Aspiring Journalists Learn from Experts at The Washington Post

"Journalism is unforgiving," Theola Labbe warns the group of sixteen high school students sitting in a Washington Post conference room on a Saturday morning. Labbe's self-described "unpolished by charming"talk with the young aspiring journalists colors the sterile white walls and drab gray carpet that surround them. As groggy as the students are for having to wake up early on a weekend, they eagerly listen to the Metro staff writer describe her experience as a reporter and discuss her beat on D.C. public schools. But if it weren't for Athelia Knight, director of the Washington Post Writing Seminar and Scholarship Program, neither the students nor Labee would be in that bland room, munching on buttered bagels, and chatting about the Do's and Don'ts of journalism.

Knight founded The Washington Post Writing Seminar and Scholarship Program in order to expose high-achieving high school seniors to the newspaper business. Every winter, Knight solicits applications from students with above average grades, strong writing skills, and clips from their school or community newspaper. The fifteen or twenty chosen students then sacrifice four Saturday mornings of sleeping in for one of the most inspiring March months in their high school careers. After all, there are few high school programs that provide students with the chance to interview D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in person.

This year, students met David Nakamura, who covers stories concerning D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty for The Post; D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty himself; Nelson Hernandez, a Metro staff writer for The Post, who also went to Iraq for The Post; Lori Aritani, who writes about youth culture; Ylan Mui a Post Business staff writer; National and Style writer for The Post, Jose Antonio Vargas; Post Photographer, mark Gail; pop music writer, Josh Freedom du Lac; and Milton Colmen, who helped developed Hispanic newspaper El Tiempo Latino, which is a division of The Washington Post.