PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs is a hands-on student journalism training program that connects young people to real-world experiences. 1 out of the 26 students is Oxford High School’s very own Caroline Berry. Berry is the head captain of the OHS Dance Team and the editor-in-chief of the OHS newspaper, The Charger.
PBS NewsHour does not have too vigorous of an application process. It only includes two short parts.
“It was not a super extensive application,” Berry said. “I had to answer a few free responses questions that kind of asked me about topics I found newsworthy in my community and what the best way to mark certain news that I felt needed to be covered. I had to upload a résumé and a headshot as well.”
Berry does many things for the program. She edits articles before they get posted and helps others finish them when she can. Formulating ideas is super important before the team meets over Zoom.
“We meet about once a month, sometimes twice a month over Zoom,” Berry said. “Everyone is super hard-working and pretty dedicated to the program. I would say lots of new ideas are brought to the table at every meeting and everyone is super pretty participatory.”
After discussing ideas, they gradually form a solid discussion about a specific topic to start writing about.
“This month we are having a lot of discussion about antimicrobial resistance and what that looks like in a post-COVID era,” Berry said.
Berry and the rest of the PBS NewsHour team of students also participate in their school’s media programs, newspapers, and magazines. Berry feels that working with PBS has helped her in her program.
“This program has most definitely helped with my school newspaper,” Berry said. “It helps me get a good perspective on really finding stories that are not just surface level, but looking for human interest and the things that do not necessarily come to your mind when you first think of high school news stories.”
Junior Kendall Kipping, opinions editor for The Charger, works very closely with Berry on the newspaper and the Charger Update. She can see that Berry takes article writing very seriously and has a true passion for it.
“I’m extremely proud of Caroline for her work for The Charger and PBS,” Kipping said. “It’s given her much inspiration and motivation to work even harder on our school’s newspaper.”
Berry believes that working with PBS in this program is making her better academically and as a person overall.
“I think more than anything PBS is making an impact on me,” Berry said. “Being part of PBS students improves my application process. I think it helped prepare me with the terms of writing about my community and the challenges I face that have helped foster the person I’ve become today.”
