Sneak into The Poynter Institute. That's right. Find your way into the virtual hallways of this internationally-known school for journalists and look around.
Here's what you'll find for high school students:
Guidance on the college search. We asked professional journalists what they would advise students as they look ahead to college and potentially to journalism as a career.
Here's their advice. Plus, two alumni of Poynter's High Journalism Program offer their thoughts about what's important as you weigh your options.
Christine Dellert, a journalism student at the University of Central Florida, will help walk you through the decision-making process. And
Lee Ettleman, at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, will ease your anxiety if you don't quite know what you want to do with your life.
Story ideas. Check out
Al's Morning Meeting. It's a fresh look at a news event, a trend, or some quirky thing he has read, with tips on how to pursue the story and make it your own. Here's a list of recent Al's Morning Meeting columns organized by topic, to make it easy to get Al's thoughts on a story you might be working on. Here is one example of how to localize the columns for your school publication. You can also visit online editions of high school newspapers from around the country. You're bound to find a story you could do at your school.
Practical advice on how to get better. Want to write better? Learn about photojournalism? Put together a more effective broadcast segment? Check out this Tip Sheet for High School Journalists, with links to websites that can help. You could also take a free class on interviewing or another featuring Dr. Roy Peter Clark's Fifty Writing Tools at the online News University. And here is a link to Chip Scanlan's Ten Paradoxes of the Writing Life (such as "Writing is magical, but it's not magic").
Insights into journalism as a profession. Read the articles on the Poynter Online homepage or glance at the links to other stories mentioned there. If professional journalists and Poynter faculty consider a topic worthy for a centerpiece, it's worth a few minutes of your time.
Thoughts on scholastic journalism. Alan Weintraut, media advisor at Annandale High School, stressed the importance of high school journalism in his acceptance speech when he was named the 2006 National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year. Poynter Online ran this edited version of his remarks to give professional journalists insights into your world.
Good writing. In "Their Eyes are Wide Open," students at Gibbs High in St. Petersburg talk about life -- what's important and why they care -- amid rehearsals for the school play. And here are some tips from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Tom French on the art and craft of writing. In another article, Roy Peter Clark talks about overcoming anxieties about writing.Information on seminars for high school students. Poytner offers two seminars for high school students. In February, 200 students and advisers from across Florida come for a one-day writing workshop. And each June, Poynter welcomes 35 Tampa Bay area students selected for a two-week seminar that continues with monthly evening sessions during the school year.
So look around. Stay awhile. And come back often.
