To be part of the growth and development of these young reporters, to watch and help them develop the skills and curiosity needed to become effective observers has been rewarding work.

This year, we worked with them on stories ranging from the rise in homelessness among LAUSD students; the making of an Academy Award-winning film about LAUSD鈥檚 musical repair shop; to the school system鈥檚 iconic coffee cake. Their enthusiasm for their work always comes through in their stories and in their willingness to work hard even as they carry a full load of classes, and, often a job.   

Here are 10 of the most read 2024 student stories:    

1. An LAUSD School Battles Chronic Absenteeism With Washers and Dryers

For most students, having clean clothes to wear to school is not a problem. But for many at 112th St. S.T.E.A.M. Academy in Watts, clean clothing is such a struggle it has become one of the main contributors to chronic absenteeism. In May the school was one of 20 to receive a new washing machine and dryer from the Rams and the Think Watts Foundation. Principal Jose Hernandez talks about the impact of the washer and dryer. Jinge Li has the story. 

Gen Z Black and Latino educators are passionate about inspiring their students but face significant challenges in LAUSD. A recent study highlights their experiences and concerns about job satisfaction and retention, finding that more than 70 percent are considering leaving the profession. Read the key findings and insights from the report. Jack Waterman has the story.

3. LA Housing Crisis Hits LAUSD as Number of Homeless Students Continues to Grow

The number of homeless students who attend Los Angeles Unified schools rose by more than a quarter in the last school year, new statistics show. As of the 2023-2024 school year, LAUSD enrolled 17,245 homeless students, up 26% from the previous school year, according to data the district made public last month. The dramatic jump comes as the district struggles with  in the enrollment of homeless students, and the  that has since 2020 propped up programs to aid kids experiencing homelessness. Katie VanArnam has the story. 

The number of homeless students who attend Los Angeles Unified schools rose by more than a quarter in the last school year, new statistics show. As of the 2023-2024 school year, LAUSD enrolled 17,245 homeless students, up 26% from the previous school year, according to data the district made public last month. The dramatic jump comes as the district struggles with  in the enrollment of homeless students, and the  that has since 2020 propped up programs to aid kids experiencing homelessness. Katie VanArnam has the story.

5. All About LAUSD鈥檚 Iconic Coffee Cake: A Sweet Tradition Dating Back to the 1950s

It鈥檚 not every day a public school system produces a cafeteria item with a cult following 鈥� but that鈥檚 the case with iconic LAUSD鈥檚 coffee cake, one of the most popular items on the menu. The recipe dates back to 1954 and even after 70 years, it is still in high demand, with 800,000 slices served annually. Jinge Li got to watch LAUSD staff make the coffee cake and now we鈥檙e introducing people outside of LA to the recipe and its history.

FX鈥檚 Social Studies delves into the lives of Los Angeles teens navigating the complexities of social media and mental health. Through raw footage and candid interviews, the documentary exposes the challenges young people face鈥攆rom substance abuse to bullying鈥攁nd highlights the urgent need for community support and action. Enzo Luna has the story.

7. LAUSD Opens Housing Complex to Combat Rising Student Homelessness

LAUSD has partnered with housing developers to create affordable housing for struggling families after the district faced a 19% increase in homeless students from the previous school year. Once we know better, we need to do better,鈥� said LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho.  鈥淪un King is evidence that the impossible can be turned into the inevitable.鈥� Katie VanArnam has the story.

8. LAUSD Rolls Out New Food Truck Program With Chef Roy Choi Teaching Students How to Get Cooking in the Real World

It has been a big priority for LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to ensure student access to successful academic and career pathways post-graduation. His newest achievement is partnering with private sectors to establish a food truck program at LAUSD. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want a single student leaving high school without a college or university ticket or an opportunity for career and technical programming,鈥� he said. Carvalho hopes that he will bring more partnerships like this to the district. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 announcement is not only important,鈥� Carvalho added, 鈥淚t鈥檚 also a very cool announcement.鈥� Jinge Li has the story.

9. Unsung LAUSD Workers Starring in Oscar-Nominated 鈥楾he Last Repair Shop鈥� to Walk the Red Carpet With Directors

When the directors of the Oscar nominated short documentary 鈥淭he Last Repair Shop鈥� walk the red carpet next month, the four LAUSD workers who keep thousands of musical instruments in good repair will be right by their side. The four craftspeople are at the heart of the documentary, out now via the Los Angeles Times  and Disney +. 鈥淓veryone was over the moon excited for this once in a lifetime experience,鈥� film co-director Ben Proudfoot told LA School Report. Sara Balanta has the story.

