Last fall semester, students enrolled in the first year Community Action Gateway 101 (CACT 101) course worked on a semester-long project to support CHER’s Exploring Hartford page by creating interactive videos showcasing key spots students can find in the city. This hands-on project allowed them to engage and explore Hartford’s vibrant parks, arts scene, and café culture while honing their video production skills. Working in small groups, they focused on specific themes, cafes, arts, and parks and recreation, and documented their experiences through immersive video storytelling. The final project was presented at the end of the semester, which included a short social media video and a longer video for the Exploring Hartford website.
Exploring Hartford’s coffees and cafes group was split into two due to the many options available. Onegroup of students—Jenaris Belgrave, Selam Olson, and Ini Adegbayi—visited downtown cafes such as Semilla Cafe and DoNo Cafe. In their three-minute video, they explored different aspects of the cafes and their backgrounds, detailing how each establishment was founded. While speaking with the owner of DoNo Cafe, the students remarked, “It was great finding out that the walls of DoNo Cafe used old newspaper articles from Hartford to create it.” Semilla Cafe, also known as the neighborhood living room, resonated with the students because of its strong community focus, including features like a free art closet.
The second group, Ivonne Mejia, Yula Li, and Sofia Salgado Melo, explored cafes, bakeries, and shops in the Frog Hollow neighborhood. They visited El Mercado, a grocery store and food hall dedicated to providing culturally significant foods to the Hartford Latino community. They also enjoyed visiting Story and Soil, a café owned by Trinity alumni.
The arts group, which included Alicia Ortega, Raven Reynoso, Alex Gervais, and Claudia Vargas Oropeza, explored different artistic spaces in Hartford, specifically the Wadsworth Atheneum and Sea Tea Comedy Theater. In addition to capturing the vibrant arts scene, they also navigated the city using their Bantam bus pass, familiarizing themselves with Hartford’s public transportation system. Their video highlighted the specific bus routes that connect to these cultural venues. Their favorite experience was at Sea Tea Comedy Theater, where they had the opportunity to engage with the performers, making their exploration of Hartford’s arts scene even more interactive and memorable.
The Exploring Hartford’s Parks and Recreation group, Chris Cervantes, Luke Pinn, Jamal Mohammed,
and Joey Sabia, had the opportunity to experience a major and well-known event while working on this project—the Hartford Marathon. They also visited Elizabeth Park, a historic landmark straddling Hartford and West Hartford, known for its stunning rose garden. Through their exploration, the students emphasized the vital role of parks and recreation in shaping the city’s beauty and sense of community.
“It was a joy to teach this group of students. Their commitment to community-building and social justice both inside and outside the classroom made discussions and projects fun, lively, and inspiring,” Instructor Gabby Nelson
CACT 101 students gained firsthand experience navigating and engaging with the city while honing their storytelling and video production skills, through their work on the Exploring Hartford video assignment project. Their projects not only highlighted Hartford’s diverse cafes, arts scene, and parks but also deepened their connections to the community. By sharing their discoveries through immersive videos, they contributed valuable resources that CHER will use in their Exploring Hartford page for future students looking to explore the city. This hands-on approach to learning reinforced the importance of community engagement and showcased Hartford as a vibrant and welcoming place for all.
