The Spokesman-Review's Teen Journalism Institute returns for the fourth year in a row

For many Spokane high school students, summer is defined by sunny days at the lake, scenic drives around Eastern Washington and cozy nights spent with friends and family.

But for a group of students at a local high school, this summer will be unlike any they've experienced before.

For the fourth year in a row, The Spokesman-Review is the only newspaper in the country offering paid internships to high school students. In 2021, there were four. In 2022, there were six. In 2023, there were eight.

Today, in 2024, the Spokesman-Review newsroom is home to 10 high school students from various schools across Eastern Washington.

The newspaper's Teen Journalism Institute continues to accept more students each year because many strong candidates applied as word of the program spread. Four of this year's interns This year go to Lewis and Clark, two go to North Central and the other four attend Ridgeline, Gonzaga Prep, Liberty and Bryant/TEC.

The Teen Journalism Institute, funded by a grant from Bank of America, hopes to provide these high school students with a unique opportunity to work closely with reporters and editors in The Spokesman-Review newsroom. Over an eight-week period, starting last Monday, interns will learn the basics of journalism, write news and features for publication, attend daily press briefings with editors-in-chief and interview renowned members of the Spokane community.

Even though the program has only been underway for a week, the interns are already hitting the ground running. Some are working on Hoopfest stories, another is working on a story about the public health consequences of loneliness, and others are working on election stories. Some are working on tax-collection stories, and others are helping K-12 reporters secure teen sources and find story tips. Each of them already has their hands full with stories, and the summer is just beginning.

This year is also the first time the interns have a designated editor, Alayna Shulman, to help them along their journalism journey. They also have me, a former assistant who graduated from the program in 2022, to provide additional support as they adjust to the inner workings of a newsroom.

In a world marked by uncertainty about the future, this promotion of interns is the fourth edition of a project which aims to transform high school students into competent young journalists.

Journalism is essential to the proper functioning of democracy. Young people are the future of our democracy. So why not combine the two to make something worthwhile?