July 18, 2016
High school journalists gather for workshop
Submitted by Collegian Media Group
Nearly 100 high school students opened the Flint Hills Publications Workshop July 17 at Kansas State University. The students and even some of their teachers are enrolled in one of six three-day sessions to get a head-start on reporting and managing their high school newspapers, web sites, yearbooks and more.
Attendance is the largest in more than five years, according to Kelly Glasscock, the workshop's director. One of the draws is the keynote speaker. Sara Nichols, vice president of the Journalism Education Association, is on campus from California to address the students.
Nichols also will join the workshop's faculty, leading sessions for high school teachers.
"What makes our workshop distinctive is our amazing faculty," Glasscock said. "We have instructors coming in from coast to coast."
Students themselves will come from five states to the 65th annual workshop hosted by Collegian Media Group.
The workshop's partnership with Journalism Education Association, or JEA, came naturally. The association's national headquarters is at K-State, in the A. Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Kelly Furnas, the group's executive director, said that the association's purpose is to help high school students prepare both for the profession and for their college education.
"JEA's tremendous growth over the past five years is evidence of the depth and breadth of high school journalism programs around the country," Furnas said. "This partnership with Collegian Media Group and the Miller School is a great example of their commitment to outreach and the development of future college students."
Teaching high school students on a university campus is a natural fit, according to Steve Wolgast, director of Collegian Media Group.
"The students who attend our workshop are the go-getters back home. It's their energy and enthusiasm that make their time at K-State memorable for everyone who gets to be involved," he said.