UNCOVERING IMPORTANT STORIES, THESE KIDS TRANSFORM THEIR OWN

It's an important but difficult task, getting kids to appreciate and participate in our democracy. It's even harder at the low end of the economic spectrum, where kids often feel their voices will never be heard.

Children's PressLine (CPL) is making a difference with a unique approach. Partnering with local and regional news outlets, CPL teaches kids to become reporters - and then helps get their stories published. Kids learn to express themselves, to represent their lives, and to uncover stories that are important to them. They also experience the empowerment of seeing those stories appear in print and on air.

Kids Become Agents of Change for Their Communities, Themselves

The students choose topics that are important to them and to their communities. They work in teams of three reporters, ages 8 to 13, and two teen editors, ages 14 to 18. Teams meet weekly to research, write and edit their stories.

Nearly 200 young people participate each year. CPL reporters have interviewed Senators John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama; Mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudolph Giuliani; Rev. Al Sharpton; Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Dennis Kucinich; and many others. More than 700 CPL stories have been published in major media, including the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, The Boston Globe, and PBS' The Online NewsHour.

The opportunities CPL creates extend well beyond the actual participants, to the thousands of young readers who are inspired by CPL articles. That's why the Catalog is proud to help CPL grow by providing three years of funding.

"Children's PressLine made me feel important at an age when most kids get ignored." -NIKKY, 15