During the summer of 2022, two students of Lead News from Leadership and Public High School, had an amazing opportunity to participate in the Editor Bootcamp program which was hosted by Lara Bergen who is the founder of Press Pass NYC since October, 2021. 

The Editor Bootcamp program started from Aug.1 to Aug. 5 and continues through the end of the  school year.  Press Pass NYC mission is to amplify student voices and inspire civic leadership through scholastic journalism. Through this program these students learned about how to interview people and what types of questions to ask them, such as open-ended questions because it’s what keeps them from a short response. They also learned, how to identify what is newsworthy and how to make a specific topic stand out, especially when it is something very controversial.

 Press Pass wanted these students to experience what it’s like to be journalists. They also learned that journalism can be represented in many ways, such as podcasts, photography, newspapers and many more.  

“Journalism means so many things to me!” According to Lara Bergan. “ For one, it’s how we all get accurate and helpful information, whether we realize it or not. Because of that, I think it’s one of society’s most important institutions. I also think it’s a wonderful way to connect with people – and connect other people to each other!”

The structure of a newspaper is also especially important because it is the way to captivate the audience’s attention, keep them engaged. Also, it’s a fundamental way to increase audience participation.

This opportunity was incredibly fun and helpful. Some students like senior Denisse Merino, and junior Ana Rezende had such an incredible time learning and experiencing visits to King’s College, IHeartRadio and Baruch College. They saw how King’s College receives students all over the world and learned about what the school has to offer to students and what their day-to-day life would look like.

They had so many opportunities from Press Pass and made connections with incredibly talented people  and really smart students from different schools who were proposing splendid ideas. 

By Joining the newspaper club you could do so much. This newspaper club is a resource where your voice can be heard by students, teachers, schools and even the outside world. This is also a great source of how you could get into colleges. Journalism isn’t limited to newspapers only, but it’s also presented in podcasts, photography, videos, movies and many more media..

If anyone is interested in joining please see Ms.Ibanez or Mr. Vadim, on the 11th floor of Leadership and Public Services High School. On this upcoming November 7, Monday, 9:00-3:00 we are having a student Journalism Conference at Columbia University in Manhattan. This is another incredible opportunity our entire team of lead newspapers are interested in. 

Ana and Denisse said it was the best decision they made for an after- school and summer program.