Aretha Frison is in Bloomington for two reasons this week. One is for herself and the other is for her students, but both are related to the High School Journalism Institute's teaching workshop.

The workshop kicked off Monday and will end after two, one-week sessions. Frison is taking part in the newspaper adviser workshop this week.

Her dream job is to be a journalism teacher, and after earning credits this week she will have the proper certification to do so. She will also be on her way to fulfilling another goal.

"I went through the high school journalism program with the Detroit Free Press when I was in high school," the Detroit native said. "My classmates that were in there with me have done so much in journalism. I wanted to do something like that for my students."

Frison currently is a teacher at Dr. Charles Drew Academy, a charter middle school in the Detroit suburb of Ecorse, Mich. This fall she will begin duties as the school’s sole newspaper adviser.

"It’s a small publication,” she said, “but it’s a start."

Tuesday, Frison was getting a start on learning InDesign, looking at design techniques while examining a paper from a neighboring suburb.

She praised instructor Dan Niles, a journalism professor at IUPUI, for being sensitive to her need to learn applicable skills during the workshop.

"The program is exactly what I need," she said."It’s really practical. This is stuff I can use in the fall."

The program was designed by IU journalism professor Jack Dvorak with people like Frison in mind.

"Many teachers are hired to do yearbook or newspaper in high school and they only have an English background," Dvorak said.

Workshop topics rotate each year to allow for repeat attendees. This year, the first week offers photojournalism and newspaper advising sessions, while the second week teaches Web design and yearbook advising.

While some in attendance are seeking their first taste of journalism know-how, others, like Tony Willis, are looking to update their knowledge.

Willis walked the halls of Ernie Pyle Hall in the 1970s, receiving bachelor’s degrees in journalism and English in 1979. Three years later, a master’s degree in secondary education sent him back to the classroom as a teacher.

"I took J210 as an undergrad 30 years ago, so I wanted to improve my digital photography skills." Willis said. "Well, actually, I wanted to get some digital photography skills."

Under the direction of School of Journalism professor Steve Raymer, Willis said he learned in the first two days that everything he had done for the last two years was wrong.

Willis has been affiliated with the workshop for 25 of the last 30 years, teaching desktop publishing and serving as an interim director one summer. Back in the student role, he doesn’t need the credits, and he doesn’t plan on returning to the position of newspaper adviser that he held at Carmel High School from 1990 to 2004. He is, however, responsible for taking photographs for the school's Web site and hopes to use his newly acquired skills for that task.

By day two, he had captured images of men choreographing acts with swords and sticks in Dunn Meadow.

"It’s very intense, it's very humbling." Willis said of the workshop, "but Raymer is very patient."

Raymer agreed with the intensity of the course.

"It's one thing to cram a whole class into six weeks," he said of typical summer class sessions for students. More than that, the workshop calls for an entire class to be taught in five days.

"It sort of makes you focus on what is important," Raymer said. "And it helps to have adults who maybe catch on a little faster, and they don't have the distractions of part time jobs and all that you have in college."

Raymer managed to find time to discuss theories of color, visual grammar and computer editing techniques, all while allowing students free time to take pictures, used later for critiquing in the workshop.

Raymer said he has been asked to teach a class in the workshop before, but the timing has never worked. This summer, between personal trips to Asia and India, the week coincided with his free time.

And, like Frison, he has a personal reason for educating high school teachers.

"I got into journalism because I was influenced by a good high school newspaper," he said.

The workshops will continue through June 29, accommodating 35 teachers in all. Next month, high school students arrive for a series of workshops.