Students at North Wilkes Middle School aren’t reading the school bulletin to find out what’s going on around the building. Every morning right before classes start, WJAG airs live in the classrooms. "We're a leader in me school we like to show a lot of leadership and you have to be really confident and that's why on WJAG it’s just all kids,” Eighth-grader Natalie Mathis said. Five eighth-graders are in charge of this production. They write, direct and anchor the show themselves. Something students watching say they enjoy. "They think it’s cool how we get to be the ones on the news,” Eighth-grader Jeylyn Portillo said. "I like how we're the ones who get to inform everybody about what's going on.”A typical newscast features the daily announcements, updates on school attendance and other building-specific information, and the Pledge of Allegiance, but it’s not all routine. The students add in celebrity and student birthdays, book highlights, even live interviews with staff. Although they do it alone, media specialist Britney Kennedy is close by. She said these students are the top of the top and choosing them was a rigorous process. They had to have good attendance, grades, reading points and ratings from all of their previous teachers. Along with the newscast, the students are also in charge of putting together the school’s yearbook. That means going into the halls and interviewing students and staff. Even taking all of the pictures to go along with them. Kennedy said they’re learning more than just media skills. It takes responsibility, social skills and other takeaways that could help them in high school and college interviews. The students said that wasn't easy to learn at first. "We have a lot of responsibility. We can just go out and take pictures and interview kids without staff watching us,” Eighth-grader Hayden Wilmoth said. “This has helped me like open up as a person and be more cooperative."“You didn't know what the students were going to say or if they were going to be mad that you were going to interview them or something. I think I'm used to it now and I like doing it better,” Eighth-grader Noah Hall said. "It's helped me a lot I used to be very isolated. I didn’t like working with others, but now I’m very confident and I love working with others,” Eighth-grader Leslie Rosales said. "They came to me pretty shy and introvert and they've really grown throughout this year. I've seen them go from a six grader that wouldn't speak to running the morning news show,” Kennedy said. Even if they don’t choose to continue their path in Media. Kennedy said these skills will last a lifetime.