YJAM members spearhead clean up drives in their community.

MANILA, Philippines -- The Young Journalists Association of Mandaluyong ( Y-JAM ), a group composed of high school campus journalists from both public and private high schools in Mandaluyong, completes its 13th year this school year and looks forward to the next with more developmental programs.

Started in 1998 with then councilor now Mayor Ben Hur Abalos as an anti-drug abuse program of the city government, the group has since expanded into a more wholistic program focused on developing both skills and attitude with year round activities starting off with writing and photography seminars for these budding journalists, expanding into out-reach programs, environmental awareness, inter-school spelling bee, sports competitions, essay writing, slogan-writing, and photo contests, to a series of leadership and values-formation seminars, all aimed at helping the youth to stay away from illegal drugs and other vices.

The program has also gotten support from other sectors like the PJL Foundation and Pera Padala of Cebuana Lhuillier and David Salon among others.

" The youth of today need to complement their academic learning with out-of school learning and Y-JAM has been doing that for the past 13 years. Listening to the participants sharing what they learn from the values-formation seminars attest to this need. The spelling bee is addressing the deteriorating spelling skills of the youth while the annual writing workshops and monthly forum where students inter-act with various personalities in a press-conference type of meeting helps them develop their journalistic skills, " said Y-JAM adviser Lito Cinco.