By Kathy Chouteau
Oscar Villalobos, a senior at Making Waves Academy in Richmond, was recently selected as a reporter for the Contra Costa Youth Journalism (CCYJ) program. He joins 13 other high school students from across Contra Costa County in the current cohort.
Through CCYJ, high school students receive the opportunity to report on their schools and local communities over a six month period. The program is sponsored by the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE) in collaboration with news organizations throughout the state and the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation.
Selected students underwent a multiday journalism training camp in July at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, as well as an additional one day training at CCCOE conducted by writing coaches from CCYJ.
The students will go on to cultivate and publish their stories online—while under the mentorship of Bay Area professional journalists—at CCSpin.net, LocalNewsMatters.org and other news outlets beginning this month. The group constitutes the second CCYJ cohort.
“Journalism is a crucial aspect of this democracy and encouraging students to bring their critical thinking, research and communication skills to bear on the issues affecting their communities is something all educators should support,” said Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey.
