Volunteer for USC Kids News

Last updated 01/24/2023

PressFriends at USC RSO volunteers at two local elementary schools – Foshay Learning Center and John Mack Elementary School.  PressFriends at USC RSO is part of PressFriends Inc., which mentors 500 Title I elementary students every year in a total of seven elementary schools and five community programs.  The program uses project-based learning (creation of a school or program newspaper) and peer mentoring to motivate elementary students to improve their writing skills while increasing their opportunities for success in the future.  PressFriends Inc. was founded in 2008 and is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

USC Kids News was launched by PressFriends Inc. in 2013 with the USC Family of Schools.  Since then, there have been five USC Kids News workshops, which have involved collaboration with USC faculty, staff, and students.  The last USC Kids News workshop in 2019 was sponsored by USC Viterbi, USC Keck, USC Annenberg, and USC Roski, with aid from Office of the Provost, the Emeriti Center, and the Joint Educational Project.  The 2023 Workshop will be PressFriends’ first arts-focused workshop and will be a collaboration with USC Annenberg, USC Roski, USC Kaufman, and USC School of Cinematic Arts and will be partially funded by USC Good Neighbors.  USC Kids News usually has 200-300 Title I elementary students attend in 12 school or program groups, and each group is accompanied by school or program staff.  Our volunteers work with the elementary students on their articles in conjunction with their school or program staff members, but volunteers are also needed to assist with administrative tasks such as distribution of snacks, t-shirts, lunches, writing forms, pens, etc., as well as provide support to presenters and volunteers.

For more information on PressFriends Inc., go to pressfriends.org.