RANTOUL, Ill. (WCIA) — Rantoul students are learning about different career paths and other opportunities that will help them be successful in life.

The students are starting with current events and journalism. Rantoul Rise Academy teacher Tonia Kirby said she wants to open up her students minds by letting them meet and talk with people in different professions.

Today, she had WCIA’s Karina Rubio and Jared Thomas come in and visit with her 8th grade class. They talked about their journey into news, what makes their jobs great and how to become a well-rounded journalist.

Kirby said this will help the students with their upcoming project of a school newspaper.

“I want each of them to have done an interview with one of the staff members here,” Kirby said. “I also have a website that I use where the kids can make cartoons, and so I have each of them make their own political or otherwise cartoon, and then I want them each to choose a local topic, something that is of interest to them in our community.”

She said she’s done something similar to this before and is hoping the students this year will appreciate it as well. Kirby’s goal is to work on creating the newspaper this month and part of March, so that they’ll be able to publish it before spring break.