Journalism Program Provides Academic Enrichment

Journalism Program Provides Academic Enrichment

     The After School Journalism Program in the Mountain View School District (MVSD) continues to provide effective instruction for English Language learners, emphasizing the development of academic language skills for students.  The successful program has been offered at MVSD’s schools for eight years, benefitting hundreds of students. 

     The Journalism Program is a 10-week program, offered in two sessions each school year.  For the first session of the 2019-2020 school year, 107 students from nine schools participated including Baker, Cogswell, Maxson, Miramonte, Monte Vista, Parkview, Payne, Twin Lakes and Voorhis.  Over the course of the 10-week session, the student journalists explored multiculturalism as they were immersed in reading, speaking, listening, writing and learning about the field of journalism and the essential skills needed to be journalist.   The young journalists learned many things including proper interviewing techniques, how to write a catchy lead and hook, how to communicate their views through informative and creative writing, and how to construct an article.      

      To enrich the learning, students attended field trips where they learned about many cultures and the value of multiculturalism.  The students traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Chinese American Museum, the Italian American Museum and Olvera Street.  While exploring these venues, the journalists were impressed with the artwork they saw and the abundance of multiculturalism featured.

     “Visiting the Chinese American Museum was very interesting,” said Monte Vista Eagle Post journalist, Juliana Peralta.

       The journalists for the Miramonte Mustang News enjoyed their field trip to Olvera Street and highly recommend that everyone visits.

      “Olvera Street is a beautiful and exciting place to visit,” journalist, Linda Uribe.  “You can learn so much about different cultures and the history of Los Angeles.  Our journalism team had a fantastic experience.”  

     After completing their field work and obtaining their research, the students began the writing process to create their articles which were published in the District student newspaper, The Mountain View Voices.  

     “I would definitely recommend being in the journalism program,” said Rosa Aguilar a journalist for the Maxson Falcon News.  “I like to write and I learned a lot in the program and had a lot of fun.”

          Dr. Margarita Gonzalez- Amador, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and English Learner Programs stated that MVSD is proud to offer the program for the District’s English learners.

       “After School Journalism is an academic enrichment program that enables students to engage in a variety of instructional strategies to improve their English vocabulary, reading and writing skills. Students put their learning into practice by experiencing the role of a journalist by gathering information, interviewing people, and writing newspaper articles.  The program also provides opportunities for cooperative learning and working in teams which are part of Common Core.”

     A special celebration was held at the end of the session where District staff, board members, family and friends gathered to acknowledge the students’ hard work and see their wonderful articles in the publication.

 

                                                                  

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