ASNE High School Journalism Summer Institute:
Getting the Keys to a Strong Scholastic Press

We also teach the teachers.

Thanks to a $159,000 grant from the American Society of Newspaper Editors in the summer of 2001, we brought 33 high school journalism teachers from across the country for an intensive institute on teaching journalism to their students.

For two weeks, the high school teachers worked with local and national journalists on the skills of the profession.

They visited the Newseum in Washington, D.C. They studied the First Amendment. They explored the role and responsibilities of a free press in a democracy.

They were inspired by an award-winning high school journalism teacher. And they practiced what they will be teaching -- reporting, writing, editing, Web journalism, layout and design.

The ASNE High School Journalism Summer Institute is a major initiative launched in 2001 and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to strengthen journalism programs in high schools, where many journalists make their first connection with their profession. The grants were awarded to six accredited journalism programs through the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communications. We were the only member of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities chosen to offer the institute.

Photos are courtesy of Carrie Holmberg of Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif.