JSR Enhances Writing and Leadership Skills
JSR is a prestigious program and it is achieving more with every semester. We're proud this semester that one of our student editors, Valencia High's Angela Kim, was selected to be part of this year's Princeton Summer Journalism Program -- a program so exclusive that it only accepts around 25 students per year! With this next semester, we are joining the Southern
California Journalism Education Association (SCJEA), which will bring our students more opportunities to compete and win accolades.
One reason why students love JSR is that it does more than just publish their work -- it educates them. Through weekly reading lists, field trips to media
articulation, and personal
responsibility. Students learn more than journalism in JSR; it is also a leadership program that equips them with the skills to be successful in
school and in life.
It is because of this that we're growing. JSR students have been producing such quality work that in the past year the program has expanded from one page per week to three.
According to Sung Choi, a new student reporter this semester, "Writing skills are among the most powerful tools that students can use. Colleges expect students to have good writing skills and not a lot of students have these writing skills. This means that they are not prepared for college. The best way to improve writing skills is to write a lot and get corrected by professionals. [JSR] gives students that chance to improve writing skills."
Correspondents for the program have a tremendous amount of freedom to choose an pursue topics that interest them, and they do! Over the past few months, students have completed stunning and compelling work about the Korean American experience, the pressures of gender and racial expectations on high school students, the challenges of growing up in the digital world, and more.
Through these reports, our students are finding their voices and learning how to make themselves heard.
Additionally, as the only
English-language, youth-oriented section of the Korea Daily, the JSR section is also an
essential bridge between the Korean American youth of Southern California and the generations of immigrants who have come before them.
Sung Choi interviewed his student editor, Jay Choi, to learn more about what it is like to be a leader in the
program.
According to Jay Choi, "JSR allows students the chance to... work cooperatively with their peers. Also, students who want deeper involvement in the program can apply to be an editor, which gives them further responsibilities like being in charge of a group of student writers and leaving constructive criticism on their groups' articles."
Jay Choi continued, "The JSR program exposes students to the experience of writing articles for a major newspaper, receiving edits gracefully, seeing how newspapers are made through a field trip to a major newspaper, and managing deadlines. You can also see the fruits of your efforts if your article gets chosen to be published in the digital or print form of the newspaper, which is a nice, encouraging reward."
To learn more and to sign up for JSR, please visit
jstudentboard.com/reporter/join-jsr. The fee for new
students is $500/semester, while continuing students pay $350. JSR offers discounts to students who refer other
students to the program.