High school students from across the region gathered at The Philadelphia Inquirer’s newsroom Saturday for the start of the 41st year of the Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop, which gives students a crash course in journalism through the workshop’s writing and photography tracks.

Gabe Escobar, The Inquirer’s senior vice president and editor, welcomed students with a message about the importance of journalism and why journalists are not, as the president of the United States has said, “enemies of the people.”

Escobar highlighted the ability of journalism to make a difference and gave some examples from Inquirer journalists: the Toxic City investigations into health hazards threatening Philadelphia children that spurred new protections, and a story about the George Washington High School cheerleading team that inspired readers to raise the $30,000 the team needed to compete as the first Philadelphia cheer team to make it to nationals.

Linda Wright Moore, a writer and retired journalist, spoke to students about her career and about her husband, the late Acel Moore, who founded the high school journalism workshop. She told students how he got into journalism after spending time in the Army and how he became one of The Inquirer’s first Black reporters, and later a columnist and editor.

She spoke of Moore’s deep connections to Philadelphia communities and his investigation into horrific conditions at Farview State Hospital, which earned him a Pulitzer Price. And she told students about Moore’s mission to improve media coverage of Black people and diversify the journalism industry, a mission that spurred him to cofound the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists.

Students in the workshop’s writing track then learned the basics of interviewing from Inquirer reporter Aliya Schneider and how to put together a story from Inquirer editor Erica Palan. Inquirer staffers volunteering as writing mentors throughout the workshop met one-on-one with students to get them started on the stories that will ultimately be published on the workshop website.

Meanwhile, students in the workshop’s photography track were each given cameras that they will use throughout the workshop, and they learned how to use them.

Students tested their photography, interviewing, and writing skills during a mock press conference led by Michaelle Bond, the Inquirer reporter who leads the workshop’s writing track.

Then Lauren Schneiderman, a video journalist and editor who leads the workshop’s photography track, and Frank Wiese, The Inquirer’s deputy director of video and photography, taught all workshop students some basics of photography. Students learned how to use their phones to capture the best photographs possible and learned about visual composition and photojournalism ethics, since every student will be taking their own photographs for their stories.

Photography Director Lauren Schneiderman contributed to this article.