This fall, several Charlotte Amalie High School students will collaborate on a major investigative project with top journalists from the nation’s major media outlets and journalism organizations, including Pulitzer Prize and Emmy-winning reporters.
The students, who will select a Virgin Islands-related issue for investigation, are part of a worldwide high school investigative project sponsored by the Itty Bitty Book App. The app, created by former Virgin Islands resident and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Melvin Claxton, aims to help develop the next generation of investigative journalists and writers.
While the app, which allows children to create and publish multiple genres of books and newspapers is free for children and young adults worldwide, the high school investigative project is very selective. CAHS is one of only five schools chosen to participate in the program. Three other schools are in the U.S. and one in Africa.
CAHS journalism teacher Iambakisye Richardson, who will lead the project at his school, told the Source that he is excited to see what issue students choose to delve into.
“It needs to be their idea,” he said. “But it also needs to be hard-hitting.”
Along with learning investigative and reporting skills, students will train as editors and fact-checkers to review and verify investigative content to ensure accuracy and adherence to ethical standards. The CAHS investigative team will include photojournalists and graphic artists.
Students in the program will be mentored by some of the nation’s top investigative journalists, including multiple Pulitzer Prize winner and former Miami Herald project editor Michael Sallah and Peabody Award winner and former ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and Nightline editor Melvin McCray.
Claxton said this level of training will benefit students even if they choose careers other than journalism. He said the program will embed life skills, such as critical thinking, fairness, objectivity and ethics in participants.
The Itty Bitty Book app is already impacting the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since its launch two years ago, the app has partnered with the Virgin Islands Lit Fest on St. Croix, and many V.I. students use it to create books and newspapers.
“What a gift for writers with varying learning modalities,” said St. Croix school librarian Janice Ferdinand, whose preK-8 grade students helped beta test the app in the territory. “I’ve seen the tactile learner get to do in-depth work on their illustrations, which sparked more imaginative writing. This year, I saw more students spending time revising their writing. They loved seeing their words scroll up like a movie.”
The high school investigative journalism project comes at a critical time for Virgin Islands journalism. The 85-year-old St. Croix Avis folded this year and a recent court filing exposed financial challenges for the Virgin Islands Daily News, the only local newspaper of general circulation aside from the V.I. Source.
“Projects like our high school investigative journalism program are critical to democracy,” said Claxton, CEO of Epic 4D, the company that developed the app. “When we lose the skills to ferret out wrongdoing and malfeasance, our society and democracy are at great risk, and we all pay a heavy price.”
