VOICES OF YOUTH Battle Creek -- COHORT IS FULL! If you would like to be put on a waitlist for our spring cohort, please sign up at the link below. 

NOW RECRUITING YOUTH FOR THE SPRING 2024 SESSION! 

The workshops, which will each last 2 hours, will run the first three Mondays of March. They will feature special instruction and one-on-one mentorship. Refreshments, including pizza, will be provided. Enrollment in the program will include a pre-workshop preparation phone or virtual call to discuss project topics.

What is Voices of Youth?

A journalism project that lifts youth voices and is focused on community issues that are important to youth.

Through this project, you have an opportunity: To be heard. To contribute to community discussions. To affect change.

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.

Be part of a team presenting these issues to the community in a way only youth can.

There are several roles from which to choose: 

∙ Writer 

∙ Researcher

∙ Photographer 

∙ Social Media

∙ Artist / Any medium


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.

WORKSHOP BASED/INSTRUCTIONAL LEARNING

A professional journalist will lead the workshops providing step-by-step on how to write, how to research, and how to interview sources for a story. A syllabus will be provided at the beginning of the session. 

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.

COMMITMENT DATES

Voices of Youth Battle Creek will be meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. on Mondays, March 4, March 11, and March 18, 2024 at the First Congregational Church, 145 Capital Ave., NE, Battle Creek. Please come to the back parking lot and someone will be there to let you inside. We meet in the large boardroom on the second floor.

Please sign up at this LINK.

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. 

PROGRAM EXPECTATIONS: 

Because this is a deadline-focused project with specific due dates for completion, attendance at all workshops is required. Communication between Participants and Mentors is critical for success.
 
Here’s what we need to know about you!

Your legal name

The name you prefer to use
 
Your preferred pronouns

Contact info: Phone number, email, physical address

Parent or Guardian contact information 

• You will be asked to sign a Letter of Agreement that outlines the expectations as mentioned above. 

This is an opportunity to learn, grow, and build your high school experience resume! To register click here. 

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