Report for America corps members work with high schools

Raegan Miller works at KRBD in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Report for America says its corps members are working with thousands of high-school students across the nation to interest them in journalism and give thme some basic training.

Raegan Miller, who covers the Native and Asian American communities for KRBD in southeast Alaska, has been working with an English class at Revilla High School in Ketchikan. She told RFA, “When we started they had no experience with journalism, with writing professionally, some of them were still struggling to put together an essay or meet deadlines. We started at the building blocks of a story, and we worked up to quotes, how you build a story, how you find sources and we worked up to the point where every Wednesday that I go in we have a roundtable and each is working independently on their stories.” 

"These types of mentorships repeat every week in classrooms all over the country," wrote Kevin Grant, RFA co-founder and chief partnerships officer. "In the last year alone, our corps members have worked with more than 3,000 youth adding to a total of over 5,800 since the start of the program. Not all of them will become journalists, but students walk away with a better understanding of what’s news and how it differs from misinformation. And for some, it might be the start of a journey open with possibilities."

Corps member Linsey Dower, who works with students at McKinley High School in Honolulu, told RFA, “The way that some students have so much passion for the subjects they write about is surprising to me. They truly want to understand the topics they report on and are thoughtful about how they convey new ideas to their readers. Their genuine interest in their work shows me how much potential each of them has as journalists, whether they choose that career-path or not.”

Grant writes, "That potential is present in all the young people of America. It only needs someone to unlock it. The volunteer work of our corps members is helping form a more critical and better prepared generation that we’re sure will be instrumental for the future of journalism. If you want to learn more about our service projects or if you would like to have a corps member working with the youth of your community, check out our site and help us support this valuable initiative."