Three WAB High School students were part of a team that took over one the Beijing community’s favorite family magazines.
JingKids has a long-standing tradition of inviting young people to contribute to and create an exclusive issue of their magazine dedicated to the thoughts, perspectives, and stories most important to them and their peers: The Teen Takeover issue. The issue functions both as a way to give Beijing’s student community a platform to express themselves, as well as a chance to give them professional experience as interns in a newsroom setting.
The JingKids Teen Takeover issue came out on Thursday. Click the image of the cover to check it out!
Grade 12 student TianTian Xu is the Editor in Chief of WAB’s student-run news organization Inkblot. She served as an intern with JingKids last summer, as well, but this year earned herself a role as the magazine’s first-ever student managing editor for the Teen Takeover issue. In her position, TianTian was responsible for managing more than 20 reporters, deciding on the issue’s theme, organizing photoshoots and interviews, conceptualizing the issue’s layout and cover, and so much more.
TianTian said that while she is unsure whether she will pursue university studies or a career in journalism, she has been able to transfer the valuable experiences she had and the things she learned to her role in Inkblot at WAB.
“I know I love writing and that this experience has given me the chance to dive into the real world of professional publication and work,” she said. “I got to be there for every step of the process and learned how to manage both people and projects, and what it means to be in charge. The thing I loved most was seeing all our hard work start to come together.”
Grade 11 student Amber Foz, as well as TianTian’s sister, Grade 10 student Fei Fei, also worked as interns for the magazine this summer. They all wrote and published articles for the magazine and the JingKids social media accounts, and Fei Fei also took on the responsibility of creating digital illustrations for two articles.
JingKids Managing Editor Mina Yan said the Teen Takeover issue is her annual highlight. She loves working with students and is so proud of the team for their accomplishments throughout the summer.
“The internship experience nurtured their creativity and helped the students learn to juggle long term vs short term assignments, coordinate with people they’re unfamiliar with, cultivate interview skills, and perform under pressure to make deadlines,” Mina said. “The students have taught us so much and given us a glimpse into their work and what matters to them. It’s been a privilege to work alongside such a talented group of people and I can’t wait to do it again next summer!”