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Photo by Greg Ruhland

Senior Linday Chambliss of Castle High School in Newburgh, Ind., presents her T.I.S. bookstore campaign in Terry McCartin’s business advertising workshop.

Related Learn more about HSJI IDS focusing on Web, multimedia (April 26)

Wednesday marks the end of the 62nd High School Journalism Institute student sessions, a series of three five-day sessions that brought more than 468 young journalists from around the nation and one foreign country to Ernie Pyle Hall to improve their skills before working on their own publications this fall.

Workshop sections included newspaper, yearbook, desktop publishing, business/advertising, TV news and photojournalism. And, HSJI is a group effort, according to director Jack Dvorak, who reported that a total of 20 faculty members led the 33 individual sections of the workshops, and eight current and former IU journalism majors handled the counseling duties for high schoolers staying in dorms.

While students finished up a yearbook session this week, teachers reflected on their experiences.

“I always like coming here because I go home renewed,” said yearbook coordinator Susie Coleman of her 20 years in the program. “Someone always teaches me something, or I pick up a trick they’re doing.”

Photo by Greg Ruhland

Kelsey Tanner explains her yearbook theme idea to group members.

By the time she leaves next week, Coleman will have reviewed almost 25 student-planned yearbook themes for next year. On the board, her students read design basics such as how a cover visually conveyed a theme, and how the table of contents followed a title page with pictures and the school name. Then there were section spreads, dividers and end sheets to consider.

But Coleman said the heightened experience of a university setting added an extra dimension to flat chalkboard concepts.

“That all the classes are in Ernie Pyle is a great opportunity for them to see the School of Journalism, what actually goes on here,” Coleman said. “It’s not just going to a workshop, staying in a dorm, and not becoming involved in the university.”

Some of the buttons Stephanie Wright had clicked before, but the Kankakee Valley High School senior listened anyway to an Adobe InDesign workshop outlining the fundamentals of a spread. Wright’s adviser at Kankakee Valley picked up the $295 HSJI tab so that Wright could learn as much as she could. Next year, she takes over as editor of the school’s newspaper and yearbook.

Photo by Greg Ruhland

The yearbook class wrapped up the 62nd session of HSJI.

So far, Wright made four spreads.

“I learned a lot, just getting to learn more buttons, which makes your spread more sophisticated,” she said.

Hannah Stroup of Canterbury High School in Fort Wayne was involved in both newspaper and yearbook sessions.

“We’ve never had a business or advertising manager for the yearbook before,” Stroup said. “So my adviser said I should try to find a camp that would help me figure out what needs to be done. I figured out a lot I can use next year for my position.”

In another classroom, Lindsay Chambliss from Castle High School in Newburgh, Ind., presented a mini advertising campaign for the T.I.S. Bookstore to three HSJI “judges.” She created the work in Terry McCartin’s business advertising workshop.

Besides the campaign, McCartin encouraged his students to create a comprehensive portfolio including a publication theme, critiques of 20 ads and graphics, a rate structure for advertising, and sample prospect letters and business thank-yous.

They had only three days to deliver.

"I told them, ‘this is how businesses really do it,’" McCartin said. "You have to defend your ideas and present them to people."

Photo by Greg Ruhland

Like students, adviser Susie Coleman says she always learns something herself at HSJI.

McCartin said HSJI students usually get a tour of student publications like the Arbutus and IDS during the week. This time, he made sure they could shadow college students doing actual work.

It wasn’t all nose-to-the-grindstone at HSJI. Students shared dinner with roommates and counselors before lights-out at 11:30 p.m. in Teter Quad each night. And an honors assembly was held the last day of each workshop to recognize students’ outstanding work, to be archived on the HSJI Web site. Scholarships were presented to the students most likely to pursue a journalism career.

Advisers also had a chance to say farewell to Dvorak, who is retiring from the directorship of the program this year. Teresa White, most recently adviser at Noblesville (Ind.) High School, takes over as director Aug. 1.