826LA, a tutoring program, is promoting out of the box methods to get LAUSD students confident in their writing abilities. 鈥淚 think that when they鈥檙e in school every single day, they kind of start struggling to find the spark when it comes to writing,鈥� said 826LA program development manager Alma Carillo. 鈥淚 think being in spaces like this helps encourage that.鈥� The organization partners with over 100 schools and uses activities such as publishing student work and hosting readings. Sara Balanta has the story.

Martin, editor-in-chief of the student paper The Daily Tar Heel, mapped her escape route in case an active shooter broke through the library鈥檚 glass walls. 

By midnight, Martin was finally alone, safe but at a loss for how to visualize the crisis for the paper鈥檚 front page.

Scrolling through unanswered texts and classmates鈥� online posts, she found her answer. 

鈥淭hat’s when I realized that that is what our front page had to be,鈥� Martin told 蜜桃影视, 鈥渂ecause those text messages 鈥� the sentiment of 鈥榓re you safe鈥� was something that was shared by everyone who experienced this, but also by anyone who has been in an active shooter situation across the nation and across the world.鈥� 

Within 72 hours, she and her Tar Heel colleagues were thrust into the national spotlight as their front page coverage from the campus shooting , reaching President Joe Biden鈥檚 desk and amassing nearly 8 million views on X, formerly known as Twitter. During what would鈥檝e been an open house to attract new staffers, editors instead shared their stories on NBC, CNN, MSNBC and PBS.

In what may be the darkest stream of consciousness to catalog the emotions of a generation constantly plagued by gun violence, the cover strings together text messages between students and their loved ones as chaos unfolded: 鈥淎re you safe? I wish these never happened. Someone is already shot. Run if you can. I love you.鈥� 

As the font gets smaller and smaller, reality sets in: the pain, outrage and fear is endless. 

鈥淲e wanted to tell the story of three hours and ten minutes. Of just being scared, not knowing how many people may be on campus, not knowing how many people may have died, or been injured,鈥� the Tar Heel鈥檚 print managing editor Caitlyn Yaede told 蜜桃影视. 

im still reeling from the events of yesterday. my heart goes out to the family and friends of the victim, as well as the entire chapel hill community. i never thought i would experience something like this and wanted to share my conversation with my mom and dad as the events unfolded.

The Daily Tar Heel is both a student-run nonprofit publication, independent of university funding, and the only print publication for Orange County, read by locals for generations.

Editors intentionally highlighted messages that would do justice to the full spectrum of emotions, choosing not to censor expletives. News organizations around the country have preserved the graphic鈥檚 language in its entirety, too. 

鈥淲e had people whose response was expletives, 鈥榃hat the F is happening?鈥� And there are people who say, 鈥業 love you, I love you so much, call me.鈥� No matter how you express that stress and overwhelming concern, that’s shared humanity. I think that the width of that and the breadth of that and the range of that is really captured in that cover,鈥� Yaede said. 

Their work struck a chord: Locally, Wednesday鈥檚 papers ran out by 1 p.m. Faculty, staff, students and community members came by the newsroom on Franklin Street in the heart of Chapel Hill to ask for more copies. 

While the nation has been exposed to frantic messages sent during shootings 鈥� notably those from and 鈥� the cover鈥檚 unique design landed like a gut punch. 

For the first 10 hours, 鈥渘othing felt right,鈥� Martin said. Editors deliberated and discarded other versions of the front page: a quote spread, or full blank page with key words like 3 hours, 10 minutes, 1 dead 鈥� which may have understated the death of associate professor Zijie Yan. 

Once they鈥檇 agreed on the string of texts, over 36 editors collaborated to gather content, collecting anonymous screenshots from peers. Yaede and Martin weeded through them to find common themes, an order, and begin transcribing. 

鈥淚f there was a moment when I was going to break down, it was reading those,鈥� Martin said. Some of the messages came from close friends. 鈥淚 can hear their voice.鈥� 

The order and jumbled nature of the texts was also intentional, 鈥渆ven if it may have not been the most straightforward approach in terms of readability,鈥� said multimedia managing editor Carson Elm-Picard. The block mimicked the experience of those on campus sitting in silent, panicked rooms receiving message after message. 

Elm-Picard helped fine tune the design throughout Tuesday, changing what would鈥檝e been a black background with light blue highlights to the final white background with black and red highlights.

