2008 Woodie Awards
SMPA gives grant to mentor DC high school students
Journalism students will look to foster interest in the media among D.C. high school students as part of a grant program run by the School of Media and Public Affairs.
The $150,000 grant, which was awarded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation this summer, is funding Prime Movers, which pairs
college and professional journalists with high school students.
About 400 high school students will participate in Prime Movers. But the initiative seeks to have a much broader impact by encouraging students to create high school newspapers, said Dorothy Gilliam, the SMPA's Maurice C. Shapiro professor and the program's director.
Professional journalists participating in the program include Sam Ford and Peggy Gilgannon of WJLA, the local ABC affiliate; Jonathan Blakley and Doug Mitchell of National Public Radio; and Kim Willis of USA Today.
As of now, Prime Movers is intended to be a pilot program that may continue if its first year is successful. The one-year initiative also plans to ease the transition of minority journalists into local newsrooms and begin journalism programs at high schools.
"The Prime Movers program is a unique partnership between SMPA, the Knight Foundation, major news organizations and area high schools," Gilliam said in a GW press release. "This cooperation will bring media education and training opportunities to students who may not otherwise have them, and it will serve the ultimate goal of increasing diversity in the newsroom."
Gilliam is not only the program's director but was also responsible for forming a relationship between the Knight Foundation and the SMPA. The Knight Foundation is a joint philanthropic organization run by Knight Ridder and various community groups.
"I wanted to start a program that connected news media with high schools," she said in an interview with The Hatchet. "I contacted Knight and, with George Washington, it was a combined effort that we're very excited about."
The $150,000 grant, which was awarded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation this summer, is funding Prime Movers, which pairs
college and professional journalists with high school students.
About 400 high school students will participate in Prime Movers. But the initiative seeks to have a much broader impact by encouraging students to create high school newspapers, said Dorothy Gilliam, the SMPA's Maurice C. Shapiro professor and the program's director.
Professional journalists participating in the program include Sam Ford and Peggy Gilgannon of WJLA, the local ABC affiliate; Jonathan Blakley and Doug Mitchell of National Public Radio; and Kim Willis of USA Today.
As of now, Prime Movers is intended to be a pilot program that may continue if its first year is successful. The one-year initiative also plans to ease the transition of minority journalists into local newsrooms and begin journalism programs at high schools.
"The Prime Movers program is a unique partnership between SMPA, the Knight Foundation, major news organizations and area high schools," Gilliam said in a GW press release. "This cooperation will bring media education and training opportunities to students who may not otherwise have them, and it will serve the ultimate goal of increasing diversity in the newsroom."
Gilliam is not only the program's director but was also responsible for forming a relationship between the Knight Foundation and the SMPA. The Knight Foundation is a joint philanthropic organization run by Knight Ridder and various community groups.
"I wanted to start a program that connected news media with high schools," she said in an interview with The Hatchet. "I contacted Knight and, with George Washington, it was a combined effort that we're very excited about."
