With 80s rock music playing and blankets strewn over seats, the Rock Creek journalism team cozied themselves up on the bus traveling to the University of Kansas for the School of Journalism’s media day.
Rock Creek journalism students travel to local universities, giving students the opportunity to get a feel for the journalism programs offered at the university level and ask current college students questions.
“This year we had three college students on the Board of Journalism that explained what their average day in college and the J School [Journalism School] is like,” explained Mycah Shultz, a senior at Rock Creek, “… it lets you have an idea of what I might be doing and the people who will accept me with open arms.”
After interviewing the Board of Journalism students, the Rock Creek students were graced with the presence of Dr. Gaston, a professor at the University of Kansas, and a Pulitzer Prize winner. During the workshop, Dr Gaston instructed the need to focus on leads (or ledes) when writing articles. Students practiced coming up with different types of leads and asked many questions to strengthen their understanding of one of the most difficult aspects of writing an article. Once their brains were wrought with ideas, the pizza and cookies provided by the college arrived and it was time for lunch and socializing.
“I feel like it’s [the team bonding on trips] what creates the program we have today… we get to learn a lot from the trips because it is different from what we usually do,” sophomore Graci Hanson shared when asked about her favorite memory from media day.
Lunch ended naturally after an hour of brainstorming and networking. A thorough presentation about journalism opportunities, concentrations, and scholarships followed the meal and was presented by Leah Kohlman, the undergraduate recruitment coordinator for the School of Journalism.
Hanson also expressed, “They offer a lot from their school… They are very welcoming and like they said, they gave out nearly $1,000,000 in scholarships last year… I feel like they have a lot more opportunities than some other colleges have.”
The Rock Creek journalism team spent the last workshop with college students in the J School broadcasting studio. A few students hopped in front of the camera while others learned about the technology behind it all.
“You can do sports broadcasting and news broadcasting and you can also involve weather broadcasters to come and work with them [the J School students],” junior Segen Sutton commented, “I like how they made stories where they could go out and video things but put the story in the broadcast.”
With inspired minds, the Rock Creek Journalism team headed back to St. George, where the student population will see new growth and excitement for their high school journalism program.
