The High School Journalism Program is one of the longest-running programs at The Poynter Institute. Founded along with the Institute in 1975, its goal is to give about 30 young people the chance to learn about the craft of journalism and to practice it in meaningful ways.

 

The program provides instruction and mentoring through a two-week summer workshop at Poynter and monthly evening workshops during the school year, usually from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, August through May.  The goal of the program is to expose interested students to the people and ideas we hope will inspire them as they pursue careers in journalism and as they grow as citizens in this democracy. 

Look for an application here in February 2008.

HOW TO APPLY

Download an application in February. Deadline to apply is the end of March. We typically receive 50 to 100 applications for about 35 spots. Meanwhile, check out our web site for student journalists, Poynter High. Click here for information about our one-day writing workshop each February.

Each spring we invite applications from high school students from the Tampa Bay area who have an interest in and aptitude for writing, still or video photography, reporting, design, the internet and storytelling in all its forms.  The students selected for the program attend workshops in which members of the Poynter faculty and visiting professional journalists teach workshops on writing, photography, interviewing and other skills journalists need. Students also take field trips to see local news organizations in action.

Here's what one graduate of the summer program had to say about her experience. 

"Everything rocked," Charlie Hart, now a student at the University of Missouri - Columbia, wrote in his evaluation after the summer 2005 program. "Thank you very much for the wonderful opportunity  to learn with the best and brightest in the industry."
 

The tentative schedule for 2008 is:

•     Feb. 16: Application process opens
•     March 28:  Application deadline
•     April 14:   Students notified of acceptance
•     June 8:  Opening reception, parents and students, 2-4 p.m.
•     June 9-13, June 16-20:  Student workshops, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
•     August - May 2008: Evening workshops one Tuesday per month, 5:30-7 p.m.
  

Tuition for 2008 is $500. Financial aid is available, thanks in part to a grant from Gannett Foundation/Tampa Bay's 10 News.  Full and partial scholarships are available, so all interested students are urged to apply.

We make special efforts to attract a diverse group that cuts across race, ethnicity, geography and socioeconomic status. We believe that the future of the profession, and its ability to serve the public, depends on a workforce of skilled professionals as varied as the communities they cover.

 

High school journalism teachers in the Tampa Bay area who are interested in a paid position to help teach the summer portion of the program can contact Wendy Wallace for details.

The Poynter Institute also hosts a one-day writers workshop each February, open to any high school student or teacher who wants to be a better writer. And the program director, Wendy Wallace, is available to support scholastic journalism in any way she can, in an advisory role, as guest lecturer or simply as a conduit to Poynter.

For more information, please contact Wendy Wallace at The Poynter Institute.