Over the course of two months, students at Jefferson Elementary School in DeKalb signed up for the project to create two podcast episodes. It’s part of WNIJ’s youth media literacy project through Report for America.
One student, Peyton, didn’t expect very much from the project.
“I thought that it would be a lot less organized, knowing us,” he said.
But he was pleased with the outcome.
“It's been really exciting," Peyton said. "I've never done anything like this before. I've never been in a podcast. I don't even think I knew what a podcast was.”
This project is also a collaborative effort with the DeKalb County History Center. Executive Director Michelle Donahoe says that kids are often left out of our understanding of history.
“For so long, history [was] just names and dates and people who don't look like you," Donahoe said. "But when you have a story with someone that's your age or that you can identify with, you feel seen.”
The DeKalb County History Center says only a handful of their artifacts, like diaries, are from the perspectives of children.
That’s why Donahoe said is was important for the students to take the lead role for this collaboration.
Their teacher, Selena Kweder, describes her students fondly. Kweder is in her fifth year teaching fifth graders in DeKalb.
“This year, they're a riot," she said. "They've got attitude, but in a good way, not in a mean way. But they have such a big personality. They all get along so well.”
Kweder also said there's value in this project beyond the deliverable.
"Kids are going to be our future leaders one day," she said. "They have an opinion, and they need to be able to know that they need to research their own opinions. A lot of the time they take what their parents say. But there's a lot of them who are realizing their own morals. They're just trying to figure out themselves right now.”
10- and 11- years olds are at a unique developmental stage. Nina Mounts is a child psychologist and professor at Northern Illinois University. She said this age group is starting to look at the world differently.
"They're at the beginning of starting to critique the world and not just take it at face value," she said.
Mounts also said they’re thinking more deeply about the world around them.
“You also have the beginning of some cognitive changes where kids can think more abstractly about the world," she said. "[They're] thinking about friendships, thinking about concepts like honesty or loyalty or trust that they may not be able to think about as young children.”
Mounts says making assumptions about this age group can lead to misunderstanding.
“I think we have to be careful as an adult when we try to interpret how children see the world," she said. "And I think that's a danger that a lot of people fall into— that we just assume that we understand it.”
Jefferson Elementary fifth-grader Peyton agrees that including kids his age in the conversation is a big deal.
“I think it's important because you actually get their perspective," he said. "And it's not just having the adults [say] 'This is only what we're focusing on.' You let the kids actually have a say in what they think is happening around them."
While they loved the "slang" episode during our listening and editing session, they also had pretty profound things to say for the "life lessons" episode.
"Don't let anyone like tell you what who you are, because you know who you are," said one of the students.
The project also sparked some students to go beyond the original assignment.
Jefferson Elementary is redistricting next year, which means they’re going to be welcoming new students to the school. One student from the project, Ja Liyah, saw an opportunity to prepare these new students. She created a video project, interviewing her peers about their favorite things about Jefferson, and advice for the incoming students. Her principal, Melanie Bickley, says the inspiration for the video came from this media literacy project.
"She's taking it on herself," Bickley said. "She's creating this whole video. She conducted the interviews and she's really run with it. But I think this project then enabled kids to kind of see themselves in a different way and become those storytellers themselves.”
At our last meeting, Ja Liyah said she’s looking ahead to what comes next.
“I feel like it prepares me for opportunities when I get older," she said. "And it kind of helps out what I can do in my future.”
You can hear the series Tuesday, May 6 and Wednesday, May 7 at 6:45 a.m., 8:45 a.m., and 3:45 p.m. on WNIJ.