Inspiring young men of color to share their truth

(Sara O'Brien, Poynter)
I want to leave you with a story that will surely put a much-needed smile on your face. Earlier this week, 30 African American and Hispanic young men graduated from Poynter’s Write Field program. The Write Field is a 10-month enrichment program that helps improve the writing, public speaking skills, and confidence of local middle and high school male students. In a city with one of the nation’s highest dropout rates, our studies show that more than two-thirds of the Write Field participants boast of higher grades, including straight A’s and dean’s list accomplishments.
During the virtual graduation ceremony, several students read excerpts from their writings that gave attendees a brief, special view of their world. I felt so honored just to be able to hear these young men’s amazing stories.
If there’s a young man of color in your life who may be interested in enrolling in the 2020/2021 program, please email [email protected]. And for any high school student interested in journalism (or who has a college application essay to write!), we created an online program this July (which is still accepting applications through June 26).
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