Miseducation

Latest Episodes:

Missing Voices: Part 4 – Where Do We Go from Here? Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

It’s clear that disproportionate access to high school journalism is a consequence of broader education inequities. But, what about the news industry itself? In this episode, professional journalists shed light on the lack of diversity in the news industry, which is about 80% white, and less representative of the general population than other fields according to Pew Research. The lack of journalism opportunities for students of color feeds the diversity problem in the field.

Despite the odds, this has been a year of success for school newspapers, new and old. And they get their due recognition at an annual student journalism conference held at Baruch College. Great expectations, breath-holding moments of tension and unexpected triumphs all come to the fore in this fourth and final episode of Missing Voices. All eyes – and hopefully your ears – are on these high school journalists vying for glory in between the margins.

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The Missing Voices series was reported by Wesley Almanzar, Jadelyn Camey, Fredlove Deshommes, Edward Mui and Jayden Williams. Editing and production support from Sabrina DuQuesnay, Mira Gordon, Abē Levine and Taylor McGraw.

Scoring and sound mixing from Peter Leonard. Music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Made possible with support from the Education Writers Association and the Pinkerton Foundation.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Missing Voices: Part 3 – Trials and Triumphs Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

In the summer of 2022, Press Pass NYC launched a fellowship for aspiring high school student journalists. A cohort of students from around NYC began their journeys in a summer bootcamp, where they learned the basics of journalistic writing and reporting.

“It brings like a huge responsibility, knowing that you're going to take all this information and bring it back to the school,” said Ashley Conde Lopez, reporter for The Writer’s Weekly at the Academy for Young Writers in Brooklyn.

Our team followed these Press Pass Fellows from bootcamp through the school year to see the results of their training and preparation. Three schools are featured here: The Institute for Health Professions at Cambria Heights; The Academy for Young Writers; and Health, Education and Research Occupations (H.E.R.O.) High School. Can these three schools overcome the obstacles of an unequal education system to create successful student newspapers? Tune in to find out.

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Scoring and sound mixing from Peter Leonard. Music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Made possible with support from the Education Writers Association and the Pinkerton Foundation.
To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Missing Voices: Part 2 — The Quest to Revive High School Journalism Jun 26, 2023

Show notes

Seemingly every New York City high school used to have a student newspaper. That’s what we learned on our trip earlier this year to the Center for Brooklyn History’s archived high school newspaper collection. Today, few NYC high schools have student publications of any kind.

What happened? Where did all the school newspapers go? To find some answers, we sat down with Keith Hefner, founder of Youth Communication, a nonprofit that has been publishing high school students’ stories for more than 40 years.

Then, we meet the adult and students behind Press Pass NYC, an organization dedicated to bringing student newspapers back. It’s an ambitious mission. What will it take for them to succeed?
To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Missing Voices: Part 1 — Tale of Two School Newspapers Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

New York City is the media capital of the world, but not for its youth. Just one in four public high schools has a student newspaper these days. And there are big disparities in access by race and class.

In this system of haves and have nots Townsend Harris High School in Queens is definitely among the haves. Its student newspaper, The Classic, has received national recognition for hard-hitting reporting in recent years.

Meanwhile, at Pace High School in Manhattan, dedicated students and a veteran English teacher are defying the odds by building The Pacer from scratch.
To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Student Homelessness in a City of Riches Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

When you think about New York City, what do you think of? Wall Street? Fancy business ventures? The place where dreams come true? That’s certainly how I thought of it when I moved here from the Philippines at age seven.

But there’s another side to the city.

In 2021, about 1 in 10 public school students experienced some type of homelessness. That’s around 100,000 children. Quite surprising for the financial capital of the world.

In the city of billionaires and luxury brands, how could so many not have access to something as basic and foundational to life as stable housing?

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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Donate to The Bell.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

The AP Course Divide Jun 15, 2023

Show notes

In many schools across the country, high schoolers have the opportunity to take AP, or Advanced Placement, classes. These high-level courses are designed to introduce students to the rigor and expectations of higher education, and to help them get a leg up in the college application process. Some students look forward to the challenge, while others dread the stress and anxiety they bring.

