It was a win-win situation when about a dozen teenagers came to GBH on a recent Saturday morning to learn about journalism and civics.

The teens, who participate in a Boston program that provides economically and socially underserved BIPOC youth with the information they need to become civically engaged in their communities, visited GBH about a month before their graduation.

“The opportunity to come and hang out with us was a great education for them — and it was a great education for us,” said Paul Singer, investigations editor at the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. Also hosting the visit were GBH News Executive Editor Lee Hill and reporter Saraya Wintersmith.

“Our goal is for youth to see themselves as part of the solution rather than helpless victims. We want them to become empowered, knowledgeable and engaged community members,” said Priscilla Flint, founder and executive director of the program at the Marcus Anthony Hall Educational Institute.“ We want to give them a different way of thinking about jobs and work.”

The teens, she added, gave the visit to GBH “high marks.”

That’s just what Singer hopes for. “We see this as an extension of our mission — to make sure that we are elevating voices of people of color,” he said. “We also want to make sure that young people who might want to get into the news business are aware of the opportunities that we have at GBH.”

Singer first met Flint while working on GBH News’ The Color of Public Money series, which is investigating government contracting and public spending and uncovering inequities in how public funds are spent. Flint serves on the Boston Employment Commission, which monitors a policy that requires builders to use a workforce that is 51% Boston residents, 40% people of color and 12% women.

“Priscilla pointed out to me that the policy had never been enforced, despite being on the books for 30 years, so we reported on that,” said Singer.

The visit, which included a tour of the newsroom and studios along with a session on journalism and reporting, was a resounding success, said both Singer and Flint.

With the teenagers’ interest in radio piqued, Flint is now making plans for the students to do a radio broadcast about their graduation on Boston Praise Radio and TV, a partner organization where she is a producer.

The visit also was a gratifying fulfillment of the GBH mission, said Singer. “Education is a fundamental pillar of what GBH does,” he said. “Part of GBH News’ goal is to create a newsroom without walls, where we are reaching deeper into our communities and becoming more trusted partners.”

And we want to keep hearing from those communities, he said. “It’s kind of funny — as broadcasters we want to talk less and listen more.”

Read GBH News coverage about Priscilla Flint here.

Read more news from the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting here.