Category: Blog 2026

Another day, another lesson. Today, at the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists, the Greene Team took on news anchoring, and the control room! The first job I took on was graphics, and making sure the right animations came on at the right time. Since this was very new to me, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I soon got in the flow of things after doing two run-throughs and loved working in the control room! The funnest part definitely was being an anchor. Prior to this program, I never thought of being in front of a camera. It’s not that it was outside of my comfort zone, but it was never in my designated career path. I was able to record with Haru Dukanac, as we easily flowed through the script with no complications. Beforehand, I was a little nervous but, once I was in front of the camera, it came naturally to me! I loved talking and taking part of a big role like a news anchor, which I might consider in the near future!

-Briana Dworsak, Baldwin High School

Today is the 2026 Greene Team’ last full day. It was bittersweet, but still there was plenty of work that had to be done. We quickly settled into the newsroom and got to it.

My group worked on the Long Island Ducks game news package, Tiny Vinyls profile, and the Greene Team Instagram post. Throughout our projects, we all demonstrated great team work and clear communication, which enabled us to make good progress.

One of the highlights of the day was when our mentor, Jamie came to help our team. His assistance was super beneficial. He helped me with parts of my script, my stand up, and provided input with editing. Then, we heard from guest speakers who gave us information on Stony Brook University admissions, and insights on the SBU college experience.

Afterwards, I spent time with friends and networked at the alumni social. There, I was able to meet students and professionals in the industry of journalism, including professionals from Newsday. I also spoke to students who gave me tips for internships. Overall, it was a productive day that ended on a high note. Looking back on this experience, I am incredibly grateful for everything I learned and even more thankful for the meaningful connections and friendships I made along the way. While I’m sad to see the program come to an end, I’m excited to carry these experiences with me into the future.

-Jonnae Greene, Baldwin High School

Today was a really busy day on campus.The first half of the day was spent doing a live broadcast activity. I got to go up on camera for the reporting and weather section and control the teleprompter with the scroll wheel, which was pretty nice!

After lunch, we got a few lectures. From there, my team went out to the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame to interview the museum’s co- founder and board member, get some quotes, shoot some b-roll photos and videos for our writing and video, which we will work on tomorrow. During that, my teammates got to interview the second penguin scientist for our piece. We also set up a Zoom call for Mike Polito tomorrow morning after a call and email communication.

-Christopher Cabrera, Brentwood High School

I can’t believe I only have today and tomorrow left. Today is mostly just gonna be a work day, so I’m not too excited but it should still be fun.

I got up around 7:30 am and met everybody downstairs at about eight. We then headed to get a quick breakfast before Rick Ricioppo gave us a refresher on video editing. After Rick. we got to work, met our leaders and began the final stages of our projects.

We had a fast lunch then hurried back to the newsroom for more work, and a couple of presentations about college admissions and the Press Club of Long Island. I spent my afternoon editing my video and am pretty proud of how it turned out.

After dinner, we got to meet some cool Greene alumni.

Today was mostly work but I’m kind of sad that tomorrow is the last day and I know I’m for sure going to miss it here.

-Noah Eichenholtz, Hendrick Hudson High School

On day 3, I woke up in a hurry with only 40 minutes to get ready. I quickly gathered my stuff and headed to breakfast.

After breakfest we headed to the news room to work with our group. My group and I visited the Zuccaire Gallery. They are featuring the Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence exhibition in representation of black struggle of all kinds, such as labor and male sport exceptionalism.

At around 2 pm we traveled to Newsday. Newsday was an interesting experience. I enjoyed touring the place and meeting professionals.

After Newsday, we headed to the Long Island Ducks game. I’ve never been to a baseball game, like most of my friends here in the Greene Team. We started with a press conference, with Communications Vice President Michael Polak. Soon after that, we found our seats and went in search for food. We also interviewed people and gathered together to watch the game.

We left the park at around 8 pm, and I ended my third night with a nice head-to-toe shower.

That’s a wrap of my 3rd day with the Greene Team.