In this episode, I dive into the reasons for inequitable AP access across New York City, how this reality affects students and what further actions are being taken to make change.

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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Donate to The Bell.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

The Price of Creativity Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

The transition from middle school to high school can be socially bewildering for many young people, but for New York City public school students like me it can also mean adjusting to drastically different economic and racial demographics. I went from my neighborhood school in the Bronx to a predominantly white school in Midtown, Manhattan.

At my middle school, I took an art class that had no art teacher. At my new school, the basement has ten studios completely dedicated to music. There’s also a black box theater, a dance studio, an art studio, and a film lab. These are just some of the differences I noticed.

Seeing these drastic disparities in the opportunities given to students got me thinking: if all public school students deserve an arts education, then why has a complete music and arts program become a luxury and a privilege? What do students lose when they don’t have the opportunity to explore their extracurricular passions?

Join me and a few guests as we discuss the unspoken price of creativity in New York City public schools.

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Never miss an episode! Subscribe on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher

Donate to The Bell.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Food Fight — The Battle for Better School Lunches Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act. It aimed to “provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.” More than 60 years later, Michelle Obama championed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which required schools to provide students with healthier lunches. Since 2017, New York City has provided free breakfast and lunch to all public school students.

These acts and reforms are great; they seek to ensure that all students receive nutritional meals at school. But in practice, let’s just say the results are… mixed.

Students sit and eat in the cafeteria every day, and yet conversations about education often leave out this crucial element of our daily lives as students.

In this episode I document the quality of school lunches through the perspective of those who eat them, students. I also chat with one of my teachers, who used to help develop school lunch menus and guided me in my search for answers about how lunchtime can be improved.

Get ready listeners, because we’re about to have a food fight!

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Never miss an episode! Subscribe on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher

Donate to The Bell.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Locked Up Phones Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

When I was in seventh grade, something changed in my school. The administration at the Bronx Academy of Letters was implementing a strange new policy called “Yondr.” Haven’t heard of it? Neither had I.

Yondr is a company that makes lockable pouches for smartphones to create “phone-free spaces for artists, educators, organizations, and individuals.” The idea is that it helps with student learning by removing distractions from the classroom.

As you might expect, students had some questions about the new policy, many of which I was wondering myself: Is the Yondr phone policy underestimating student maturity? How is the policy affecting student-teacher relationships?

To get some answers, I talk to teachers, my principal, students who have experience with Yondr and even representatives from the company. Listen to this episode to for an inside look at the impact of restrictive cell phone policies on schools like mine.

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Never miss an episode! Subscribe on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher

Donate to The Bell.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Responding to Racism in Schools Jun 09, 2023

Show notes

At my high school, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens, almost two thirds of the student body identify as people of color. When students witnessed a teacher make a racially insensitive comment during class, they knew something had to be done. The administration stepped in and facilitated a restorative circle, but the impacted students left feeling unsatisfied.

This incident offers a lens into an ongoing debate about how teachers and school staff should handle acts of racial discrimination to properly protect students of color in public schools.

In this episode, I went looking for answers. I spoke with students who are active members of my school’s Black Student Union, one of my guidance counselors and my vice principal to figure out what needs to happen for our school to live up to its anti-racist commitment. Plus, I spoke with the NYC Department of Education’s Student Voice Manager to understand how the school system handles incidents of racism and discrimination in schools.

Reporting resources for students:

Report student-to-student discrimination, intimidation, and harassment, including sexual harassment and/or bullying: https://www.nycenet.edu/bullyingreporting

Office of Equal Opportunity reporting form (for adult-to-student discrimination): https://www.nycenet.edu/oeo

You can also call 718-935-2288 or email the Office of Safety and Youth Development (OSYD) at RespectforAll@schools.nyc.gov

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To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Never miss an episode! Subscribe on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

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