About the Series

PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs and Student Television Network investigate how schools across the country are rethinking what it means to feel safe and be safe at school.

GUN CULTURE

In small towns across America, kids grow up handling knives, crossbows and guns. In fact, Black River Falls High School in Wisconsin has a competitive school target shooting team and students are properly taught how to hold and shoot a rifle.

Producer: Jennifer Malchow
Video journalists: Mya Long and Ezequiel Medina

BEHIND THE SCENES

Tia Loftsgordon waits for crew members Mya Long and Ezequiel Medina to finish setting up for an interview. This was Loftsgordon's first semester in journalism classes at Black River Falls High School.

Tia Loftsgordon waits for crew members Mya Long and Ezequiel Medina to finish setting up for an interview. This was Tia’s first semester in journalism classes at Black River Falls High School in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

Ezequiel Medina sets up for a shot at the sporting clay range, while Shooting Tigers Coach Scott Goetzka demonstrates what the sport is all about.

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The New Safe: Inside the Battle for School Safety

About Us

Student Reporting Labs connect students with a network of public broadcasting mentors, an innovative journalism curriculum and an online collaborative space to develop digital media, critical thinking and communication skills while producing original news reports.

Student Television Network was started in 1999 by a group of teachers who wanted to support and encourage scholastic broadcasting and to provide a forum for teachers to share ideas, ask questions, and learn from professionals in the industry. Over the past 15 years, STN has expanded to include film, media and other forms of communication taught in high schools and middle schools.

American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen is public media’s long-term commitment to supporting community-based solutions to the dropout crisis. Supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), more than 80 public radio and television stations have joined forces with over 1,000 partners and at-risk schools across 30 states.