Stories from a new generation of journalists

A Native American coach reclaiming lacrosse for her community. A young blind student learning to navigate the streets of Minneapolis. A woman who discovers she has epilepsy in a most unusual way.

These remarkable stories about everyday Minnesotans came to life thanks to six college students. They were the latest graduates to come through the ranks of NPR's Next Generation Radio, a weeklong boot camp that for years has helped shape future journalists, especially those from diverse backgrounds.

The ultimate goal of this program, sponsored this fall by MPR News, is to train them for careers in public media — an industry that has a special mission to serve all communities but at times comes up short.

The students arrived in Minneapolis from around the country, and each was paired with a professional journalist. I was lucky to be one of those mentors.

"Next Generation Radio is an intensive project. It's fast paced, straightforward, yet unpredictable and in my case, breathtaking. However, all of us shared the struggle and success of finishing the stories we started with."

The students learned to pitch stories, report and record in the field, mix a piece, blog daily, and help develop a mobile app — all under intense, and sometimes exhilarating, deadline pressure.

But maybe the biggest growth I observed in the students was their self-confidence. As their stories came to fruition, so did their realization that they can do this work. My hope is that if there's anything these aspiring journalists learned from Next Gen, it's that they belong.

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Here are the stories, which you can hear this week on MPR News with Tom Weber.

"The Blind Teaching the Blind" by Carla Javier

Leanne DeIuliis's teacher gives her an assignment: find her way to 80 S. 9th St. in downtown Minneapolis. She can't use street signs or look at a map, because DeIuliis is blind. But that doesn't mean she's destined to get lost. She's being trained by other blind people how to live independently — and with confidence.

"Hmong Legacy" by Iveliz Martel

The smell of broiled chicken still brings Lee Pao Xiong 40 years back, when he was a child in a refugee camp. His family soon moved to Minnesota to join relatives and a growing Hmong community. Today, he is the director of the Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia University in St. Paul, where he's trying to keep the Hmong legacy alive for future generations.

"Reclaiming Lacrosse" by Claire Moseley

Sasha Houston-Brown didn't start playing lacrosse until she attended an elite prep school. Now she's on a mission of reclaiming the sport for her Native American community. A coach with Twin Cities Native Lacrosse, the Minneapolis woman introduces people to the game as their ancestors played it centuries ago.

"Sixth Grader Finding Rhythm of his American Indian Heritage" by Angela Nguyen

Santino Decory is a sixth-grader at American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul. Part of the school's mission is help Native American kids find academic success. Santino has pride in his school and in his heritage. On this day, he receives a special honor.

"Seizing the Future" by Benjamin Payne

Erica Reinke was a graduate student at Vanderbilt University in 2012. On Halloween, driving to her internship, she experienced something that changed her life. It was a day that Erica will always remember, if only because on that day, she couldn't remember a thing. Epilepsy changed Erica's life. Now Erica is trying to change her epilepsy.

"Bree's Battle" by Jason Fuller

Bree, a young Twin Cities woman, was sexually assaulted at an early age and later found herself in an abusive relationship. Overcoming domestic violence was the hardest thing Bree has had to overcome. She's been married for two years and has been able to open up with her husband and family. But to this day, Bree still deals with the ramifications of rape.