Thirty-five teachers from 21 states in all parts of the country will get a mix of media theory and hands-on practice in Franklin Hall for two weeks July 7 – 19.
They are the Fellows of the 2013 Reynolds High School Journalism Institute, planning to take what they learn back to their schools and their new or soon-to-be re-invigorated student media programs.
Led by Candace Perkins Bowen, director of the Center for Scholastic Journalism and JMC associate professor, they will learn about free speech issues and ethics as they see that there is promise for the field of journalism.
“You can tell that the teachers who apply really care about their students and want them to succeed,” Perkins Bowen said. “Journalism is more and more online, and a lot of teachers don’t know how to deal with that.”
During the program, fellows will participate in workshops led by JMC faculty members Jan Leach, Bruce Zake, Sue Zake, John Bowen, Mark Goodman and JMC student Casey Braun. Perkins Bowen also has the fellows take field trips to the Akron Beacon Journal, Porthouse Theatre, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to a variety of writing experiences. The second week of the program is geared toward final team projects, multimedia stories focused on local topics of their choice.
In the past, fellows have created projects on topics ranging from local coffee shop “wars” to kayaking opportunities in Kent to independent microbreweries in Northeast Ohio.
“The multimedia story is important because it makes the teachers experience what they’re making their students go out and do,” Perkins Bowen said. “This gives them a better idea of the commitment they expect of their students, and they can say, ‘I know what you’re going through. I did it, too.’”
Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, through a grant to the and its , now funds the institute. The grant gives 175 high school journalism teachers the opportunity to travel to one of five universities to learn more about journalism, and earn graduate or continuing education credits.
For more information about the institute, which has been on campus in the summer since 2001, visit its , which, by mid-August, will house the projects participants create.
ASNE’s Youth Journalism Initiative, launched in 2000, provides journalism-related training and resources for teachers and students across the curriculum. Its goal is for every student to learn why news matters and acquire the skills needed to succeed as 21st Century citizens."
The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it has committed more than $150 million to journalism initiatives nationally.