Abstract

Undergraduate students working with Happy Medium, a subsidiary organization of the Student Association at Binghamton University, worked with faculty member Heather Dorn to develop and facilitate the pilot of a program through which undergraduates worked with high school students to create a politics magazine at their school. Chenango Valley High School, which was chosen to pilot this program, is also a pilot school for New York State’s Seal of Civic Readiness program; the administrators welcomed Happy Medium’s program as an extension of this state program. A group of students from grades 8-11 attended weekly after-school meetings for five weeks, including four workshops facilitated by undergraduates: introduction to political journalism, research practices, productive political discourse, and the editing process. Three high school students were selected to serve as copy editors. The development and pilot of this program were funded through a grant from the Binghamton University Center for Civic Engagement.