Royal Oak Students Cover Isle Royale National Park for PBS

ROYAL OAK, MI — Students from Royal Oak High School are among students from 21 schools nationwide selected to participate in the PBS NewsHour’s STEM Student Reporting Labs program’s 2016-2017 class.

This year, in honor of the National Park Service’s 100th Anniversary, the STEM Labs will head into their local National Parks to produce unique stories from America’s canyons, craters and mountain peaks. ROHS students and video/TV/media Instructor Mike Conrad will cover Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park.

The students who will be working on this project are entering their third year of the curriculum and are looking forward to pursuing this as a career.

Students will have access to a journalism and digital media literacy curriculum augmented with a STEM literacy focus, a mentor from a local PBS affiliate, access to a STEM practitioner in a field related to their story, professional development for educators and support from the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs team. The initiative is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“The partnership between ROHS and the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs has been amazing,”exclaimed Conrad. “To have students in our community learn from and work alongside producers from the PBS NewsHour is such a great opportunity. And this new initiative takes it to a whole new level.”

“We are incredibly proud of our students and of our program,” said Principal Michael Giromini. “Through Mr. Conrad's inspiring classroom leadership, ROHS is connecting students with the worldwide community, and our student reporters will undoubtedly deliver excellence.”

“National parks are some of the most amazing classrooms in the world,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “They bring to life the stories of the people, places, and events that have shaped our country. Programs such as this encourage exploration and inspire lifelong connections to the natural and cultural treasures found in national parks.”

The video stories will be published on the PBS NewsHour’s website and transformed into educational resources for PBS LearningMedia. The program offers schools and young people the opportunity to have their stories air on the NewsHour broadcast, seen by over a million people each night.

Photo of Isle Royale National Park by Joe Ross via Flickr Commons