Schools around America celebrate Scholastic Journalism Week, importance of #StudentVoices

From Feb. 18-24, the Journalism Education Association (JEA) hosted Scholastic Journalism Week.  JEA’s mission is to “support free and responsible scholastic journalism by providing resources and educational opportunities, by promoting professionalism, by encouraging and rewarding student excellence and teacher achievement, and by fostering an atmosphere which encompasses diversity yet builds unity.”

As part of the celebration, JEA challenged students to “raise community consciousness” and share the importance of student voices. Each day there were different themes and hashtags. On Monday, Feb. 18 it was #MyCommunityMonday. Tuesday, Feb. 19 was #RealNews and Wednesday, Feb. 20 was #EverydayJournalism. Thursday, Feb. 21 was #SavingDemocracy and Friday, Feb. 22 was #NewVoices, #StudentVoice.

Each school day, scholastic journalists were asked to celebrate the week in class and also to their respective school communities. The Oracle asked community members what student voice means to them in the video above.