Students at Paul Robeson High School. Photo by Tatiana Minters.

Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in our Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with Paul Robeson High School. The UYIJP is generously funded by the McCormick Foundation.

“I don’t like this school, Robeson is boring, class is boring, and teachers are boring, they are teaching baby work and stuff that is not on our level or getting us ready for college.” said Jameesha Shields, 17, a senior who has been at Paul Robeson since her freshman year.

My name is Tatiana Minter and I’m a senior at Paul Robeson High School. Paul Robeson High School is a 4-year school located in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It mainly is fully of African American students and a mix of African American and white teachers. Seems like every time I say ‘Paul Robeson,’ the first thing that comes out of someone’s mouth is “Why you go to that school?” or “It be crackin’, don’t it?” I know Robeson has a bad reputation with many people who don’t even attend the school but since I do, I thought it would be a good idea to tell my story and those of my classmates.

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Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in our Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with Paul Robeson High School. The UYIJP is generously funded by the McCormick Foundation.

I am a senior at Paul Robeson’s High School, and I am a member in Robeson’s poetry group started by Ms. Twine the poetry coach we call Endless Words.   I joined the group Endless Words January 30, 2014 and we talked about upcoming events. But in order to be a part of the event you had to recite a poem to the poetry coach Ms. Twine. Ms. Twine needed to hear a recited poem because one of the events was scheduled three days after the practice day. So we only had a day to write the poem and one day to practice the poem, which she wanted us to memorize. The event was called “Louder than a Bomb”.

Louder than a Bomb was held at Columbia College in Chicago at 2 p.m. It was a small auditorium and our group, Endless Words, was competing against other schools like Simeon and Harper. There was a DJ playing music and then a speaker came up to tell us some rule. Points were taken off for profanity but the space is supposed to be like your living room, so we were encouraged to be comfortable, but to please respect the microphone. A member from each competing group had to come up and pull a card with an alphabet on them to determine the speaking order. Our group was second to speak. I was last to go out of our group and it was very nerve-wracking. I walked upon the stage and looked at the judges, and then I noticed every pair of eyes in the room was on me. My heart dropped while there was total silence. I tapped to check the microphone; I took a deep breath and spoke.

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Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in our Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with Paul Robeson High School. The UYIJP is generously funded by the McCormick Foundation.

When a student gets in trouble at Paul Robeson High School, they are immediately sent to the Dean of Students, Ms. Maxwell. That is, unless you’re an athlete, in which case you will be sent to the head coach of your sport.

I can certainly understand how it appears that student-athletes get special treatment. However, the average fan or student doesn’t get to see the whole picture. All student-athletes are accountable for their behaviors/actions just like everyone else. The process is the same (discussion with the Dean) for everyone BUT for athletes, their coaches are notified of their behavior and they may no longer be a Robeson Raider. Every athlete that takes the field is expected to show high character, respect and leadership on the field of competition. The coaches expect the student-athletes to illustrate the same principles in class and throughout the hallways. When the expectation is not met, the student-athlete has to face the consequences from both Ms. Maxwell and their coach.

Some students at Paul Robeson High School feel that this is unfair.

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Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in our Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with the New Memorial Baptize Church. Students participated in a field trip to see “State of Deception,” a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The UYIJP is generously funded by the McCormick Foundation.

My experience at the Field Museum was awesome. I learned about the Holocaust and the important role Hitler played in the history of killing over 6 million Jewish people. The Holocaust was influenced by various posters displaying propaganda (images and words that make people change their way of living). Hitler was the dictator of Germany during the years of the Holocaust. He used the posters and radio broadcasting to convince the German people to hate the Jews.

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A poster that was part of the U.S. Holocaust Museum exhibit “State of Deception: Nazi Propaganda and the Holocaust.”

Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in our Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with the New Memorial Baptize Church. Students participated in a field trip to see “State of Deception,” a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The UYIJP is generously funded by the McCormick Foundation.

My experience at the Field Museum viewing the Holocaust exhibit was interesting and learning-full. I learned a lot about the leader Adolf Hitler and how he was able to persuade people that what he did was right. Adolf Hitler used propaganda to persuade people. Some examples of propaganda were posters, letters and pictures. This was a huge part of the Holocaust.
The Holocaust itself was a movement basically. Nazi soldiers who were under the leadership of Adolf Hitler killed and tortured many Jews only because they were Jewish. Read more »

A poster commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the hallway of Paul Robeson High School. Photo by Delilah Baker.

Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in our Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with Donoghue Elementary School. The UYIJP is generously funded by the McCormick Foundation.

Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the civil rights movement. Sadly, he was shot. He was a great leader and a pastor following in his father’s footsteps. King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was very little when he first wondered why blacks and whites were segregated. He didn’t graduate from high school, but instead went straight to Morehouse College at the age of 15.  Then, in 1954, he became a pastor at the age of 25.

He married Coretta Scott and had four children, named Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter and Bernice. King was very passionate. He met Rosa Parks at the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He was angry about the way blacks were treated and how the whites were treated better than them.

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Student athletes at Paul Robeson High School. Photo by Reggie Brown.

Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in our Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with Donoghue Elementary School. The UYIJP is generously funded by the McCormick Foundation.

At Donoghue Elementary School, athletes have to focus in class and, after a hard day in class, work hard on sports teams. School athletes have to focus and do good all day long. If you get in trouble in school, you only get one chance on the team.

“First thing you’re always supposed to do is your homework,” said AJ, a Donoghue athlete. “And do your work or you will get kicked off the basketball team.”

You get a disciplinarian action in class by your teacher, and from your coach. If you choose not to deal with the consequences you will get kicked off the team.

“If you miss more than one assignment, you will miss practices or a game,” AJ said. “If you have more than one tardy you miss practice still.”

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Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in our Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with Paul Robeson High School in the Englewood neighborhood. Students participated in a field trip to see “State of Deception,” a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The UYIJP is generously funded by the McCormick Foundation.

Many of my classmates don’t know about the Holocaust so I did some research and found some important facts such as Propaganda was used to convince Germans that Adolf Hitler was their perfect leader. Adolf Hitler convinced them to vote for him as dictator of Germany. Hitler made himself sound like a savior and a hero and encouraged “pure German” descendants to follow him. Hitler had plans to create a better world – but just for himself and his followers, which he did by starting with the Holocaust.
“The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators,” according to the U.S. Holocaust Museum web site. This lasted from December 1933 to June 1945 and it happened in the heart of Europe. The Germans believed that their race was somehow similar to those of gods and that they should run everything.  Dictionary.com states the word Holocaust is a Greek word origin meaning “sacrifice by fire.”

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Editor’s Note: The video above was filmed by a student in our advanced J-201 level of the Urban Youth International Journalism Program. The UYIJP is generously funded by theMcCormick Foundation:

Last year, I had the privilege of interviewing Avirama Golan, a columnist for the Haaretz, one of the most important Israeli newspapers. Ms. Golan talked about the time she saw then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama visit an Israeli town that was under attack from rockets. Even back then, she was very impressed with Obama and now he is our president. Click above to see more of our interview.

Editor’s Note: The video above was filmed by a student in our Eco Youth Reporters program, conducted in conjunction with award-winning journalist Kari Lydersen and Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. The Eco Youth Reporters program is generously funded by theMcCormick Foundation:

This summer, the Eco Youth reporters really built up our writing and reporting skills as we learned about the issues with managing our environment. Click above to peek in on one of our meetings from this July to learn how we did it!