Summary: Students attending the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action Civics and Conservation Summit discovered that being too young to vote doesn't leave you voiceless.
This is an interesting story about kids combining interests in government and the environment. It has a nice potpourri of voices, and Aviva Hirsch maintains a mature journalistic tone. A few levels problems aside, my main comment on this piece is that it doesn't seem to answer the initial question it poses: "Do people who can't vote still have a voice in creating laws?" The piece doesn't address how the students' opinions impacted the legislators at the Civics and Conservation Summit or how the kids' voices influenced laws, but how the summit inspired the students. It's still a compelling story. In the future it might be helpful to think of a focus statement (someone doing something for a reason), and then adjust it as the piece evolves, so that the thesis matches the story being told.
This feature showcases a cool program that gives Alaskan teenagers the opportunity to see how state government works. It could benefit from more student perspectives, and maybe an interview from a legislator about his or her opinion of the program. But this piece has a clear narrative flow and does a good job showing diverse aspects of the summit. It seems like a great way for students to really learn first-hand how state government works.
Comments for Civics and Conservation Summit
Produced by Aviva Hirsch
Other pieces by Alaska Teen Media Institute
Rating Summary
2 comments
Zoe Sheinkopf
Posted on June 26, 2012 at 09:46 PM | Permalink
Review of Civics and Conservation Summit
This is an interesting story about kids combining interests in government and the environment. It has a nice potpourri of voices, and Aviva Hirsch maintains a mature journalistic tone. A few levels problems aside, my main comment on this piece is that it doesn't seem to answer the initial question it poses: "Do people who can't vote still have a voice in creating laws?" The piece doesn't address how the students' opinions impacted the legislators at the Civics and Conservation Summit or how the kids' voices influenced laws, but how the summit inspired the students. It's still a compelling story. In the future it might be helpful to think of a focus statement (someone doing something for a reason), and then adjust it as the piece evolves, so that the thesis matches the story being told.
Charlotte Mcdonald
Posted on March 27, 2011 at 01:42 PM | Permalink
Interesting piece on state government
This feature showcases a cool program that gives Alaskan teenagers the opportunity to see how state government works. It could benefit from more student perspectives, and maybe an interview from a legislator about his or her opinion of the program. But this piece has a clear narrative flow and does a good job showing diverse aspects of the summit. It seems like a great way for students to really learn first-hand how state government works.