BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Students in Bellingham Public Schools will soon get extra help navigating news and misinformation.

The district has been accepted into a prestigious three-year fellowship with the News Literacy Project, earning a $30,000 grant to strengthen news and media literacy instruction.

The Fellowship provides customized support to integrate critical thinking about news and information into classrooms across the district.

“Our strategic plan, The Bellingham Promise, commits to developing graduates who are skilled users of technology and information and well-rounded, engaged members of their communities. In a world full of online falsehoods, the News Literacy Project’s District Fellowship program provides our educators with the tools they need to teach students lasting skills in news and media literacy,” said Dr. Bill Palmer, director of teaching and learning for technology integration at Bellingham Public Schools. “These skills will serve our young people well in school, in their future and in the workplace.”

Education leaders say in an era of AI, deepfakes and personalized algorithms, learning how to find credible information is essential.

Bellingham is the first school district in Washington accepted into the program.

Nationwide, the fellowship includes 44 districts in 16 states, with the potential to reach more than 1.4 million students.