- Free for high school students
- Feb. 19, 2027 Friday, Feb. 19, 2027
- IUSB Indiana University South Bend
About BLOOM 2027
BLOOM is built for high school journalists.
It’s a free, one-day environmental journalism conference for high school students across northern Indiana. You’ll take three workshops, including one in writing, photography or film, eat lunch with IU faculty and environmental professionals, and end the day by pitching a story.
- When
- Friday, Feb. 19, 2027, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Where
- Indiana University South Bend
- Who can come
- High school students from northern Indiana, with their teachers and chaperones
- Cost
- Free for everyone who attends. Lunch is included.
- Experience
- None needed. Every workshop starts with the basics.
- Organized by
- The Youth Environmental Press Team (YEPT), a program of Earth Charter Indiana
Schedule
How the day runs
Starts 9 a.m.
Ends 5 p.m.
-
9a.m.
Welcome and check-in
Auditorium
-
9:30a.m.
Environmental Hot Topics
Classrooms
-
11a.m.
Climate in Perspective
Classrooms
-
12:30p.m.
Catered lunch and networking
Dining Area
-
1:30p.m.
Pick Your Medium
Classrooms
-
3p.m.
Story pitch session
Auditorium
-
4p.m.
Optional reception and interview hour
Common Area
- Opening
- Workshop
- Networking
- Pitch
For sponsors
Reach more than 150 students and teachers in one day.
Sponsors keep BLOOM free for high school students across northern Indiana, and meet them, their teachers and IU mentors at IUSB on Feb. 19.
- Pay for student lunches and materials for schools that need it.
- Help print student stories and publish them on YEPT.org.
- Table at the networking lunch to meet students, teachers and IU mentors.
Partner spotlight
Earth Charter Indiana
Earth Charter Indiana funds and promotes BLOOM and runs registration and community outreach. YEPT, which organizes BLOOM, is one of its programs.
Workshop tracks
Pick one workshop in each track
Environmental Hot Topics
Biodiversity, data centers and AI, and environmental law in Indiana.
Climate in Perspective
Climate narratives, climate psychology, and media literacy.
Pick Your Medium
Choose written journalism, photojournalism or short film.
Workshops
Data centers, photojournalism, climate psychology and more
Biodiversity and Tree Plantings
Data Centers, AI, and the Environment
Doom and Gloom: Climate Psychology
Media Literacy and Fact-Based Journalism
Alicia Kozma
Photojournalism
Short Film Production
Diana
Speakers
Meet the speakers and workshop leaders
Speaker
Elena Krueper
BLOOM Founder · Indiana University Bloomington
Welcome and check-in
Speaker
Grace Estes
Workshop Lead · Indiana University
Stories We Live By: Land, Culture, and Climate
Speaker
Alicia Kozma
Media Literacy Workshop Lead · Indiana University Cinema
Media Literacy and Fact-Based Journalism
The story pitch session
Selected pitches get a mentor and a path to publication.
The day ends with a pitch session in front of journalists and professors.
-
01
3 p.m.
Pitch
Present your story idea to a panel of journalists, IU faculty and YEPT leaders.
-
02
After BLOOM
Get a mentor
The panel matches selected pitches with a YEPT mentor who helps you finish the story.
-
03
When it’s ready
Publish
Finished stories can run on YEPT.org and in a print magazine that is part of the 89 Percent Project.
Free for high school students · IUSB
Save Friday, Feb. 19.
Registration takes about a minute. Attendance and lunch are free.
Add to your calendar