Carla Thompson, English teacher, journalism instructor and advisor at Timken, said it is important for inner-city kids to see educated, well-spoken people.

Thompson has taught at Timken for two years, and teaches two journalism classes to about 35 students. Her students put out a monthly paper with a circulation of about 300.

The paper is funded by donations and fundraising activities. Students may purchase the paper for 50 cents an issue.

Thompson said working with NABJ students has been a wonderful experience for her children.

"There's just this wealth of talent at NABJ," she said. "They're not that much older from these guys but they learn so much just from being in their presence."

Thompson said NABJ members give the students constructive criticism, while others who critique the paper just criticize without offering solutions.

"They put their money where their mouth is," she said.

Rick Senften

Rick Senften, special projects editor for the Canton Repository, works with a number of area schools to get students involved with journalism. Timken is the only high school he works with that has a program where NABJ students come to help out. Senften said Timken is in a special category because it is made up of about 50 percent minority students. He said Timken students have a lot of potential in the journalism field and it is important to bring diversity into a newsroom

Senften said he thought NABJ students would be ideal to help Timken students because they make up a wide range of journalism majors. It is important to bring people in who are involved with sales, marketing and management so the children can be aware of the wide range of journalism opportunities, he said.