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Hello, Upper Valley!
Civic engagement is core to JAM's mission where we work year-round to provide live and archival access to local government through hybrid media services. We urge all to make a plan to VOTE this Tuesday, Nov. 2! Contact your town office in advance for questions of voter registration, voting location, etc.
This week, we're featuring student voices on AI at Dartmouth and at the Eagle Scout Film Festival, a showcase of UV youth films coming to the big screen in January that “inspire local change,” produced by a Hartford high schooler.
– Ana (Communications Coordinator)
| | This week's Upper Valley features | | |
Students grapple with AI. At Dartmouth, AI has a colorful history. It was the place where the term was coined in 1956, and is the recent center of a controversy sparked after Provost Santiago Schnell’s Washington Post op-ed about AI usage was flagged for being written with AI.
At a discussion about AI’s place at their university, students discussed feelings of guilt when using it for schoolwork, reactions to the controversy around Provost Schnell, and concerns about surveillance. 10/15/26 Produced by Chico Eastridge and Rick Russell for JAM.
| | | | You Are Here, Change, Change, Change… is the title of the sixth edition of Rachel Bernsen’s “Novel Formats” series, which appeared at AVA Gallery in Feb 2026. Each dance is a unique combination of dance, music, and visual arts –– all contributed by collaborators including JAM Senior Producer Chico Eastridge, who was the cinematographer, gaffer, and editor. Watch more Novel Formats here. | | | | Knowledge is power. From clay tablets in Mesopotamia to algorithms and AI, Dartmouth Professor Roopika Risam writes that data is what makes civilization possible in her book Data Empire. In her Norwich Bookstore author talk, Risam discusses the ancient origins of data systems and how that information is integral to today's surveillance age. 7/15/26 Jordan Slusser and Drew Boyce for JAM | | High school media fellow featurette | | Kai Snyder-Hamalainen on set of Valley Transit as an SFFI Intern | | |
JAM High School Media Fellows are Upper Valley teens creating their own individualized media arts projects with a JAM staff mentor.
Kai Snyder-Hamalainen is a Hartford High sophomore and an alum from the Summer Feature Film Intensive (SFFI). Working with JAM Community Outreach Coordinator Cedar O’Dowd, Kai is running the Eagle Scout Film Festival, a curated program of short films by young UV filmmakers that inspire local change.
| | The High School Media Fellowship is supported by the Adimab Lab Community Grant, Jane B. Cook 1992 Trust, M&T Bank, and contributors to the JAM Annual Fund. | | | | |
Hartland Selectboard 10/19/26
Watch the Hartland Selectboard watch a presentation on the Hartland Highway Budget with community member BJ Mattson and discuss an overview of the Town of Hartland Audit.
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Spooktacular films about "Leaf Creepers..." at Halloween-o-thon, our annual scary movie competition and award ceremony! Our teams have been tasked to make "movies that make us feel like somebody's watching." Come in costume, and walk the Gory Daze parade right afterwards.
Mon Oct 31 6-7:30PM @ JAM
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Get feedback on your Works-in-Progress at Media Maker Monday, a space for our local media maker community. Media Maker Members may share screenplay pages, video rough cuts, podcast ideas, etc. Guests are invited to check it out and share feedback. Ready to join? Become a JAM Media Maker here!
Mon Nov 9 6-7:30PM @ JAM
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Lampshade Poets' open mic... invites all poets to read an original piece or two aloud at JAM. Poets have the opportunity to be videoed for JAM’s cable and YouTube channels. Not sure you're ready to read? Join as supportive audience! Free and open to all.
Thu Nov 12 6-7:30PM @ JAM
| | JAM provides diverse media services to the greater Upper Valley region of VT and NH and is often able to provide media coverage of community events for broadcast on JAM channels. JAM also provides professional for-hire media services for custom video and audio production needs. JAM broadcasts, streams, and archives local content on cable, and we support year-round live media coverage of public government and school board meetings as core to our public access service commitment. Learn more at uvjam.org. | | | | JAM Media Services client spotlight: Positive Tracks hired JAM to create a punchy highlight reel showcasing their annual "Sweat for Good" fundraiser. JAM can deliver completed media files to clients for use on their own social media channels, websites or other platforms. JAM staff are available for consultations on your media services needs. | | JAM relies on diverse funding sources to sustain our nonprofit community media services. We wish to thank the Comcast and VTel cable subscribers, voters in our service area towns, the State of Vermont, individual donors, local business sponsors, and public and private foundations who make our work possible. JAM media education programs and events are made possible in part by grants from VT Humanities, VT Arts Council, NH Charitable Foundation, Couch Family Foundation, M&T Bank Foundation, Jane B. Cook 1992 Trust, Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation, Adimab, LLC Community Grant, and charitable contributions from community members like you. | | Weekly Highlights - Oct 28, 2026 | | | | |
