Empowering Young Voices: Tools and Strategies for Teaching Student Journalism

Are you passionate about empowering young voices and making sure their stories are heard? Join educators from PBS Student Reporting Labs and WHYY as they offer teachers the ultimate toolkit to amplify student voices both inside and outside the classroom. Through dynamic resources and hands-on activities, this professional development workshop equips teachers with everything they need to lead impactful youth media projects. Educators will gain expert strategies to sharpen students’ reporting skills, foster journalistic integrity, and keep them engaged in storytelling that matters. More than just a learning experience, this workshop is a launchpad for students to become informed, civic-minded reporters, ready to make a difference in their communities. Join us and give your students the power to tell their stories with confidence and credibility!

This professional development workshop is available to teachers, school faculty, and educators of all kinds. Following the workshop, attendees are invited to stay for a panel discussion, Free Speech and the Press: Balancing Power and Responsibility, hosted at the National Liberty Museum. For more information, visit the event page on our website.

Pennsylvania educators who attend the full PD session and panel discussion are eligible for 3 hours of Act 48 credits.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

4:30 pm Empowering Young Voices teacher professional development workshop begins

6:00 pm Free Speech and the Press panel begins, followed by Q&A with the panelists and moderator

7:30 pm Panel and Q&A concludes

8:00 pm Doors close

PRESENTERS

Marie Cusick, Editorial Director at PBS News Student Reporting Labs

Marie is passionate about elevating the voices of young people. In her role as editorial director, she collaborates with students, educators, and SRL staff to transform great ideas into powerful stories that reach wide audiences. She joined SRL in 2019 as a youth media producer. Previously, Marie was a multimedia reporter for stations in New York and Pennsylvania. She was also part of NPR’s Energy and Environment Collaborative and produced documentaries for PBS member stations. Marie’s reporting has been recognized with a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists and a national Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association.

Lisa Wilk, Director of School Partnerships at WHYY

Lisa Wilk (She/Her/Hers) has been teaching youth in Philadelphia for over a decade and is an advocate for youth produced media and community engagement. She has taught Journalism, Photography, Narrative and Documentary Filmmaking to students in grades K-12 across the city for Temple University and WHYY. She has a deep interest in helping teens engage with their community through research and multimedia storytelling. She is currently working as the Director of School Partnerships at WHYY. In this role, she serves as the station’s liaison between local school districts, teachers, funders, and evaluators. She also helped establish a partnership with PBS Newshour’s Student Reporting Labs to bring Philly teens’ voices to the national TV broadcast. In addition to teaching at WHYY, Lisa has experience working as an adjunct professor of Temple University’s Department of Journalism’s award-winning capstone course, Philadelphia Neighborhoods. She is also a certified Social Studies teacher and has worked as a freelance photographer and videographer.