“Good morning, John Dos Passos Elementary. Today is Wednesday, October thirtieth. The cold lunch is peanut butter and jelly. The hot lunch is black bean burrito bowl. I’m Harry E. Levin.”
“I’m Damion Skinner. And you’re watching . . .”
“The News at Nine.”
Ash wasn’t behind the anchor’s desk, and she wasn’t in the studio, but she’d never been so nervous for The News at Nine.
For the three hundred students and staff members at Johns Dos Passos Elementary, this was an ordinary episode so far. They stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and listened to the birthday report and chuckled at the knock-knock joke of the week. They had no idea what was coming next.
“And now,” Harry said, “a special report about our sponsor, Baltimore-based Van Ness Media. This story was investigated by John Dos Passos sixth graders and former News at Nine crew members, Ashley Simon-Hockheimer and Maya Joshi-Zachariah, with editing by The News at Nine director, Brielle Diamond. They brought this story to The News at Nine because they thought it was important that we know what’s happening in our school.”
Mr. Brooks and everyone in the class turned to look at Ash and Maya. Maya hid her head in her hands. Ash kept her face pointed toward the screen. She knew that down the hall, in the studio, Brielle was saying, “The Underground News episode in three . . . two . . .”
And there it was, on the screen. Broadcast live into every classroom for every student and every teacher. Later today, it’d be available in the school online portal for any parents or former students who wanted to watch. It’d also be on The Underground News YouTube channel for anyone else in the world to see. Her story. Her friends’ hard work. Their news. Breaking.