By About 20 students participated in the inaugural summer class of the Youth Media Communication Development program, a partnership between ETSS Social Services and the New Americans magazine at the Northside, Maize Road facility on Tuesday, June 30, 2026.
The program is part of the ETSS summer youth program to promote media literacy, advocacy, and civic engagement, including education on state and local government.
The students drawn from middle and high school classes were exposed to the fundamentals of journalism, media tools, opportunities, writing and media ethics.
Sarah Huffman, Assistant Director of Youth Programs (OST) said, “we hope to have the youth learn from local leaders with experience in media literacy, advocacy, and civic engagement, which will culminate in a field trip to the Ohio Statehouse.”
At the end of the class, Deba Uwadiae, Publisher/Editor-In-Chief of the New Americans magazine described the inaugural summer class as “very exciting and engaging. The students proved they were interested and ready to learn about journalism and creative writing.”
All the students participated in the newswriting class, applying the 5Ws and H that they had learned during the class, including this unedited version by Promisa Basnet: “About 20 students learned about fundamental steps of journalism. We learned how to write story and publishing by Mr. Deba who came to our ETSS site at the Maize Road Baptist Church Columbus, Ohio.
“We wrote about what we did because it is important to learn about a job that helps spread a message and interact with people.”
Site Prevention and SEL Coordinator, Student Advocate Emily M. Cecil said, “the students really enjoyed the class.”
The youth media summer classes will end in July with a field strip to the Statehouse.
The Youth Media Communication Development program, a partnership between the City of Columbus Department of Neighborhoods and the New Americans Community Information Center, with the New Americans magazine was launched in January 2026. The spring program graduated 51 students.
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