VOICES OF YOUTH Battle Creek — We are seeking interested youth writers living in Calhoun County who would like to pursue an issue of interest and be published with the help of professional mentor. This is a paid opportunity! Please share. If you are interested, please contact Theresa Coty O’Neil, Managing Editor, at editor@swmichigan.secondwavemedia.com
What is Voices of Youth?
A journalism project that lifts youth voices and is focused on community issues that are important to youth.
Do you have a curiosity for learning new things?
Do you like to write?
Would you like to be published?
Are you looking for a way to share about an important issue and a place to showcase your artistic talent?
If you have an interest in learning why journalism is important to affecting change, sign up now to participate.
Writers Needed
There are opportunities to help write a long-form feature article. Writers will learn through the program how to shape these stories with support in research, interviews, and writing.
The topics we are addressing will be of importance to them. There will be opportunities for youth to take on roles in creating photography and artwork supporting stories in these topic areas.
All stories are approached through a solutions journalism approach and reported with an eye toward ways the issues are related to structural and ongoing systemic racism.
MENTORS
You will not be working on this project alone! Each topic will have its own Writing Mentor and Art/Photography Mentor. The lead instructor is J.R. Reynolds, a professional writer from Battle Creek.
COMPENSATION
Participants will be paid $100 for attending all three workshops with an additional $150 for published projects.
PLATFORMS
Stories and digital images will be published online on the Second Wave Media website.
For an example of previous work that has been published, click here and here.
We will also explore opportunities to showcase the work through other platforms or events.
Issue Media Group (IMG) is the parent company of Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave. IMG publishes weekly online magazines leveraging the power of solutions-based and narrative journalism. Our publications aim to connect readers to their city’s most visionary and active people, businesses, and organizations. We work with like-minded stakeholders who have shared values and missions through an underwriting model of publishing.
Our journalists engage the community through regular editorial advisories, events, and conversations to build trusted relationships with leaders and residents that shape the community’s unique stories. The company was incorporated in Detroit in 2005.
FUNDING:
The Battle Creek Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Community Foundation, and the BINDA Foundation underwrite this program.
If you have questions, please contact editor@swmichigan.secondwavemedia.com
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Calhoun County students are hosting Michigan's largest high school climate symposium. Representing seven school districts, these climate activists spent after-school hours organizing the event that features "Braiding Sweetgrass" author Robin Wall Kimmerer, among other climate standouts.
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“I’ve always been the kid who if something gets said by an adult, I’m always the one to question it. It’s more so with extended family that racism is more of an issue and a controversial subject. It’s important to communicate. A lot of it is thought about but never said. It’s like the elephant in the room.”
The Centers for Disease Control recommends adolescents avoid energy drinks due to risks of dehydration, heart complications, anxiety, and insomnia. Yet up to 40% of adolescents report consuming them. Why? VoY Writer Sophia Pell set to find out.
Hangups about our bodies are common, especially in teens who identify as female. Sometimes, these dislikes evolve into obsessions and distortions. VOY Writer Lila McCarthy talks to a Battle Creek therapist about body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) — what it is and how to address it.
Nonbinary, trans, and genderfluid people can find it challenging when shopping for clothes. Their shapes and body types may not conform to typical gender shapes and sizes. This Voices of Youth writer explains the difference between 'gender identity' and 'gender expression,' looks at some needs and challenges facing fashion choices for trans and gender-fluid folx, and creates her own trans clothing designs that accommodate differences in body shape and size.
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