Sports Journalism for Jersey City Youth

Write to the Goal (also known as Jersey City Write on Sports) is a non-profit organization that designed a two-week literacy program to inspire middle school students and improve their critical thinking and creative writing skills through sports journalism. Using the theme of sports, combined with the skills of journalism, the students were immersed in a college classroom setting, and taught how to research, write, and produce sports feature stories, blog posts, and video interviews.

Write to the Goal is mainly made up of volunteers who are committed to providing children with a sound education, safe neighborhoods in which everyone can live and work, and combatting the degradation of natural resources in local communities. They firmly believe that offering free and engaging education to young people is fundamental to advancing these goals within the community.

 

HealthierJC + Write to the Goal

For Write to the Goal, a Culture of Health means that those who have an ability to act, have a responsibility to do. Write to the Goal understood the importance of stepping in and stepping up to ensure that Jersey City children were not adversely impacted by state budget cuts. The program provides middle school students with an opportunity to dream bigger as they improve their writing, reading, and communication skills. Bottom-line, these students are better prepared for higher education and will likely develop into well-rounded members of the community.

The Write to the Goal program closely aligns with the HealthierJC mission to expand access to quality education, promote fellowship, and build future community leaders. In awarding the mini-grant, HealthierJC acknowledged the contribution of Write to the Goal in advancing a Culture of Health in Jersey City.

 

Inspiration to Succeed

Pre-covid, Write to the Goal conducted two summer programs; each brought together 15 Jersey City students for 2 weeks in a university setting.  These programs were free for the students.  Attendees increased their academic proficiency by improving their creative writing and critical thinking skills through sports journalism.

The HealthierJC mini-grant combined with local sponsorships from BCB Bank, the Detective Melvin Vincent Santiago Foundation, Horizon, CarePoint Health, the Rotary Club of Jersey City, enabled Write to the Goal to pay the salaries of the two public school teachers that conducted each program. As a result, a total of 30 students in grades 7 and 8 were able to participate in sessions held at the Barack Obama Middle School in Jersey City.

The goals met, left a lasting impression on participants:

• Instilling confidence and teamwork in children.
• Allowing children to learn in a meaningful way by doing something they are passionate about.
• Encouraging students to gain a meaningful education, which will improve their chances of success in later life.

 

Moving Forward…

Those Jersey City students who participated in the Write to the Goal program at the Barack Obama Community School, were able to continue their involvement with sport journalism by working with Write on Sports – the parent company of Write to the Goal. This enables them to progressively improve their writing, critical thinking, editing, and social skills.

Moving forward, Write to the Goal seeks to collaborate with HealthierJC to conduct more youth learning and teaming activities within the Jersey City community.

For more information on Write to the Goal, please visit the organization’s website at https://writeonsports.org/jersey-city/ or call their local number at (973) 768-9421