Note to readers • This is part of a collaborative project between The Salt Lake Tribune and the Cougar Claw, Kearns High School’s student newspaper. Read more about these young Utahns’ experiences and perspectives here.

When I think about my students, one word stands out in my mind: powerful.

This school year has been ordinary in many ways, and yet underneath it there has been an unsettled feeling. Kids are anxious for the future. They are keenly aware of our tense political climate. They feel the impacts of cuts to programs, to increased law enforcement activity in their communities. They feel the squeeze of financial pressures at home.

They are experiencing whiplash in the changes to technology and attendance policies, as adults seek to fix schools and teenagers in a post-COVID landscape. At so many turns, decisions are made for them and they have no say.

It is in this environment that they speak up and demand that their voices be heard. There is no better example of this than the student walk outs that swept Utah schools in January and February of this year.

As a teacher, I witnessed hundreds of Kearns High students engage in an act of peaceful protest, some for the first time in their lives, and I felt overwhelming pride. Their passion and courage continue to inspire me. They are powerful.

I also witnessed student reactions to comments made by adults in the community, disparaging them from using their voices. Students expressed frustration as they were criticized for being too young to understand complex issues or for simply looking for an excuse to skip class.

What I saw on the ground and in the classroom was not whining kids playing hooky — I saw students speaking, listening, analyzing, engaging. Students put into practice the very skills that the Utah Board of Education has outlined in our state learning standards. They applied their learning powerfully.

Despite the criticism, I feel that the real victory of their protest was not necessarily in changing opinions or policies, but was in creating a sense of personal power and voice in the heart of each student that participated.

Finding your power. Using your voice. That is what I want for my students.

And that is why when I was approached by The Salt Lake Tribune inviting the Cougar Claw to participate in a partnership, I jumped at the opportunity.

At first it was a leap of faith. This was my first year teaching journalism, and I had no idea how many students would show up to the class or what their abilities would be. I accepted because in the time that I had been there, I had been deeply moved by the brilliance and heart of Kearns kids.

I believed that they were particularly deserving of a platform to make themselves heard and understood.

When I introduced the project, one question came up: Why Kearns?

Students offered words to describe the school and the community: misunderstood, united, ghetto, home, diverse. They expressed feeling frustrated by outside perceptions of the school, of the low expectations they felt others had of them. They had a lot to say.

And so with encouragement and support, they began to write.

Each student embarked on a journey exploring their hopes, fears, frustrations and experiences. They looked inward to find the story they had to share: messages about their future, their triumphs, their struggles, the things they wished others knew. They found their voice and they put it in writing. I watched their confidence in their writing and in themselves soar.

This is the power of student journalism. This is the power that students find when they are encouraged to explore and exercise their voice.

Enrollment requests for Kearns High School journalism courses next year are a testament to this. For the 2026-2027 school year, course requests doubled — no small feat for an academic elective.

In addition, the Cougar Claw will, for the first time in its 60 year history, be working to develop Spanish language offerings, with the goal of becoming a bilingual student paper. This is long overdue for the Kearns community and will offer students who speak Spanish a platform to express themselves and to gain valuable extracurricular experience that was previously inaccessible to them.

This is not a small project. It requires time and dedication, love and community support. It requires equipment and funding — functioning facilities. It requires us, the adults, to be cheerleaders, defenders, supporters, mentors and challengers.

It requires us to listen to the kids and to take them seriously.

And so as I reflect on the past year, on the changes I have witnessed in my students, I feel tremendous hope for the future. I am awed by their courage, their compassion, their engagement, their depth. The kids are speaking, and I hope that we have the courage and the humility to listen.

If you would like to support student expression, consider offering your support to the talented students at the Cougar Claw via financial donation or mentorship. As we work to establish a Spanish language section, we are in need of mentors who speak Spanish that can provide writing support to our brilliant and eager students. If you are interested, please contact Callie Campbell at cacampbell@graniteschools.org.

Callie Campbell has taught English Language Arts at Kearns High School for four years and has taken on the journalism program and student newspaper, Cougar Claw, this school year. She also co-advises RAIN club, an after-school club for LGBTQIA+ students and allies.

The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here, and email us at voices@sltrib.com.