KPAX-TV at MAPS - Ravalli County Studio!
On Monday, November 6th, KPAX journalist Claire Peterson visited with MAPS Ravalli County students to learn more about them and why programs like MAPS are essential. 

Thank you to Missoula KPAX-TV for supporting MAPS since day 1 in 2004, and thank you to reporter Claire Peterson for your thoughtful interviews and inspiring youth on a possible career path!
MAPS Media Institute
is Creating Tech Opportunities for Montana’s Rural Youth
Coverage by KPAX-TV's Claire Peterson
MAPS Media Institute in Ravalli County provides local students with free technology and art-based instruction from experts in the field.

An everyday student likely doesn't have access to a recording studio, a 3D printer, or a virtual reality headset — but students with the MAPS Media Institute have exactly that.

Media Arts in the Public Schools (MAPS) Media Institute is a state-wide program that was created in Hamilton in 2004. A completely free after-school program, it teaches students a technology-based curriculum through hands-on collaborative projects.

MAPS Media Institute was founded by a Hollywood producer who had a vision of supporting youth in the film industry. It began as an in-school program, but after seeing the engagement from students, it turned into a brick-and-mortar 501c3 non-profit in Hamilton.

Today, MAPS offers classes in graphic design, filmmaking, music production, 3D printing, AI, robotics, photojournalism, and podcasting — essentially anything technology-based that students want to learn.
"Tech media keeps evolving, right?" current Executive Director of MAPS, Clare Ann Harff, says. "So we get to constantly check in with the students and figure out what they want to learn about, what they're not able to learn in school, and how can we can supplement."

Clare Ann Harff became the Executive Director of MAPS Media Institute in 2016. She is passionate about creating positive, supportive environments for youth. Eighth to twelfth-grade students in public, private, or homeschool environments participate in MAPS every day after school from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m.


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