Veteran journalist Markeshia Ricks met over Zoom with East Rock Record reporters and shared her experiences, including her tricks of the trade (what to do if a key source doesn’t want to talk? Sometimes, do more reporting and they’ll change their mind). Ms. Ricks is a communications associate for Yale University and program director for the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative at the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. She has been a reporter for The New Haven Independent, The Air Force Times, The Sarasota Herald-Tribine, plus newspapers in Alabama: the Montgomery Advertiser, The Anniston Star and the Tuscaloosa Times.

“A simple scenario like cars parked on a street,” could, by asking questions, lead to news story.

“It was awesome to talk to a well-respected and talented journalist such as Markeshia Ricks,” said Isabel Faustino, in eighth grade at ESUMS. Ms. Ricks, she said, explained how taking “a simple scenario like cars parked on a street,” could, by asking questions, lead to news story. It was a lesson in using “curiosity as well as creativity.”

Seventh grader Madison Poole said Ms. Ricks made her see that “even at our age, our stories can make a difference.” Lanaya Gore, in fifth grade, saw how writing is “like learning” and that “when you let your imagination run wild, you can do anything your mind goes to.” Nayala Conroe, in third grade, said Ms. Ricks “told us that good journalists ask good questions, and this is something I didn’t know.”