Announcing the 2022 Student Journalism Challenge: My Education, My Future

Do your students challenge you with tough questions? Are they looking for ways to explore the issues they care about most?

Asking questions is a fundamental ingredient of education. It’s how students express curiosity and develop as learners and as people. It’s also the most important element of journalism. This is why XQ is proud to sponsor the 2022 Student Journalism Challenge: My Education, My Future, run by PBS Student Reporting Labs and WETA. It invites students ages 13-18 nationwide to report on a variety of topics that illustrate what their lives are like during these tumultuous times, and what matters most to them in their schools and communities.

This is a challenge that’s core to XQ’s vision. We believe young people everywhere deserve vibrant high schools, which prepare students with the skills and experiences to think critically, solve problems correctly, and communicate effectively. We’ve identified these in our learner outcomes and in our design principles, which encourage giving students more voice and choice in every aspect of learning.

The 2022 Student Journalism Challenge asks students to use their voices for thinking critically about issues that directly affect their lives. For example, does high school prepare them for the future? What’s working in education and what isn’t? Do they wonder about challenges or obstacles that seem to affect some teens more than others? And how has the pandemic affected student mental health?

Applicants can tell their stories through audio, video, or written articles. Winners of the Student Journalism Challenge will have their work published on digital and social platforms by local PBS stations, WETA’s Well Beings youth mental health initiative, and Rethink Together.

This kind of student perspective is central to XQ’s larger goal of rethinking how high school learning is delivered and structured. “We are honored to support the Student Journalism Challenge as an invitation to the nation’s young people to share their powerful perspectives,” said XQ CEO and co-founder Russlynn Ali. “XQ powers community-driven efforts to transform high schools into places where all students are equipped to thrive in school and after graduation,” Ali added. “It’s essential that we engage students and understand what issues matter to them to drive that change.”

To learn more and get started, check out the 2022 Student Journalism Challenge.