-Angie Larrea, Hempstead High School

It’s the last full day at the Greene Institute already! Dang, it’s gone so fast!

Today was really crunch time for our projects. For almost the entire day, the whole Greene Team were working on the two assigned projects. Angie and I were both working on writing the article on Becoming rentABLE while Yasmin and May were editing our video project on the Zuccaire Gallery. Our work was only interrupted a few times for pep talks and, in one case, a sort of pitch to attend Stony Brook University once you graduate.

We didn’t really go anywhere outside of the newsroom and the dining hall during work hours; it felt like forever in that room.

It’s been bittersweet thinking about the final day here. While I’m glad that I’m here and I learned all these things and made all these memories, it should have been longer. And I likely won’t talk to the friends I’ve made here again (except for Myles because I have his number).

Still, it’s been amazing, as I’ve already said. And I thank Stony Brook so much for this experience.

God bless, Greg.

-Gregory Valestin, Brooklyn Technical High School

It’s day four and I feel like the unhealthy food is getting to me. I think I’m a bit homesick but, then again. I’m actually pretty happy.

Today, we ate then got right to work. I interviewed Tim McArthur, the founder of Beautiful LI. I spoke to him and genuinely realized that people are trying to do something about the litter problem.

I wonder if they’re doing anything for Hempstead. I wanted to ask, but I was running out of time. He was really nice and seemed to genuinely care about Long Island.

Working on the Keep Long Island Beautiful article has motivated me to go home and go find some volunteer work somewhere. I feel like my friends and I would have a lot of fun cleaning up, since I’ve done a project on Long Beach and how much trash is there.

-Yennifer Soriano, Hempstead High School

The Greene Team spent the majority of Thursday, July 30 writing and editing their two articles and creating their video piece. 

In the morning, we learned how to use iMovie, the program for putting together the video pieces. Additionally, the Greene Team engaged in a presentation on how to write for video and the differences between script writing versus article writing. Afterwards, it was time to get to work.

My team split the work between writing the video script and finishing the two articles we were assigned. I wrote most of the article on Tim Glotch’s press conference, while Izzy and Noah worked on the script for the corresponding video. Yennifer interviewed the final person for our article on the Keep Long Island Beautiful campaign, and together we worked on finishing that article as well. 

By the end of the day, the finish line was in sight. Friday, July 31 is the last day of the program — the last day to complete our assignments. With all of the writing and editing we accomplished today, I am confident we will meet that deadline.

-Allie Harrison, Ward Melville High School

Today I woke up at 8:03 am. We had a late start, but it was only 15 minutes later. I’m not complaining, because if it wasn’t 15 minutes I’d be cooked fish.

The breakfast was honestly decent — you can’t go wrong with tater tots and eggs. Yum.

After eating, we did the news reporter show practice. That was the moment I realized that I hate being on camera. I’d never consider being an anchor or news reporter or reporter in general.

I think I’d enjoy being behind the scenes. But other than that, it was fun to control things behind the scenes. I wish I would’ve been the cameraman at some point.

After lunch, we went to the newsroom and began working on our projects. I interviewed Robyn Silvertri, then postponed an interview with Tim McArthur.

Both of them are very kind, I’m extremely glad they gave me a chance to interview them and hopefully

-Yennifer Soriano, Hempstead High School

Taking pictures of the Long Island Ducks was one of the moments where I truly felt like a real sports photographer. Standing in the stands with my camera, I wasn’t just taking pictures. I was trying to capture the moments that people in the stands would remember.

One of my favorite moments was capturing the Ducks’ first home run. The energy changed instantly, and I was able to catch the excitement as the player rounded the bases and the crowd reacted. I also captured a player sliding into second base, which was one of those fast moments where you only have a second to get the shot.

What made the experience even better was photographing the crowd. Seeing their reactions, celebrations, and excitement reminded me that sports photography is about more than just the game. It’s about capturing the emotion around it. That night, I really felt like I was doing what I want to do in the future.

-Myles Darby, Baldwin High School