I teamed up with an after school program to have a listening session with students about what they want to see in the news, and then the students created our April newsletter. It’s our first time working with youth in our community in this way. Hosting both a listening session and then a workshop with the students was really rewarding.

We ate ice cream sundaes and went through the newsletter, editing typos and making small adjustments as needed. As soon as the students (and staff!) saw the photographs the students took, the whole room started cheering!

I learned that the students have strong convictions about the gaps that exist in the media — particularly related to lack of Black representation as well as problematic depictions of people of color. The students weren’t always as talkative as I’d have hoped, but I used the Menti PowerPoint software to create an interactive slideshow with prompts for questions that students could answer anonymously on their phones. That seemed to really help!

Several of the students were really proud of what they created. It was incredibly rewarding and I felt like I learned how valuable it is not just to listen to students but to step back and let them lead and teach me. I’m learning that I have so much to learn.

Also, I’m hopeful that this can be a semi-regular partnership between our org and the after school program — so I’m eager to see how we can collaborate together again!

Contributed by Dani Brown

Cite this article

Brown, Dani (2026, June 2). The Bridge (RiverWise). Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/the-bridge-riverwise/