by Li Keira Yin | 7 Apr 2021 | Americas, China, Contest winners, Contests, Culture, Educators' Catalog, Identity, Immigration, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Thacher School, Youth Voices
Born in China, I decided to study in the U.S. I love my home country but harbor guilt as I become less and less Chinese over time. Photo by Markus Winkler This story was a runner-up in News Decoder’s Ninth Storytelling Contest. Artist’s Statement: I grew up in...
Growing up means eventually coming to terms with one’s upbringing. Doing so can be especially challenging for young people straddling different cultures. In a five-stanza poem, Li Keira Yin of The Thacher School explores the contradictions between the world of her Chinese grandparents and her life at a boarding school in the United States. News Decoder helps young people around the world extend their horizons and learn to appreciate different viewpoints. Some have the advantage of confronting opposing outlooks at an early age, and Yin demonstrates her maturity in reconciling the inherent antagonism between her two very distinct cultures.
Exercise: Ask each student to identify a fault line within their family and to write an essay or poem that is sympathetic to each side.
by Akvile Seleviciute and Auguste Sturlyte | 31 Mar 2021 | Art, Climate change, Contest winners, Contests, Environment, European School Brussels, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Students in Brussels are engaging in an art protest to show the world that it’s time to make far-reaching changes to avert a climate catastrophe. A sketch of “The Writing’s on the Wall,” by Amélie Zimmermann This story was a runner-up in News...
by Lucy Jaffee | 24 Feb 2021 | Americas, Climate change, Contest winners, Contests, Educators' Catalog, Environment, La Jolla Country Day School, Student Posts, United States, Youth Voices
Most Americans want schools to teach about global warming. But skeptics and lack of teacher training make it hard to implement climate change education. Students learn about water filtration as part of their climate literacy curriculum in Portland, Oregon, 30 January...
Climate deniers have lost the political high ground in the United States, but the struggle to combat global warming has only just begun. Lucy Jaffee of La Jolla Country Day School explores why teaching about climate change can help reduce carbon emissions, but also why U.S. schools are having such a hard time fostering climate literacy. She interviewed a local expert and two teachers in her examination of the challenges schools face in meeting the expectations of parents who want climate change in the curriculum. Ask your students to explore how climate change is being taught in their school, and if not, why not?
by Christina MacCorkle | 26 Jan 2021 | Americas, Asia, Contest winners, Contests, Donald Trump, Educators' Catalog, Future of Democracy, Human Rights, Joe Biden, Politics, Student Posts, Thacher School, Youth Voices
A pro-democracy movement in South Korea offers lessons to two U.S. social movements — against police brutality and for a defeated ex-president. Black Lives Matter protesters hold their phones aloft in Portland, Oregon, 20 July 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) This story...
Sociologists are the first to admit they are apt to speak their own tongue, so reporting on sociological research can tie even experienced reporters in knots. And high school students are not always interested in events of half a century ago. So it’s a rare pleasure when a student connects a pro-democracy movement in South Korea during the 1960s and ‘70s with social movements in the United States today, and renders sociology understandable to the untrained ear in the process. Christina MacCorkle of The Thacher School takes academic research about a country far from her school’s California campus and connects it to current events in the U.S., using simple language to convey complex academic arguments. Many students are trained to write academic essays, but MacCorkle enlightens those of us outside of academia.
by Elena Townsend-Lerdo | 23 Dec 2020 | Contest winners, Contests, Educators' Catalog, Human Rights, Student Posts, Thacher School, United States, Youth Voices
Prisoners run a newspaper from inside a California jail. The monthly raises awareness of social justice issues and offers a new chance to convicts. Jonathan Chiu (Photo by Christie Goshe) This story won a third prize in News Decoder’s Ninth Storytelling Contest....
Elena Towsend-Lerdo introduces us to a convicted murderer who finds redemption at a newspaper run by prisoners in California’s oldest jail. The San Quentin News is online and accessible to readers around the world. Townsend-Lerdo interviews Jonathan Chiu, who was released after serving 16 years of his 50-year sentence, and a journalism professor who trains prisoners, providing first-hand insight into incarceration and rehabilitation. Those are meaty issues, but the student at La Jolla Country Day School avoids sweeping statements to offer us a peek into the U.S. criminal justice system and a unique path to atonement. Who could your students interview to learn about criminal justice?
by Nelson Graves | 14 Dec 2020 | African Leadership Academy, Contests, Hewitt, La Jolla Country Day School, News Decoder Updates, Youth Voices
Stories about West Africa, by Africans, dominated News Decoder’s latest Storytelling Contest, which showcases original work by young authors. Winning stories looked at West Africa and freedom of speech in the United States. Three students from the African...
by Tendayi Chirawu | 11 Dec 2020 | Contests, News Decoder Updates, Youth Voices
A three-person jury of professionals has judged entries in News Decoder’s 8th Storytelling Contest. The winners will be announced next week. For Tim Agnew, a juror in News Decoder’s 8th Storytelling Contest, reading the submissions was a learning...
by Angela Gu | 13 May 2020 | Chadwick School, Contests, Friends Seminary, News Decoder Updates, School Year Abroad, Thacher School, Youth Voices
Students tackled topics from homelessness to hip hop. Entries on COVID-19 and the environment copped the prizes in our storytelling contest. Charles Gorrivan of the Friends Seminary school in New York and Claire Wang of School Year Abroad France have won first prize...
by Savannah Jenkins | 18 Dec 2019 | Contests, Indiana University, News Decoder Updates, School Year Abroad, Thacher School
Claire Wang and Christine Fernando win first prize in News-Decoder’s Storytelling Contest with articles on French protests and U.S. immigration. story telling contest U5 Natural disaster at feild storytelling contest storytelling contest bullet storytelling...
by Alexandra Gray | 15 May 2019 | Contests, News Decoder Updates, Youth Voices
Women’s rights, identity and mental health — social and political issues dominated winning entries in News-Decoder’s multimedia storytelling contest. Images from the winning stories in our contest. Six students on four continents have won prizes in...