WACO, TX — A collaboration between 25 News and University High School is showcasing a beloved organization that helps students stay on track.
The collaboration is part of National News Literacy Week. 25 News' parent company, E.W. Scripps, has partnered with the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan national education nonprofit, to help young people discern credible information from misinformation in today’s news.
Communities In Schools is an organization that works directly inside schools, building relationships that empower students to succeed inside and outside the classroom.
The organization offers case management, career coaching to youths, juvenile delinquency prevention services, tutoring and mentoring. They are embedded within schools in the Waco ISD district.
Three juniors from University High, Yanni Galvin, Rafael Flores and Angelina Monroy, decided for their project, they were going to tell the story of how CIS has impacted their peers.
"CIS has been in place in school for about 6 years," Galvin said.
25 News and the students worked alongside each other to shoot, write, and edit stories of people who have been in the program.
"Well I'd say the biggest thing I learned was how to properly manage a camera and use it to its fullest extent," Flores said.
Although it was a project, they soon realized the real stories they were telling.
"Realizing that these are some realities that do happen to other students," Galvin said. "My reality isn't the same one as there's the things that they go through."
Flores says the stories hit especially close to home for him because his sister is in CIS.
He knows its important that the organization helps people find friends.
"If one of my friends or just anyone needed to talk to someone, and I had the ability to go and talk to them just a little bit, I think I would, definitely," Flores said.
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