Teacher Teamaré Gaston instructs her students at Manhattan’s Lower East Side Preparatory HS on the elements of journalistic writing as she endeavors to launch the school’s first-ever student publication.
Journalism instruction cultivates writing, problem-solving and critical thinking skills, according to educators who want to make the subject a high school requirement.
A handful of New York City teachers are leading a revival: bringing student journalism back to public high schools.
In recent years, just 27% of city high schools have had a school newspaper. Blame the decline of print, conflicted attitudes toward the media, schools’ focus on STEM programs and rising publishing costs. But the loss of school newspapers also has meant the loss of opportunities for students to strengthen their literacy skills, engage with issues and learn leadership and critical-thinking skills.
For some civic and education leaders, that loss is unacceptable. This summer, they launched Journalism for All, a citywide initiative to spark a renaissance of school-based journalism programs.
“I always considered journalism as participatory civics,” said Katina Paron, the director of the Journalism for All project at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and co-author of “A NewsHound’s Guide to Student Journalism.” She developed a curriculum for 30 teachers in the program’s first cohort, equipping them to launch journalism classes and school publications.
“We wanted to meet students where they were,” Paron said. Most students are already consuming news through social media, so the first goal, she said, was to help them “to become smarter and better news consumers.” The curriculum moves “from young people as news consumers to young people as media makers,” giving students “a seat at the table on issues that affect them.”
At Gotham Professional Arts Academy in Brooklyn, journalism and literacy teacher Amelia Parker joined the initiative because journalism “seemed like a more engaging way for kids to read and write.” Unlike in a typical English class, she said, journalism students get to choose what they write about. “Articulating ideas about something, or listening to someone and being able to tell their story in your own words, is really important,” Parker said. And with a student publication, she said, “we give them a platform.”
For Marie Bresowsky, an English teacher, journalism adviser and chapter leader at Port Richmond HS on Staten Island, the program is a chance to revive The Crow’s Nest, her school’s paper, first published in 1928. “I really want to develop a journalism culture in the school,” she said. “We don’t want journalism to die. I want it to become a new tradition.”
Meanwhile, Teamaré Gaston is launching the first-ever student publication at Lower East Side Preparatory HS in Manhattan. Her students are drawn to the class’s focus on civics and current events — and to the freedom to choose “what they want to write and what they want to showcase.” They have already decided on sections of the paper for student life and sports, reflecting the school community’s interest in those topics.
The student-centered, collaborative aspect of journalism sets it apart from other high school classes. “The teacher’s goal is to provide guidance, advice and mentoring,” Paron said. “Students get to make the editorial decisions — they’re in charge of their story.”
The program’s goal, Paron says, isn’t necessarily to train future journalists but to cultivate writing, problem solving, ease with social interaction, teamwork, media literacy, critical thinking and resilience — skills that will serve students no matter what path they take. “There’s a lot of potential to create another generation of people who are committed to their communities, are paying attention and who haven’t given up,” Paron said.
The Journalism for All program is now collecting data on its work to make the case for the Department of Education to require a journalism program in every high school. Teachers interested in starting a journalism program at their school can access CUNY’s free curriculum, use Paron’s book for guidance or join her Google group for ongoing resources.
Bresowsky wants her Port Richmond students to “find out what’s important to them and then report on it,” she said. Journalism gives them “the opportunity to explore their curiosity and it gives them a voice,” she said. “We want students to be able to communicate all the important issues in society, but it can start off small with the important issues in our school.”
Gaston says the initiative’s greatest value lies in making her students more aware of the importance of media literacy. “Even if students leave here and say ‘I don’t want to be a journalist,’ at least they can say, ‘I know how to carefully analyze my social media or what information is curated toward me,’” she said.
Parker says one of the most important skills that student journalism teaches is to ask questions and be curious about unfamiliar things. “Sometimes if you ask someone a question, it will completely open your world,” she said. “Then you follow the little thread and see where it takes you.”