VtDigger Underground Workshop

VtDigger, Vermont's online newspaper, has a program called VtDigger Underground, created by Ben Heintz. The Underground Workshop is for Vermont students to join together and produce works of journalism.

“I taught journalism for 6 years at high school. I saw learning happen with kids that was so far from anything I’ve seen,” says Heintz who teaches at U-32 in Montpelier. Heintz teaches other classes too, but journalism is the class where he sees students truly inspired. He wanted to create something that would let kids blossom even without taking a class about journalism.

Heintz saw a lot of potential in the program and so did Anne Galloway, the founder and editor of VtDigger. “Well what if I went to VtDigger and asked them if they'd be open to publishing Underground on their site?” Heintz wondered as he took the idea to Galloway. She saw the same potential in it that he did. Together, they got the Rowland Fellowship to give them a grant towards creating the program and were able to start the process.

Heintz received the grant in February, 2020, then many emails and positive responses later, the program was started in October, 2021. “It's been like trying to get a fire going in a rainstorm, just because of the pandemic,” says Heintz.

Getting the program started was difficult because the original thought was that teachers would use it to expose their students to journalism, but it ended up being mostly students that reached out on their own that participated in the program. “In spite of all that, the fire has gotten going and is growing,” says Heintz.

“Getting involvement from people during the pandemic was the hardest part. There are a lot of hours behind the things we've written,” says Heintz. The time and energy put into the Underground program was far more than he had thought it would be, just because of the pandemic. Being able to have people participate and have consistent work published was so hard because everyone was so busy with COVID-19 or just life in general.

Heintz created the program so that students could be passionate about something they loved: journalism. Many students have participated in this program, such as WUHS Junior Alec Smail. He wrote an article about Syrian Refugees, putting his own time into contacting, interviewing, and writing about their journey and experiences coming to Vermont. Another student, Rue Stahl, did a piece that revolved around his photography of birds in Vermont.

“The joy of meeting and getting to know and supporting students who want to do this meaningful work. That's never hard for me. I really do love young people and think they can do great things. It's not hard for me to talk with them and I look forward to it every time,” says Heintz. There were many difficult things about constructing the program, but the students made it easier for him when it came to getting the work done and having it actually be quality work. Passion drives quality and VtDigger has proven that beyond doubt.

“I like seeing motivated, sincere students connect with each other. Seeing all the kids together is the most important part” says Heintz. His favorite part about his program is connecting the students and letting them conduct their own work, with little to no help from him. They hold meetings over Zoom to discuss article ideas and the students give each other feedback. Any students are welcome to attend!

Here is a link to VtDigger: The Underground Workshop. You can reach out to Ben Heintz about journalism and can even write for the program if you’re a student in Vermont. His email is ben@vtdigger.org.