Announcing the Mark Spain Media Center
Mark Spain & the Jubilee Podcasters – 2024
In November 2023, WSET contacted Jubilee and let us know that our friend Mark Spain, WSET News Anchor, had selected Jubilee as his Community Counts partner in 2024. When you’re a Community Counts partner, WSET spotlights that nonprofit organization for one month, airing feel good stories and offering the community an opportunity to donate to the nonprofit organization. This was a fantastic opportunity for Jubilee, especially since last year was our 25th anniversary!
Jubilee pitched an idea to Mark – raising $25,000 to outfit a new Media Center for youth at Jubilee. The highest amount previously raised through a Community Counts campaign was $10,000. Mark and WSET were immediately on board and excited about the project and goal.
Jubilee was the Community Counts partner for the month of July 2024, and what happened that month was a little bit of magic. Various news segments about Jubilee and the Media Center Campaign were aired in one week across WSET programming, and the $25,000 goal was achieved in a little over a week! Mark met with Jubilee again, and we decided to raise the goal to the full project budget, which was $75,000.
We achieved that goal in August 2024! In just two short months, through our partnership with Mark Spain and WSET, our community raised $75,000 to outfit a new Media Center for youth at Jubilee, where they will learn the skills necessary for careers in digital media, including photography, videography, podcasting, graphic design, film/audio/photo editing, and journalism.
None of this would have been possible without our friend Mark Spain.
As you know, we lost Mark in December 2024 to cancer. This is a loss felt and endured by our entire community. Mark was a cheerleader for Jubilee, and a good friend.
Jubilee is happy to share that the Media Center, which will be located in one of the five new classrooms in the Astronaut Leland Melvin STEM Center, will be named in memory of Mark. It will be named the Mark Spain Media Center!
We are sincerely grateful to be able to honor Mark Spain’s memory, and to do our small part to keep his spirit alive at Jubilee and in Lynchburg for years to come.
The Astronaut Leland Melvin STEM Center offers structured skill-building activities, addressing the problem of unemployment and underemployment in Lynchburg and Central Virginia by expanding the shrinking local pool of skilled labor. It is designed to move participants from academic training and career planning to certified manual programs in areas such as auto and machine trades, construction and building trades, graphics, cybersecurity, and commercial printing, as well as opportunities in health fields, including nursing and dentistry. Students who complete one or more of these training programs can continue their education or find permanent employment in their field of study.
The Astronaut Leland Melvin STEM Center builds on job training opportunities available to adults by providing hands-on instruction in machining, welding, cybersecurity, and computer networking/repair. The training and instruction offered in the STEM Center paves the way for more advanced skills development programs at institutions of higher learning and facilitates access to paid internships and/or entry-level positions of employment. The Astronaut Leland Melvin STEM Center serves as a Central Virginia Community College (CVCC) satellite site for those who are not able to attend or feel intimidated by attending classes on a college campus. College credit courses and certification training are offered throughout the year through partnerships with CVCC and Adult and Career Education (ACE) of Central Virginia.
STEM programs and projects are also implemented daily for Jubilee’s youth through the Youth Educational Support (YES) Program. The goals of the program are to strengthen areas of academic weakness, promote excellence in areas where students have demonstrated academic strength, and assist students in preparing for and passing the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) exams. As people strive to meet the demand of today’s competitive job market – and the increasing number of jobs focused on health, technology, engineering, and science – Jubilee has expanded hands-on opportunities for youth within our computer lab and grade-appropriate science and technology kits. Jubilee’s Summer Enrichment Camp includes a STEM Summer Academy. For youth, the Astronaut Leland Melvin STEM Center helps provide a solid foundation in STEM principles and generates greater interest in high-demand science and technology-based career fields.
Astronaut Leland Melvin STEM Center Ribbon Cutting on December 9, 2021
