During our morning focus group, we discussed how to best capture student voice in our publication. A few of those attending asserted that it was not the duty of the high school’s resident news magazine to cater to the whims of the generally-apathetic student body. Others argued that it is the job of a publication to make readers take interest by including stories that are relevant to them. To increase student interest in little-read publications, some suggested juxtaposing pop-culture coverage (including movie, book, and TV reviews) with stories exploring serious social issues. Representatives from one publication explained how they hold focus groups with students and newspaper staff wherein students are given the opportunity to pitch story ideas. Another idea students addressed was to ask English teachers to offer extra credit to those who write letters to the editor. I found this suggestion particularly clever because I think it would benefit The Red and White, my high school’s newspaper. Because I come from a small school with few creative outlets for student voice, our newsmagazine is read by almost everyone. However, we as editors often struggle because we aren’t receiving any feedback from our readers. Many high school students are reserved when it comes to discussing serious political or social issues, so it’s hard to gauge how the student body responded to various editorials or articles. Hopefully, implementing a “letter to the editor” section would get people talking and, more importantly, thinking critically about serious issues presented in articles.

We were later joined by journalistic jack-of-all-trades, Howard Shapiro, who works for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Shapiro spoke to us about the struggles and the rewards of working as a journalist. To say that the profession doesn’t pay well is an understatement. Hours are long, stress is high, and deadlines are unrelenting. But the payoffs are numerous. Shapiro recalled spending the afternoon tooling around Manhattan with Whoopi Goldberg, and learning Sudoku from the world’s best while covering a local tournament. The prospect of experiences like these intrigue me. Working for a small-town high school newspaper, I tend to view news as either nonexistent or insufferably mundane. Exposure to a working big-city journalist reminded me that big stories do exist, that truly unique and interesting people do cross paths with journalists who persevere.

I relished the opportunity to meet with like-minded young people who value the unique student voice that high school publications provide. My only disappointment was the lack of participation from Philadelphia and other Pennsylvania schools. Hopefully, we as student journalists can unite and spread the word about the benefits of a student-run student voice publication. We are fortunate enough to come from a state with a supportive and useful resource: The Pennsylvania School Press Association. We might as well take advantage of it. Hopefully, this meeting can become an annual tradition for PSPA, with increasing attendance every year. I walked away with renewed enthusiasm and journalistic inspiration – well-worth the three-hour drive from my hometown.