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In 2007, not one of eleven students who visited the Albany Times Union dreamed they would end up reporting and writing for the New York Capital Region’s largest newspaper; Mary Fran Gleason, Managing Editor at the time, imagined they could.

“They talked about wanting to write about their own interests and experiences, and it just seemed logical to ask them to write for us,” Gleason said.

Originally working from a 460-square-foot-converted garage equipped with donated computers and internet access, students joined Times Union features reporter Jennifer Gish, who led weekly journalism workshops and helped students to sharpen their writing for newsprint publication. Other staffers instructed the students on blogging, while photographers towed kids on assignments where they captured their own shots.

“The whole newsroom is energized by the students,” Gleason said.

The students-turned-reporters’ full-length feature stories ran in the Times Union Life section. Many were reprinted in other newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune. Along the way, the junior reporters were featured in a variety of media, including Milton Magazine, National Public Radio and Nickelodeon’s Nick News with Linda Ellerbee.

“Writing for the newspaper was much harder than I thought it would be – lots of time revising in that garage,” said Molly Shapiro, who authored a July 4th feature, What American Means and produced a video Middle School Diary. “But the amount I learned after all the work was worth it.”

Over time, students expressed an interest in producing news stories that would be read by their peers.

“Not too many of my friends read adult newspapers except for when I tell them I have an article in there,” said Sammie Oluyede, who authored three feature articles, including one that made the front page.

“I think to get young people to read the paper, the articles should be written for us, by us and not just by adults writing about us.”

In 2009, Allegra Cullen and Andrew Cullen wanted their own magazine. The twins, who were 15-years-old at the time, tapped the brains of willing adults in the newspaper industry who were pleased to help teach them the ropes.

One long year later, despite skepticism from many who asked why they didn’t simply create a publication online, the two printed and distributed 20,000 copies of an eight-page special report on education budget cuts.

“I felt such a sense of relief,” said Andrew Cullen, now 17 years old. “We didn’t think eight pages was much, but getting writers, working with our art director and finishing on deadline was harder than my sister and I could have imagined. We were racing to get done before the school districts voted on budgets. If we missed the deadline, we would have wasted a ton of time and money. The budget cuts was an issue that was going to affect every kid around us. We thought it was a good time to use what we had learned to try to get kids involved.”

The following year, working under the direction of a team of adult editors and newspaper-trained graphic artists, the growing staff of teen writers and artists continued to produce articles for adult newspapers. They applied what they learned to create the 32-page lifestyle magazine that would hit the streets the following winter.

“When we finally saw Millennial Youth, in color and on glossy paper, I think we all made the decision that our magazine had to be published in print,” said Allegra Cullen, who is now the co-editor-in-chief along with her brother. “We put years and years of effort into that magazine. The work inside felt too beautiful and too important to just get lost online.”