Innovative Programs Foster Career-Building and Life Skills

English and Social Studies-they're the usual subjects. But in classrooms across the country, many educators are going beyond basics and adding some interesting career-building and life-lesson skills into the mix.

Not only are these programs beneficial to students, but their teachers, parents, and communities as well .

Journalism for All

To support democracy among young people, the Youth Journalism Coalition (YJC , a non-profit organization that aims to nurture the next generation of journalists, created Journalism for All in 2024. The program is a private and public partnership initiative to bring journalism back to New York City public high schools.

, a partner of YJC, provides training to the partner schools' teachers, preparing them to teach a journalism curriculum so that their schools can create their own publications.

Journalism for All selected 30 teachers from different NYC high schools who applied be the first to be trained by the program. NEA member James Felder-Salvador, an English teacher at Gotham Tech High School in Queens, says the program is helping to bring journalism to all students.

"When I came across the opportunity for Journalism for All… I was very much attracted to fact that statistically, few than 25 percent of high schools in the City had some sort of publication, whether it be a newspaper or E magazine," Felder-Salvador said. "Journalism for All was addressing that equity gap where if you look at a list of schools that have thriving journalism programs, they tend to be in affluent areas."

According to the New York Ci ty Education Department , in the 2023-2024 school year, Gotham Tech High School was a majority minority school, and 78% of its students were economically disadvantaged.

The cohort of teachers have been learning the basics of Journalism in their professional development sessions since January 2025 .

While Felder-Salvador has taught English classes, including research writing, the program was his first experience with journalism.

"Journalism seems like a whole different beast," he explained. "Like I'm actually learning the building blocks of putting together a 500-word short article."

Learning a new type of writing hasn't been easy for Felder-Salvador, but in those moments, he reminds himself of something he always tells his students: "I'm a life-long learner. I don't always have the answers."

Felder-Salvador and the rest of his teacher cohort will bring all the knowledge they've learned over the past several months back to their respective schools for the 2025-2026 school year.

"In establishing a culture at a school, a newspaper is a good way for kids to feel like they have some sort of voice [or] some sort of power or control," said Felder-Salvador.

Education Diversion Program (Touch-a-Truck)

Talking trash is usually discouraged at school because it could lead to issues amongst the students. However, in Denver Public Schools, trash talk is top of mind and encouraged as a means of education.

The Denver Solid Waste Management's Education Diversion Program educates Denver Public Schools students on compost and sustainability practices.

The program's concept is simple: solid waste management staff go into classrooms, using worksheets and games, to explain composting. But the impact of the lessons is far reaching. The program strives for students to pass on the sustainability education they learn to their parents and community.

One popular initiative, especially with the kindergarteners, the program has implemented is the Touch-a-Truck event. The interactive event gives students the opportunity to explore the trucks they often see around their neighborhoods, allowing them to understand how the trucks work and even pretend to be drivers themselves.