The Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop welcomed students from across Philadelphia and the region to learn about writing, reporting, and photography for possible careers in journalism.

During the introduction to thee workshop, students heard from Inquirer editor and senior vice president Gabriel Escobar, who talked about the importance of journalism and his path into the profession.

Sabrina Vourvoulias, senior editor of the Inquirer’s Communities and Engagement desk, discussed the theme of this year’s workshop, “Untold Stories,” and ways that students can approach journalism that centers the communities they cover. She highlighted some of her reporters’ stories, shared how she got into journalism and came to be at The Inquirer, and taught students about community reporting.

The students in the writing track of the workshop learned interview tips and techniques from Inquirer political reporter Aliya Schneider and then practiced what they learned by interviewing each other.

Deputy business editor Erica Palan used the analogy of assembling a sandwich to teach students how to use the information they gather through interviews and research to put a story together. The students will use what they learned to report and write their own stories by the end of the workshop.

Meanwhile, the students in the photography track learned why photos matter, how to write captions, and how to use their cameras.

Inquirer reporters who have volunteered as mentors met their students to help them develop their story ideas and plan how to start reporting.

The students then practiced asking questions and photographing during a mock press conference led by Michaelle Bond, an Inquirer reporter and one of the organizers of the workshop.

Lauren Schneiderman, an Inquirer video journalist and editor and another of the organizers of the workshop, led a session about photojournalism with Frank Wiese, the Inquirer’s deputy director of video and photography.

At the end of the day, the students were released into the world as journalists to start reporting and photographing for their final projects.