Siya Patel is the Managing Editor for The Hebron Hawk Eye at Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas. Patel organizes public outreach efforts by creating and managing engaging content for New Voices Texas.

“When students report, they don’t just cover their schools– they shape their communities. It teaches young people to question, to investigate and to speak the truth. It is one of the first ways I learned that my words have power and can be used as a form of expression for myself and my community.”

What I Do

Serving as a Communications Officer for New Voices Texas, I work with our team of officers and specialists to further outreach for our cause. I manage the website and social media, constantly creating and managing engaging content to spread our message. My goal is to raise awareness on student journalism censorship and build a strong network of support. I hope to plan outreach through forms of mass communication and also organize events that allow the community to speak out.

I will measure success in this role through the amount of increased engagement I see on both the website and all social media platforms. The impact of the outreach could also be seen through the amount of interest shown for volunteer work with New Voices and questions we get at conventions we’re present at.

By the end of the year I hope to have built stronger platforms of information on student press censorship. I hope to have created strong relationships within the field of journalism that can help aid the passage of New Voices in Texas.