As an eighth grader, Shaniece Clarke felt lost.
She had just moved to America from Jamaica and didn’t have much of a community to rely on. But she had found solace in books. One teacher saw Clarke’s love for reading and writing and recommended that she join Teens in Print — an afterschool program for Boston-area teenagers interested in writing.
“I thought writers had to be these mystical creatures who lived in coffee shops and used words like ‘serendipitous’ in casual conversation,” Clarke said during the 20th anniversary celebration event at CitySpace in early May. “But that was not me.”
However, it only took a week for Clarke to feel safe and accepted among the group.
“[It was] like I had stumbled upon a secret society of storytellers who just got it,” she said.
Now five years later, with a QuestBridge scholarship to Bowdoin College to study government and politics, Clarke credits Teens in Print for helping foster her growth and lean fully into her interests.
“Teens in Print showed me that words have power,” Clarke said. “That my stories matter, that I matter.”
That kind of validation is at the center of what Teens in Print has done for 20 cohorts of young people. In three printed magazine issues a year, young writers publish stories ranging from hyperlocal topics such as the MBTA to global issues like immigration.
Mohammed Barrie, program director of Teens in Print, said the group’s mission is amplifying the voices of marginalized people.
“Being a young person in society sometimes just means that you’re constantly not seen or heard,” Barrie said. “And having journalism, writing, podcasting and all the things we offer [is] a way of just validating your inner voice.”
Teens in Print encourages its participants to tell stories that matter to them as a way to maximize student interest. The program is a part of WriteBoston, a local nonprofit focused on literacy.
“At [Teens in Print], we believe that the only difference between someone who writes and someone who doesn’t is a chance, a moment, a mentor, a community,” Barrie said.
Ella Verinder, a senior at Boston Latin Academy who will be attending Smith College next fall, first joined the program as an eighth grader and has written more than 30 articles spanning pop culture, fashion and education.
“It’s been really empowering and just overall it’s a very supportive community,” Verinder said. “It’s very collaborative and it’s fun to be in a space like that.”
At Smith, she plans to study English and sociology. She hopes to go to graduate school for communications before beginning a career as a public relations professional for a nonprofit. Her time with Teens in Print has opened doors for her.
“I didn’t even really know what you would do with an English degree other than be either a journalist or an author afterwards,” Verinder said. “Getting to learn that whole world of communications … has just been really interesting for me and definitely set me on a more exciting career path.”
By grappling with topics such as the war in Ukraine and AI’s growing influence, these young people are talking about things that matter, said Lily Labella, a youth leader for Teens in Print and senior at Emerson College.
“I think that people overlook that, especially with high schoolers, because they think they’re too self-involved or they are only thinking about what’s fashionable and not what’s newsworthy,” Labella said. “But that is not true. What’s newsworthy is fashionable and they’re into it, they’re on it.”
Teens in Print is a writing program on the surface, but that’s not only what it’s all about, said Elvis Alvarado Jr., a youth program facilitator. In the hierarchy of goals, Alvarado said the first goal is building a community. He’s ok with not all of the students becoming journalists.
“Even though you might not become a journalist or a writer … I think students come to realize that being their authentic selves and leading with curiosity is the best way to build relationships and is the way to navigate the world,” Alvarado said.