鈥淭he association with Tar Blue is something that our students normally think of as a good thing. We’re proud of it. It’s like our color,鈥� Elm-Picard said. 鈥淚 saw that and I just thought that this event, this isn’t something we really want to associate with that.鈥�

Trying to heal together

The Tar Heel鈥檚 coverage spanned well beyond the graphic cover. This week鈥檚 stories included how the , and training that left many in the dark, and . 

While the coverage has been necessary, it鈥檚 also been traumatic and draining for everyone involved. Going viral was the last thing staff expected.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to say any of this feels good. Because it doesn鈥檛,鈥� said Elm-Picard, who grew up near Columbine High School in Colorado and is all too familiar with gun violence. He knows the site of the Aurora shooting; many of his friends attend school near the site of the Boulder grocery market shooting. 

鈥淥ur whole entire generation, it’s not really that foreign to us, but it’s different when it’s where you live and where you feel comfortable,鈥� he added.

In the Daily Tar Heel newsroom, staffers share meals, check in with each other and have been encouraged to take time off when needed. Student journalist alumni have reached out with support in droves. 

鈥淭o be honest, it鈥檚 been a horrible two days for everyone in the newsroom,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淭o see such a huge response from our community and also people across the nation has helped us keep going on.鈥�

Delilah鈥檚 reporting in her community and school led to her selection as California鈥檚 2023 Student Journalist of the Year. Last month, Delilah was recognized as for the Journalism Education Association Journalist of the Year and awarded a $1,000 scholarship. 

鈥淭his four year journey as a journalist has been really life changing and having all these people behind me has made it even more amazing鈥︹�� Delilah said. While jumping over countless hurdles, Delilah realized the importance of advocating for your work and supporting fellow journalists.

When Delilah’s class at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School faced censorship from the school administration, journalism teacher Adriana Chavira defended them, . Rather than being silenced, Delilah and her classmates found their voices through journalism.

After writing nearly 100 stories for her school newspaper, Delilah found a sense of purpose and passion as a student journalist. She will be attending the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University this fall.

In an interview, LAUSD student Delilah talked about what led to her becoming California鈥檚 Student Journalist of the Year: 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

How did Ms. Chavira and your experience at Daniel Pearl help you get into Northwestern? Do you owe part of your success to her?

Ms. Chavira is one of the most important people in my life. She has impacted me not just by being my teacher, but supporting me in my journey. If it wasn鈥檛 for her, I would probably be a completely different person! I am so thankful to her.

She doesn鈥檛 lead our newspaper; she lets us take the reins. She supports each and every one of us in any way she can. We always joke that she鈥檚 super strict or passive aggressive, but she鈥檚 just a great person who wants to see you succeed. She definitely is one of the biggest reasons I got into Northwestern, but beyond that, she’s one of the biggest reasons I know what I want to do in life.

Looking back at her suspension last year, what are some things you can take away from that experience?

I think that the censorship incident was really, really scary and stressful, but at the same time, it did teach me a lot. It taught me more about journalism law and journalism ethics. It taught me that it’s important to stand up for my work and to know that if my work is solid, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I didn’t write the story that caused the censorship but the student who did, who鈥檚 also my friend, did a great job reporting, so there was nothing to be afraid of. 

The fact that was kind of a punch; it was out of the blue. It took nine months of behind the scenes fighting and organizing and all that kind of stuff. While it taught me to be more confident and careful in my work, it also showed just how much Ms. Chavira was willing to fight for us. 

I think most journalism advisers would at least second guess potentially losing their job for a story their students wrote, but it was never even a question for her. Ms. Chavira was there for us, and she said, 鈥淚t is your decision. And I will go along with it. Whatever it is. If you want to take down the article, if you want to adjust the article, if you want to leave it up exactly how it is, it’s all up to you.鈥� 

We were scared of her losing her job or being suspended. A lot of us even wanted to bend to the district鈥檚 will because of it. But we also knew that if we did that, we were just showing them that they can continue to censor us like they can continue to censor other schools. That was the biggest reason we decided to continue fighting after we made the initial decision to keep the article the way it is.

I want to talk about your achievement as California Student Journalist of the Year. Congratulations! Tell me more about that. 

I think one of the biggest things I learned is that people are watching you and the impact you’re making in your community. As I was putting together my portfolio with almost a year鈥檚 worth of work, seeing people respond to all of it was so amazing. I knew that the reporting I was doing, whether it be about my school district鈥檚 bus driver shortage or about a new club at my school, the readers cared, and people do care about student journalists.

