Progress

Extra extra! Read all about City Schools!

Across Baltimore, students are creating media outlets, publishing original stories, taping topical news shows and using their unique voices to share their perspectives with their school communities. And as part of this process, they’re building foundational skills in areas such as public speaking, writing, videography, and collaboration. 

“It’s exciting and important for us to give students as many formal and informal ways to express themselves as possible,” explained Tenne` Thrower, Youth & Community Engagement Administrator. “These media experiences do that and more, helping them explore what advocacy, leadership, and journalism looks like.” 

Check out just a few of City Schools’ student-led media outlets and publications: 

• At Samuel Coleridge Taylor Elementary, students broadcast a school newscast every morning. WBAL-TV featured these budding journalistic stars earlier this year. Check it out here. 
   
• Students at MERVO recently restarted a long-time school tradition - the Mustang Chronicle school newspaper! Check out the front page of the first edition here. 
   
• At Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, students are getting creative by releasing The 2023 Poly Journal featuring their compelling creative writing. Read the inspiring publication here. 
   
• Every year, the district’s Student Media Team shares district-wide and school-specific updates on City Schools TV (channel 77), the City Schools website, and the City Schools YouTube channel. Participants in this popular after-school program regularly produce news segments, including: 
  • The Off the Grid podcast features in-depth discussions aimed at supporting and encouraging reflection on topics like mental health, leadership, stigma, and self-preservation. Check out the first episode here! 
  • In early May, the Student Media Team partnered with MRI-Media Rhythm Institute for Post Production Media Boot Camp for City Schools students, teaching them the basics of video editing like a pro. Students worked with industry professional A'sia Horne-Smith of The Hue Collective at MRI Studios for a Post Production Bootcamp and one student won a free laptop! Learn more about the Student Media Team in this recent Progress Report story. 
     
• Baltimore School for the Arts debuted its student paper, BSA Muse, earlier this year. The paper included school community news and student-written op-eds! Read all about it in Baltimore Magazine. 
   
• Students at the Academy for College and Career Exploration (ACCE) create “news from around the school” segments with interviews with fellow students and school updates. Check out a recent episode here.  
   
• Heaven and Grace, two students at Hampstead Hill Academy, have created the Buzz Podcast of interviews and updates. Check it out!