In Spring 2022, we partnered with The Creative School, a youth empowerment and storytelling nonprofit based in Congress Heights, to teach tweens and teens the fundamentals of being a reporter. Six local queens and kings elected to spend their spring break developing these skills and getting a firsthand look at journalism as a potential career path.

Each student pitched story ideas, conducted interviews and research, and took photos. Altogether, the students wrote five stories about topics they believe are important aspects of our community.

Za'Kari and Zy'Kera Tucker interview Kush Kharod of Sunrise DC outside of a fenced-off park near Truxton Circle where a homeless encampment was forcibly removed in December to clear the area for renovations.Jenny Gathright / DCist/WAMU

Jamylah Summers interviews local youth Kayla Shawn at the Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center.DCist/WAMU

Ilana Washington interviews Mike Litterst of the National Park Service at the Tidal Basin.Eric Falquero / DCist/WAMU

Maciah King-Brooks interviews several visitors to the Embassy of Ukraine in Georgetown.Tyrone Turner / DCist/WAMU

Tamia Robinson interviews motivational speaker Antoine Johnson outside of the Kenilworth Recreation Center during the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services’s second annual “youthference” event. DCist/WAMU

This workshop was the brainchild of WAMU/DCist photojournalist Dee Dwyer. We leaned heavily on her professional experience as an educator and the idea is a direct outgrowth of her monthly Voices of Wards 7 And 8 series.

This next generation of storytellers spent two days in the classroom planning their stories, then two days in the field reporting. The Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center was our base of operations while MLK Deli supplied breakfast and lunch. At the end of the week, we spent the day at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library to get down to writing.

Visuals editor Tyrone Turner talks about his work.Eric Falquero / DCist/WAMU

Reporter Jenny Gathright introduces Jamylah Summers and Maciah King-Brooks to an audio recording kit.Tyrone Turner / DCist/WAMU

Ilana Washington photographs a plaque in a grove of cherry blossom trees at the Tidal Basin.Tyrone Turner / DCist/WAMU

Tamia Robinson discusses her work with photojournalist Dee Dwyer.Eric Falquero / DCist/WAMU

Ilana Washington works on her draft as visuals editor Tyrone Turner fields a question from Maciah King-Brooks.Eric Falquero / DCist/WAMU

Reporter Jenny Gathright explains the structure of a standard news article.Eric Falquero / DCist/WAMU

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