Healthy NewsWorks reporters have been able to interview several special guests over the past several weeks for stories that will appear in their school newspapers and By Kids, For Kids magazine. Health experts, academic researchers, and community leaders have shared their perspectives on making good decisions, Healthy NewsWorks’ theme for the 2024-25 school year.
Dr. Joseph Kable, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, visited the DePaul Healthy Trailblazer Journal newsroom to discuss how decision-making is affected by brain development as one grows up. Mental health counselor and former NFL player Tim Massaquoi joined students at James Logan Elementary School to discuss his perspective on friendship and making friends.
Dean Millard, a Healthy NewsWorks alum, visited Cole Manor Elementary School, his alma mater where he once wrote for the Healthy Comet, and discussed making decisions that led him to academic success and many leadership positions, including as the first Black student body president at Villanova University.
“The students loved learning about Dean Millard and all his incredible achievements,” said Lindsay Armour, a Healthy NewsWorks partner teacher at Cole Manor. “Once they learned that he was a former student from Cole Manor, they could barely contain their excitement. Watching and listening as Dean spoke so eloquently to the students, I was floored with how seamlessly he connected to the students. He made them relax, laugh, connect and truly inspired them.”
Among other interviews, Healthy NewsWorks reporting teams spoke with Dr. Erica Walker, a researcher at Brown University studying noise pollution; Dr. Jennifer Caudle, a New Jersey-based family physician who also shares health information via her social media platforms; and Dr. Dan Taylor, a pediatrician at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and associate professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine.
Stories from these special interviews will appear in the 2025 issues of By Kids, For Kids, Healthy NewsWorks’ twice-annual magazine, as well as in individual school newspapers. Several of the interviews will also appear in future films.
