Writing Our Future: Our Towns, Our Stories

“In the middle of it I actually got stuck. I had nothing to write. But then we did a group review. … That really helped because I got a different point of view.” —Christine, Student, Berryville High School

What happens when you ask students to research and share stories of interest to them and their communities? Hear students from Berryville High School in Arkansas about their experience with the Our Towns, Our Stories project as part of the National Writing Project’s (NWP) Civic Journalism Initiative.

0:00 Introductions
1:11 What were your expectations before starting your profile writing process?
2:38 About the Interview process
5:43 What was it like getting words on paper?
9:48 About the peer review process
11:49 About the process of using mentor texts
12:06 What did you discover about yourself as a writer
13:09 How do you hope your published piece will impact the readers?
15:21 What advice to somebody who decided to write a profile piece?
18:23 How does it feel to have your work published?

About Our Towns, Our Stories

NWP’s Civic Journalism Initiative aimed to create a powerful and spreadable model for engaging youth as local journalists on issues of public concern in their communities. Educators worked alongside youth to compose and tell these stories. This initiative was supported through funding by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and was designed by teachers and youth from Writing Project sites across the country.

The website also contained learning modules to help teachers, or students working independently, learn such forms as the profile essay, the op-ed, the open letter, and more.

Civic Journalism Modules

• Editorial Cartoons—This module supports youth in creating their own cartoons to editorialize issues that matter to them.
• Humans of our Place—This module supports youth in learning from the Humans of New York blog to create their own “Humans of their Place” story.
• The Profile Essay—This module supports youth in using a range of profile essays as mentor texts to learn how to create their own.
• The Op-Ed/Guest Essay—This module supports youth in creating a 450-word text-based Op-Ed or guest editorial based on the NYTimes Learning Network’s student editorial contest.
• The Open Letter—This module supports youth in creating an open letter based on the NYTimes Learning Network’s student open letter contest and famous mentor texts.
• The Perspectives Audio Essay—This module supports youth in creating an audio essay based on KQED public media’s “Perspectives” broadcast.
• The American Creed Inspired Photo with Caption —This module supports youth in being inspired by photos taken by American Creed cast members to take and curate photos in their community to tell a story they want to share. (More about the PBS American Creed project…)
• The American Creed Inspired Photo Essay—This module supports youth inspired by photos and photo essays composed by American Creed cast members to similarly tell a story from their community.
• Coming soon! Sports Journalism—This module supports youth in reporting on real-time sporting events in their own communities.

Additional Civic Journalism Resources

• Journalism Toolkit curated by the Greater Madison Area Writing Project
• Lessons in Photography: Consent and Photography curated by Working Assumptions
• Toolkits and Guides from Solutions Journalism
• Journalism in Action from PBS Newshour
• News Literacy Project