The Eighth Grade Hosts Columnist Farah Stockman

The Eighth Grade Hosts Columnist Farah Stockman
Posted on 03/11/2016

By: Caryn CollinsEnglish Language Arts, 8th grade

FarrahFarah Stockman, Boston Globe Columnist, joined our eighth grade on March 10th in the Amigos library to provide an exclusive window into the life of a journalist through her years as a foreign correspondent around the globe, a crime reporter, a political journalist in DC, and a columnist. She humbly-yet-generously modeled what it means to be someone who asks questions, seeks answers, and shares her thinking in a very public way with others. She answered many student questions, at one point noting that she feels a great honor and responsibility in telling people's’ stories. Stockman led students through a personal-professional photographic journey of Kenya, Afghanistan, Tsunami-stricken Thailand, Washington DC...among other stops along her unique career pathway, weaving through her story highlighted moments of realizations: moments she needed to dig further, research more, make another connection, change her thinking and nowadays, take a stance.

Through telling her own story, Farah Stockman inspired students to not only write for their own upcoming editorial deadlines, but also seriously consider journalism or writing as a high school extracurricular and even career. Her messages of the power of having perseverance and a habit of being inquisitive were truly inspirational. Many students’ questions of the writer focused on how it feels to be the person who finds and reports information, and how it feels to be so public. They were very interested in all the decision-making that goes into reporting a story, or crafting a column. She enlightened the class on the sometimes humorous, sometimes puzzling, sometimes heart wrenching, but always fulfilling process of shedding light on a topic or event. She inquired about their topics and encouraged them in tackling the next step: crafting.

Wish us luck as many students will enter the New York Times Teen Editorial Contest, as well as submit pieces to Teen Ink. Also, please stay tuned for opinion pieces regarding:

  • the misrepresentation of women in the media
  • the need for greater national gun control laws
  • shifting the type of support Massachusetts gives to families that are homeless
  • the need to promote the prestige of farming as a career option for this generation
  • the need for greater awareness about childhood hunger in Massachusetts
  • the need to replace the term “soccer” with “football” in order to better promote the sport in the U.S.
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