Lake Placid News intern Rose Wenzler interviews High Peaks Cyclery co-owner Brian Delaney in June 2023 for a story about the 40th anniversary of the business. (News photo — Andy Flynn)

As part of our ongoing efforts to inform, engage and empower Olympic Region residents through journalism, the Lake Placid News is proud to announce an upcoming training opportunity through the New York Press Association.

Whether you are a high school or college student or a community member interested in becoming a part-time correspondent or a full-time reporter at a local community newspaper such as the LPN, the NYPA is offering a “Press Pass” course to teach journalism basics.

This program will focus on ethics, accuracy in reporting, interviewing techniques and writing clearly. To earn certification, participants must complete all sessions and pass a written test.

In order to become a correspondent or an intern at the LPN, we require people to take this course and pass the test. This free online training will be offered in two 90-minute sessions: 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17 and Wednesday, Oct. 18.

To register, contact Judy Patrick, vice president for editorial development at the NYPA, by email at judy@nynewspapers.com.

Lake Placid News intern Arthur Maiorella takes photographs during the swim portion of the 2023 Ironman Lake Placid triathlon at the Mirror Lake beach. (News photo — Andy Flynn)

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Next generation

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The LPN is committed to building the next generation of journalists. We have internship opportunities for high school students during the school year and for college students during the summer. Interns are trained and mentored by the editor and play active roles in the newsroom by reporting on news, taking photographs and writing opinion pieces. Students who intern at the LPN get on-the-job experience and build a portfolio to show prospective employers.

We are extremely proud of Lake Placid eighth grader Rose Wenzler, who has been interning at the LPN for the past two years. She was given the opportunity to learn the ropes of community journalism after launching her own Averyville Press newspaper two summers ago at the age of 11. As she entered grade 6, she began writing stories and columns for the LPN. Now she has a portfolio, including front-page features.

This past summer, Syracuse University junior Arthur Maiorella interned at the LPN for six weeks. Asked how it prepared him for a career in journalism, he said, “I go to class and I write stuff and take photographs for class, but you don’t really know how it works to go somewhere and not know what you’re doing but have to talk to people and figure it out, then be back here (in the newsroom) to file. … I definitely understand how the world works a little bit better now.”

Arthur covered a wide variety of news and sports events for the LPN and our sister newspaper, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. He was an invaluable member of our newsroom in Saranac Lake over the summer.

Anyone with questions on how to become an intern or a news or sports correspondent at the Lake Placid News can contact Editor Andy Flynn by email at aflynn@lakeplacidnews.com. He is also available to visit schools in the Olympic Region and talk to students about community journalism, internship opportunities and careers in this profession that is both personally rewarding and essential to our democracy.