Audrie Garrison | Nov. 18, 2010
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| Photo by Audrie Garrison |
| From left, Throop Elementary School sixth-graders Claire Cornwell and Avery Rogers work with IU students Chrissy Ashack and Larry Buchanan to devise ways to improve the school newspaper. IU students, faculty and staff participated in the Orange County Journalism Summit in Paoli Wednesday. |
With the help of the IU School of Journalism, Orange County Community Foundation and advisers from Orleans Junior Senior High School and Springs Valley High School, Nichols, BS '99, MS '03, brought the educational benefits of a collaborative convention to Paoli in the form of the Orange County Journalism Summit.
“I go to a lot of these conventions, and a lot of times small schools aren’t there,” Nichols said. “I got to thinking, ‘If I can’t get them to go, I’ll get them to come here and do it for them.”
Students from all three junior-senior high schools as well as an elementary schools attended sessions with IU School of Journalism faculty, staff, alumni and students, as well as professional journalists in southern Indiana. Nichols said she wanted to show the students that Orange County could host such an event and shake off the perception that the area is “podunk” or “nothing special.”
The first event of the day was pretty special, as Pulitzer Prize-winner and Riley Endowed Chair of Journalism Tom French, BA ’81, opened the summit with a keynote speech describing a long form feature piece he wrote, “13,” about the life of middle school students.
“I love writing about students, because your lives are filled with amazing things,” he told those in the audience.
During two workshop sessions afterward, IU journalism students were among the mentors. Senior and Inside magazine art director Larry Buchanan and junior and Arbutus yearbook editor Chrissy Ashack critiqued publications.
Buchanan listened with a grin as sixth graders from Throop Elementary School showed him their monthly newspaper. He said he was amazed by the skills the students had already developed in elementary school: awareness that they’re writing for a kindergarten through sixth-grade audience, the use of a beat system, and the production of a website and a TV show.
“They were absolutely incredible,” Buchanan said. “They were full of energy. They knew what they were talking about, and it makes me really, really confident that the future of journalism is in good hands.”
Paoli High School junior Allison Pail attended a yearbook critique with Buchanan and Ashack as well as IU Director of Student Media Ron Johnson’s session on publication design. The yearbook student said she learned a lot about making cleaner-looking designs, and she enjoyed helping plan and set up the event. Pail said she’d never had the chance to attend anything like the Orange County Journalism Summit.
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| Photo by Audrie Garrison |
| Paoli High School publications adviser Heather Nichols organized the summit, which brought Orleans and Springs Valley schools together for workshops and critiques. She and organizers hope to offer these events annually. |
“Just from her telling us what she thought about the pages, I learned how to be a better editor,” Widdifield said of Ashack’s critique.
Other School of Journalism attendees included High School Journalism Institute director Teresa White and Director of Experiential Learning and Recruitment Kathleen Lee.
Among the three school districts, 69 students attended the event. Nichols and other advisers said they hope to offer the summit annually.
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