Another thing I learned as I was putting my portfolio together is that I have done a lot more than I thought I have done. I鈥檝e written almost 100 articles! As I was combing through thousands of photos, it was really mind blowing to just see my work all together. It’s easy over four years to get used to what you do, because you care about it. It was nice to step back and be like, 鈥淲ow, I’ve grown a lot.鈥� So that was really great.

The way I found out was great, too, because . That day, we were passing out our magazine, so I was very stressed because magazine distribution is always a hectic time. As I was coordinating, Ms. Chavira kept telling me how we had a magazine critique at 10 a.m. and emphasized how I needed to be there. So I went in and saw my principals and counselors and staff writers who are in other periods, but I didn鈥檛 think anything of it because I was still stressed.

We go on Zoom where Mitch Ziegler from the Journalism Education Association starts actually talking about our magazine, kind of playing the role, and I didn鈥檛 think much of it so I started listening and taking notes. He then calls out my name and asks me to raise my hand. I do and that鈥檚 when he tells me, 鈥測ou鈥檙e the California Student Journalist of the Year.鈥�

I was so confused and stunned that I didn鈥檛 even get to scream or jump. The disbelief left me speechless, it was just absolutely incredible. My staff and Ms. Chavira being there for me was very special.

What would you say would be one of the most memorable experiences that you’ve had as a journalist?

One of the most memorable stories I’ve covered was when I was interning with the LA Times High School Insider this past summer. I noticed my friends and myself really struggle with the college application process. I saw other students from all different walks of life: first generation students, low income students, wealthy students, students from all over the state, all of us were just struggling with the process. I wanted to look more into that, so I started to do some research into things like the teen mental health crisis and how college applications played into that, especially because the process is now so much harder than in past years.

After connecting with other students, I was able to write an impactful piece on how teens are not just dealing with the college application process, but also how they’re overcoming their difficulties. And I think that it was really impactful. 

I was able to have that , which is crazy to me! The fact that such a big news outlet would publish my work, and also that that work got to be read by such a huge audience was amazing. I especially think it was beneficial for adults to read the piece, because a lot of times they don鈥檛 know what goes on in teens鈥� lives.

Congratulations for being published in the LA Times, and congratulations on getting into Northwestern. What is something that you look forward to when you enroll in the fall? 

I think the biggest thing I’m excited about is joining the newspaper. I want to learn from all these amazing college students and hone my skills, so I鈥檓 really excited to join that community. I think that going halfway across the country is so scary, but having that community I know be able to form makes it more exciting and less terrifying.

What has been your journey as a journalist? What has shaped you into the reporter that you are today? 

I go to a journalism magnet school, but at first, I had no interest in journalism. I argued with my school counselor about being put in the class at all, actually. It was at that time, as a freshman, that I began to explore storytelling almost against my will. But as I learned how to write well and take photos while doing all of this really exciting work, I realized my work was really impactful. Ms. Chavira, my journalism instructor, really helped me start to find my voice in journalism, and so has my newspaper staff, because after I finished my freshman year, I was completely hooked.

Tell me more about the types of journalism that you’re interested in. What are some formats you may want to try in the future?

The main thing I do is write more long form pieces. I do a lot of both breaking news and investigative and a lot of newsy feature pieces. I also love photography. While I’ve done a couple of videos through with my school, I want to learn more video journalism. I think that it’s really important for journalists to have multimedia skills and to be able to tell stories in unique ways. Another thing I want to branch more into is audio journalism. One of my best friends runs the podcast for our school, and I want to learn more about what she does. Overall, I鈥檓 interested in becoming more of a multimedia journalist because that鈥檚 really important in today鈥檚 media landscape.

To close this interview, I want to ask you how you find value in journalism. In your opinion, why is journalism important work?

I’ve always heard that journalists are the voice for the voiceless, and I have to say I disagree with that. I think journalism is a way to amplify people’s voices, not to speak for them. I think that’s what’s so impactful about journalism is that through interviews, people shine through and tell you their most important stories. 

I recently wrote , which I鈥檓 freelancing for. The story was about pollution near the Van Nuys Airport and I interviewed some residents who lived right next door. I had an hour-long conversation with a mom who was worried about her kids because in the past three years, the pollution has become a lot worse. Throughout the interview, I was able to hear this complete stranger open up to me, and I was able to publish her voice. And I think that’s so impactful.

This article is part of a collaboration between 蜜桃影视 and the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism.  

Bryan Sarabia is a junior at the University of Southern California, originally from Houston, Texas. He is majoring in journalism and Spanish.