Support Community Media
Victor Lopez is an amazing young person who is a junior at Battle Mountain High School. He is committed to giving back to the community, working with Mountain Youth and volunteering at High Five Access Media. He participated in several of our summer camp, video production workshops, Game of the Week, and experiential opportunities covering local high school sports. He plans to study broadcast journalism in college.
“High Five Access Media is a great way to get into the world of video media and journalism. For me I feel so included at High Five wherever they are. The impact that they have on me is great because of how much they care about me in the sense that I'm a human also and not just a volunteer.”
- Victor Lopez, Student, Battle Mountain High School
Join Us and Make a Difference!
Community access media helps to build an informed and civically engaged community, creating a ripple effect across ages, genders, race, political views, economic status and professions. From students who learn skills that develop into a passion or even a career, to community members who are able to tune into government meetings from the comfort of their home and still be informed of local affairs, the diversity and breadth of our programs allows for High Five Access Media to engage with the entire Vail Valley. Make a donation now, or read more about our programs below.
High Five is primarily funded by cable subscriber fees provided to the towns of Vail and Avon from Comcast. As cable subscribers “cut the cord” and unsubscribe to cable television and use streaming services instead, High Five is embarking on a funding challenge and is seeking support from the community to continue its mission by expanding donations, underwriting and grants.
How You Can Support
- Donate
- Underwrite
- Volunteer
With Your Help, We Can
- Compensate educators
- Sustain and upgrade equipment
- Cover more community events
- Forge partnerships with nonprofits
- And so much more!
Donate today or underwrite productions to help us continue to support the community.
How Your Donation Impacts the Community
$100 Student workshop
$200 Student summer camp scholarship
$400 Nonprofit event video
$900 Live coverage of high school game with student education
$5,000 Vail America Days parade production or summer camp program
$6,000 Spring or fall season of high school sports coverage
$10,000 Nonprofit video production scholarships (up to 25 events)
$104,000 Full education budget
programs
Our mission is to empower the local community, through media education and technology, to become civically engaged, express ideas, and advocate for causes. Funding enables our small but mighty operation to compensate educators and production staff, sustain high-quality production equipment for community use, cover events and topics important to the community, and forge collaborative partnerships with nonprofits and other organizations.
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media education
Media Education is one of the core programs of High Five Access Media. These programs empower students of all ages to become media creators, rather than just consumers, who are able to shape the dialogue of their community and world. These programs support a passion for the creative industry and development of career and technical skills.
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youth education
Our youth education programs for high school students, through schools and in partnership with other nonprofits, have been well received by students and teachers alike. This training taps into a student’s creative side and gives them skills they can build upon for continued education or careers. Every year, we host a week-long summer camp for aspiring filmmakers aged 13 to 17 to learn about the production process and meet like-minded collaborators.
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civic engagement
Coverage of Local Government Meetings and Elections is a critical role of High Five Access Media. An informed local population means an engaged local population. We believe change is most effectively made at a local level. When local government is held to account and monitored through public access media, all citizens benefit, whether they watch or not.
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equipment access
Free access to a library of production gear empowers local storytellers by removing financial barriers to professional video equipment. Without High Five Access Media, many individuals, and thus the organizations that they serve, would not be able to tell the stories of our community.
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media access
High Five Access Media ensures that individuals across the community are able to access media in a format that is supportive of their lifestyle and needs by distributing content over cable television, the internet, over-the-top (OTT) devices, and social media. By removing barriers to media access, High Five Access Media supports citizens in having the information they need to thrive in our community.
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affordable nonprofit services
We believe in supporting local nonprofits and organizations to create media that supports their cause, and at the same time provides a diversity of educational content for the community to watch across our platforms. High Five Access Media provides affordable production services for nonprofits to leverage their message both within, and outside the local community.
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community coverage
Unique Productions are a true highlight of High Five Access Media’s programming that reflects the local community’s interests and passions. These timely productions are community inspired and lead, a celebration of our collective efforts and vision for the Vail Valley.
testimonials
“Red Canyon Alternative High School has had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with High Five Access Media in a number of ways. High Five has offered support in building the curriculum for Red Canyon's first ever Video Yearbook program, they have hosted students from both campuses at their studio, and have provided mentorship for both students and educators involved in the program. Besides creating memorable experiences for students from Red Canyon, Casey, Brett, and J.K. have been foundational for our school with their technical expertise, journalistic perspectives, and genuine camaraderie. High Five Access Media is an enormous asset to our school specifically and our community at large!”
- David Hanson, Teacher, Red Canyon High School
“Your efforts and partnership with the Town of Vail are commendable – not only did you create an innovative and engaging video series that will help people take a more sustainable approach to landscaping, but you have also helped educate Coloradans about the merits of conserving and protecting our natural resources. High Five Access Media’s production will certainly help play a role in improving upon our community’s practices when it comes to protecting our environment.”
- Dylan Roberts, Colorado Senate District 8
“We partner with High Five for many events throughout the year to help us document and broadcast our events to the community at large who cannot attend in person. We would not be able to broadcast events live or document our programs without assistance from High Five and we are thankful for their partnership, expertise, and professionalism.”
- Paul Abling, Marketing and Communications Director, Walking Mountains Science Center