About 75 young people, aged between 8 and 18, come to the Upper Peninsula Children's Museum in Marquette, Michigan to work as reporters, editors, photographers, radio commentators and illustrators for 8-18 Media, a program of the museum. They come from Marquette—with a population of about 25,000, the largest city in the area—and from small towns as far as 70 miles away. Their work appears every other week in The Mining Journal, Marquette's daily paper, and is heard every Friday morning and evening on WMQT radio.

"This has turned into one of the greatest things I've ever been involved in," says Jay Dickenson, at 16 a veteran of the project with more than 5 years experience. "You learn so much, people have so many different views on things--We live in Marquette, it's a small town. This has really given me a window on the world."

Kid-driven and collaborative, with news-gathering methods that encourage team-work and mentoring, 8-18 Media seeks out stories that affect young people—but aims at an adult audience. "That really goes to the core of the program, to get kids' voices out there into the mainstream, to have adults listen to what they are saying," says director Linda Remsburg, a former news photographer at The Mining Journal.

Julia Broadway, 14, is considering a journalism career. But she says that what she takes from the program goes far beyond honing her skills in interviewing, writing or researching stories. "Leadership is probably the most important thing I've learned here. Some people prefer to sit on the sidelines and watch things happen. I've learned to be a leader and a role model. I don't think I would have come to that without 8-18 Media."

Dickenson recalls their trip to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. "There was a girl from England there. She wrote a commentary afterwards, and said that people in the U.S. really didn't care about people in poverty. She said that France should take back the Statue of Liberty?I didn't agree with her, but it got me thinking more about people who are poor and what we should do about that."

Remsburg says that the young journalists use a methodology based on the spoken word. Kids work in teams of three to five members, including reporters and editors. They come together and brainstorm ideas. Once the topic has been chosen, the reporters are responsible for writing the questions and conducting the interviews, which are taped. The editors—generally older—oversee the process.

"The whole team goes out on the interview, and after the interview they have what we call a debriefing, where they talk about the story as a group: ?What is our lead here, what were the important things said, how does it relate to kids' experience and to your own experience?' " explains Remsburg. The editors then use verbatim transcripts of both the interviews and the debriefing to write the stories.

The team approach gives older participants a chance to be teachers and mentors. "The younger kids are always looking for help," says Dickenson. "Help with everything, from what we do here to problems at school."

"Everything that's done really comes form the kids," says Remsburg. "There's not a whole lot that happens that does not have very direct, hands-on involvement by the kids."

Formerly a bureau of the now-defunct Children's Express news organization, 8-18 Media struggles to find funding for equipment and salaries. The paid staff consists of Remsburg and a part-time communications director, Kristina Kraus.

The program benefits from a long-standing relationship with the Upper Peninsula Children's Museum. The newsroom is housed inside the museum, and the program is supported by the museum and by gifts from foundations, companies and individuals. Aside from its print and radio outlets, 8-18 Media has completed a series of stories that Remsburg hopes will soon air on public television. And the project has a presence on the Web, which will soon include regular postings of print and radio stories.

Want to see what these young journalists can do? Here's one recent story.

Kids Who Think Green
by 8-18 Media

Michigan has 36,000 miles of rivers and streams, almost four million acres of state forest, and somebody has to take care of it all. Ali Thebert, 15, of Marquette in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is committed to doing her part. She tries to be environmentally active every day.

"I compost. I ride my bike around. I recycle everything," she said. "I think kids should be concerned about the environment because this is our world. We are going to be in charge of it."

Education: The First Step Towards Action
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources agrees. The DNR has several conservation efforts aimed at kids including a magazine promoting good conservation. The agency also makes educational presentations in schools and other youth-serving organizations. Ann Wilson, communications representative at the Marquette office of the DNR, often works with young people. She said a quarter of her time is spent on education.

"Through educating young people, kids will grow up (knowing) what's the right thing to do from a science standpoint. They'll base their decisions on good, sound science. They're the future of the environment. If we don't teach them now, where are we going to be when they grow up?"

Much of Ali's environmental education came from her family.

"We recycle and re-use absolutely everything," she said. "I don't do that much grocery shopping but my mom tries not to buy goods that are over-packaged with plastic because plastic is processed with petroleum which is a fossil fuel that is not coming back."

Her mother, Louise Anderson, has been especially influential.

"She always did (environmental-friendly) stuff ... 'We do not throw away our banana peels, we compost them,' " Ali said, mimicking her mom. "When I was little, I thought she was insane, but now I agree with her."

Cub Scouts Clean Up
Ali is not alone in her efforts to help the environment. Cub Scout Pack 321, of Ishpeming, Michigan includes young people committed to the environment. They are a part of the Adopt-a-Forest program, a DNR-sponsored initiative where individuals or groups take care of state land by cleaning up illegally dumped trash. The DNR has found that if people know that someone is keeping the area clean, they will be less likely to dump their trash there.

"We have a forest clean-up out back on (County Road) 581. We go back and we find couches and trash that other people put out in the forest," said Eli Wolf, 10, of Ishpeming.

"We also planted trees by the old BMX track in West Ishpeming and by the Tilden Township Hall," said Walker Derby, 11, of Ishpeming.

"We cleaned all the trash on the side of the road and we had 10 bags of big pieces of metal and big pieces of trash. We took all of it to recycling bins," said Travis Allen, 11, of Ishpeming.

Do Enough Kids Care?
"I think that the Upper Peninsula has a really surprising number of people that care about what is happening in their world and that is really important," said Ali. "I think that there are a lot of kids that care too, but there could definitely be more."

The Scouts think there are not enough environmentally-conscious young people. "Most of the people are just too lazy and just don't want to do it," Eli said.

"I don't think there's a lot of people that really go outside and do some stuff to help the environment because I see a lot of kids and all they talk about is playing Nintendo and stuff and playing inside," said Kyle Kestila, 11, of Ishpeming.

Ali is aware of many environmental issues, but her biggest concern is global warming. "History has shown that global warming is something that is really affecting us," she said. "If you look back 15 years ago, temperatures were different. More people are getting skin cancer. A hundred years ago, they didn't need sun screen."

How Kids Can Help
There are many things kids can do to help the environment.

"Instead of littering and chucking trash on the ground, they can put it in their pocket and put it in the garbage," Kyle said.

"They can make it an everyday thing to pick up trash," added Matt Sunberg, 12, of Ishpeming.

"Try not to drive cars so much and be so dependent on machines that are not good for the environment," Ali advises. "Car pool, and try not to use plastic so much.

"I heard a famous author (Shirley Chisholm) say that (taking care of the environment) was like paying your rent to the world. I kind of agree with that," she said. "You have to put something good back into everything you do, and make a positive impact. Because, otherwise, it was like life was not worth it; we wasted our time. I always try to keep that in mind." 8-18 Media editors for this story were Kate Johnson, 14, Sarah Johnson, 14, and Zoe Rudisill, 14. Reporters were Eric Schafer-Nelson, 11, and Hilary Bush, 12.