The World Still Needs Journalists

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said, "If I had to choose between government without newspapers, and newspapers without government, I wouldn't hesitate to choose the latter." My students are eager to keep Jefferson's vision of a vibrant, free press alive, but need the tools to do so.

My classroom of young journalists attend a charter school in California.

The four walls of our classroom function not only as a place of learning, but also as a fully-functional newsroom. My students report, write, and edit every story in the newspaper's bimonthly newspaper. I am proud to tell anyone who will listen that they create every square inch of every page of every issue. My students are passionate about the stories they write which range from the boilerplate high school teenage drama to the latest national debate and how it connects to our everyday lives. While my students are incredibly proud of the work they do, I think they are only beginning to understand the historical importance of the words they write. By the end of the year, I am confident that they will walk away from their experiences empowered to share the stories of their community with the rest of the world.

My Project

While our newsroom is place of energy, ambition, and progress, there is one tool they keep requesting. In their interviews with parents, students, teachers, and staff, they are often surprised and how openly and honestly people will discuss issues with them. They often can't keep up with their interviews. They have not yet developed the note-taking skills needed to accurately report the words their subjects speak. They have asked me over and over for voice recorders so that they can delve more deeply into the topics they cover and more accurately reflect their content of their interviews. This is by far the number one request students have made. They are not interested in adding extra pictures and graphics -- they want to share other peoples' ideas with the readers of their newspaper.

Any contributions to this project will empower my students to take their newspaper farther, faster.

These voice recorders will improve the quality of my students' reporting and ensure that the important stories in our community are heard crystal clear.