By Vanessa Shelton, University of Iowa
Assisting high school journalism students and teachers seems like a natural partnership for AEJMC and ASJMC members. It’s a no-brainer, so to speak, in the eyes of Scholastic Journalism Division members.
Many of us are journalism faculty assigned to teach classes and direct programs designed to lend that crucial support to high school students and teachers. Those classes and programs come in various forms, from the scholastic media association and workshop offices maintained at universities and colleges to offering classes on methods of instructing secondary journalism. For some colleges, that outreach may consist of inviting the secondary students to attend programs or meet guest speakers on campus, or simply faculty visiting the high schools to address relevant topics.
College and university journalism educators have resources, knowledge and experiences that can benefit their high school counterparts in achieving their educational aims. What’s more, the high school teachers may be alumni – great alumni relations! Well-prepared journalism teachers generally result in accomplished student journalists.
Motivations for journalism departments to embrace high school journalism teachers and students were the topic of a panel discussion in an ASJMC session during the AEJMC Convention in Denver. The reasons for this partnership ranged from the altruistic of service to better the community, to the practical of student recruitment and accreditation standards.
Perhaps the reasons to create the partnerships encompass all of the above, to some degree or another. The Scholastic Journalism Division, nonetheless, believes there’s a need for more involvement with high school news media programs. It’s a win-win endeavor. Here’s a glimpse at what scholastic journalism educators shared in the panel session.
First for the practical reasons: In effect, when college-level journalism educators work to enhance high school journalism they are growing their own – and for their respective universities. Turns out those journalism students are among the best students on campus, according to research conclusions Jack Dvorak of Indiana, and his co-investigators have found over the years. They determined that high school students who staffed their school’s newspapers or yearbooks scored in the highest percentiles on the ACT in subject areas other than math. It wasn’t clear whether the journalism endeavors at the high school level produced the outstanding achievement test results, or that scholastic journalism attracts these top students. But, what we can all take away from the research is the students engaged in journalism at the high school level are excellent achievers as a whole. They are the types of students most universities and their journalism departments want to see. They should be encouraged and recruited.
Not least among the reasons to be involved is the ACEJMC accreditation standard to assist area high schools and community colleges. What’s more, the Scholastic Journalism Division has learned through its Innovative Outreach to High School Journalism awards program that frequently the goal of these partnerships is to develop more interest in the news media among minority students. Thus, the programs can result in a more diverse student body at journalism schools, and universities/colleges.
During the panel discussion, those in attendance informally compared notes: About 25 percent of the students attending summer journalism workshops at several universities later returned to campus as college students.
Now, let’s turn to the more altruistic goals of assisting scholastic journalism programs. In a nutshell, students and the community benefit when there are strong journalism education programs in high schools. Journalism education offers students individually some invaluable lessons, from the obvious – proper use of grammar and spelling – to the intangible yet valuable – critical thinking and logic. High school students attend their school board meetings and report on budgets. These students, early on, also understand how to access public records and what their First Amendment rights are. They’re well prepared for civic engagement before their 18th birthday.
For the shear educational benefits afforded to high school students, we should do all we can to assist the news media programs at area high schools and community colleges. In this economically challenging time, budgets are being cut and teachers laid-off. It’s not uncommon for student media and journalism classes to fall under the axe. Likewise, college journalism programs are stretched and stressed as well, and sometimes react by withdrawing support for high school outreach programs. The rationale may include the ease of making budget adjustments on such “non-essential” staff or the loose affiliation with the core mission of the university.
Scholastic journalism educators, such as those on the ASJMC panel, urge a more sober and holistic assessment of the educational values, as well as practicalities, of high school journalism partnerships. Such a longer, deeper view will reveal the investment in the partnerships will yield dividends both altruistically and practically for years to come.