It’s May, and the end of the school year is fast approaching. 🏃‍♀️

Our most recent episodes of P.S. Weekly cover teacher morale, first-generation students’ challenges with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and uneven sex-education standards across New York City. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Plus, check out a behind-the-scenes look at our trip to SXSW EDU in a multimedia blog post we published with the Siegel Family Endowment, which generously supported our trip to the conference.

Apply now for the Summer Youth Podcast Academy!

Help us spread the word about our Summer Youth Podcast Academy internship!

• Program dates: August 4 – 22

• Weekdays 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. in lower Manhattan

• Workshops from industry professionals

• Make your own podcast episode!

• Field trips to media companies

• $500 stipend + daily lunch allowance

• Open to NYC public high school students

• Application deadline: Sunday, May 18

Inside The New Yorker: NYC student reporters talk shop with industry leaders

During spring break, our Miseducation and P.S. Weekly interns had the opportunity to meet with David Remnick, editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, and the co-hosts of the magazine’s Critics at Large podcast: Vinson Cunningham, Alexandra Schwartz and Naomi Fry. They discussed the evolution of news and media consumption, how The New Yorker is responding to censorship threats, and the vital role of youth journalism. The group also observed a studio taping of a Critics at Large episode about depictions of war in film. Special thanks to our P.S. Weekly executive producer Ave Carrillo for arranging this unforgettable experience.

NYC student reporters go behind the scenes at CNN

The spring break highlights continued with a visit to CNN’s offices in Hudson Yards. Our students toured CNN’s museum, stepped inside state-of-the-art broadcast and podcast studios, engaged in a Q&A about the ins and outs of podcasting at CNN, and even got to sit in Anderson Cooper’s chair! They left feeling energized and inspired to pursue future opportunities in the media. Special thanks to Dan Dzula, director of production operations, for generously showing us around, walking us through a day in the life of an audio engineer, and making us feel at home.

Mississippi student reporters interview frontrunner for Jackson mayor

A couple of weeks ago, student reporters at our Jackson Youth Newsroom conducted an exclusive interview with John Horhn, Jackson’s Democratic nominee for mayor. The wide-ranging interview covered youth opportunities and employment, parks and recreation, crime and safety, and whether Horhn supports lowering the voting age to 16 in future local elections. (Spoiler alert: He does not.) Stay tuned for the video interview, which we’ll publish soon on our JYN website.

Student journalists address candidates at youth-led NYC mayoral forum

On April 17, two of our student journalists, Roberto Bailey and Natalie Viderman, participated in a youth-led mayoral forum hosted by Next100 and The Century Foundation. They posed questions to State Senator Jessica Ramos, former Assemblymember Michael Blake, and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams about their commitments to support legal residents and their stances on the number of police officers in the subway system. Stay tuned for an upcoming P.S. Weekly episode about the issues that matter most to young people in the upcoming NYC mayoral election — and watch a full recording of the forum here.

Featured student opportunities

The Pulitzer Center is accepting submissions for the eighth annual Fighting Words Poetry Contest. K–12 students are invited to submit poems that explore current events and help connect global issues to local and personal contexts. Prizes range from $75 to $300. Learn more and submit here by May 11.

GirlTalk is accepting applications from female-identifying individuals to join their leadership team! This is an opportunity to contribute to a bimonthly online magazine dedicated to empowering young women to start and spread the discussion of important topics surrounding intersectional feminism, gender, and other related issues. Apply here by May 15.

FlyPaper, a Chicago-based hip-hop magazine, seeks article contributions from teens around the globe. Articles should lean into the writer’s personal style and must be hip-hop adjacent. For more information, email montanabutsh@gmail.com and send your first draft by May 15.  

South Asian Journalists Association is offering up to $30,000 in scholarships for up to six undergraduate and graduate students. Learn more and apply here by May 16.

The New York Historical is accepting applications for its Tech Scholars: Podcasting internship. In this week-long program, NYC teens collaborate to produce a season of the Through Fresh Eyes podcast, honing their storytelling, technology, and research skills. Learn more and apply here by May 19. 

The Student Press Law Center is accepting applications for the annual New Voices Student Leaders Institute. This free, online program is designed to help student journalists improve leadership and organizing skills and identify strategies to expand student press freedom. The Institute will run half-days on July 15–17 and July 22–24. Learn more and apply by May 28.

From the archives

Alumni spotlight: Shoaa Khan

“Since my time at The Bell, I have been continuing my education at Lehigh University, where I am majoring in psychology. My experiences at The Bell have strengthened my passion for education and equity, which I am now pursuing through my coursework and campus involvement. I help my fellow undergraduates develop their ideas and edit assignments as a peer writing coach, and I’m working to develop learning modules that support the needs of neurodivergent students as a social impact fellow. I am excited to continue building on the values I found at The Bell: community, growth, confidence, and the importance of proper education. Being part of The Bell felt like finding a second family, and no matter where I end up, I will always carry that sense of home with me.”

– Shoaa Khan, Miseducation ‘22-23; P.S. Weekly ‘24

Photo of the month

In April, Mira and Sabrina attended a beautiful Passover Seder hosted by CJ Sánchez, our colleague who directs the Youth Journalism Coalition. It was a memorable night of song, community, matzo-ball soup, and discussions of our visions for a more just future.

Help us grow our programs to reach more students.