In August, we announced a new initiative to support up and coming FOIA fighters who want to help better understand and report on government. Today we’re pleased to announce the college participants in the inaugural MuckRock’s Student Journalist FOIA Grants.

Whether it’s teenagers digging into a long-forgotten promise or a high school paper uncovering discrepancies in their principal’s credentials, students that learn how to use public records can punch well above their weight class in accountability and transparency. With our new Student Journalist FOIA Grant, MuckRock wants to help.

FOIA can be slow and strange, but that might be all the more reason to introduce the youth, the future, to it now. For you educators, MuckRock’s made up some materials to assist you in starting a discussion about transparency in government.

While teens across the United States prepare to return to their cliques and classes, MuckRock would like to introduce inquisitive minds and aspiring rebels to the paper path toward challenging your school, town, and local government. Encourage increased clarity in your academics, transparency in your community, and civic participation in your country: file a public records request.