 1984, EVC is a nationally acclaimed leader in the fields of youth media and education. EVC's unique methodology of media education brings together the powerful traditions of student-centered progressive education and independent documentary arts to foster critical and creative youth media productions. The overwhelming social and academic problems youth face each day become opportunities for research and problem solving at EVC. The boundaries of the classroom melt away, and the entire city becomes a laboratory for learning as students build skills in creative expression, collaboration, critical thinking, technology, and leadership for the next generation.