Adviser Update Spring 2011 | Page 9

SPRING 2011 Adviser Update Page 9A Patch.com: An avenue to pursue our passions By STEVEN LAU A Continued from page 5A at Philadelphia; Princeton University Summer Journalism Program; and ThreeSixty Journalism Camp, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn. Up to eight students will be awarded $1,000 college scholarships for the best writing, photography and multimedia package in the 2011 summer high school journalism workshops. CAREER INFORMATION The Fund will update and reprint “The Journalist’s Road to Success: A Career Guide,” its sister publication in Spanish “La ruta al éxito del periodista,” as well as its booklets on running summer journalism workshops, “How to Run a High School Journalism Workshop,” and starting high school newspapers, “In the Beginning.” DIVERSITY Continued from page 4A our attitude can determine how we handle change. “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”  ~Winston Churchill Hopefully, we will make good choices in our lives. Unfortunately, all our intentions are not always fulfilled due to other people’s choices. Because of this, as human beings, we need to rise above the poor choices of others. We cannot dwell on what is negative or on what we do not like. Life is change and choices. We can choose to accept change, alter our attitude, and understand the choices that are made around us. Author Albert Camus wrote, “Life is a sum of all your choices.” P09.V51.I04 Indianapolis Association of Black Journalists; Eastern Illinois University/Illinois Press Foundation, Charleston; Florida A&M University, Tallahassee; Marquette University, Milwaukee; SUNY - Stony Brook, N.Y.; New England Journalism Workshop, Boston; San Antonio College; Texas Christian University, Fort Worth; Temple University, Philadelphia; University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; University of Arizona, Tucson; University of Miami; University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg; University of Missouri, Columbia; University of Oklahoma, Norman; University of Texas at El Paso; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond; Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green; Wayne State University, Detroit; National Association of Black Journalists black in 2011 to students of five high school journalism teachers chosen as best in 2010. An additional $4,000 was granted to promote the program through travel and speaking engagements for the Teacher of the Year at news industry, scholastic and academic conferences. The program will receive in-kind support from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Columbia Scholastic Press Association and The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition. HS STUDENT PROGRAMS Workshop funding was offered to the following organizations: California Chicano News Media Association/San Diego; California Chicano News Media Association, Mosaic/San Jose, Calif.; East Palo Alto Journalism Institute; Columbia College of Chicago; University of Idaho; “Now that we have so many Patches, we have an opportunity to reevaluate and reorganize the role of high school journalists,” she said. “We are on the cusp of change.” Hopefully, Patch will develop a way for all of its sites to allow aspiring teen journalists to earn invaluable experience as I have done. High school writers are a resource ready to be tapped, and Patch is the best opportunity available for teens to gain practical knowledge in the growing field of multimedia journalism. cyan Brian Brooks; and Pennsylvania State University, directed by John Dillon. Centers at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, directed by Dr. Charlyne Berens, and Western Kentucky University, directed by Dr. Johnson, will train sports editing and multimedia interns, respectively. Michelle LaRoche, training editor at Dow Jones Newswires, will instruct more than 12 college students in the Business Reporting Program to cover business at daily newspapers, news services and websites. TEACHER PROGRAMS The board allotted $3,000 for scholarships to be awarded moved onto a weekly teen column every Friday, and by the summer began covering news, too. In the beginning, I struggled with the differences between writing for Patch and writing for my monthly high school paper. Instead of having almost two weeks to write an article, I usually only had a few hours to churn out a finished story, photos and all. And the stories I was asked to write required interviews with various individuals, from city officials to coaches to police officers, whom I did not know at all. It was a crash course in realworld online journalism, outside the confines of the high school bubble. But with practice, I began magenta GRANTS opportunity for limitless content, and, most importantly, its focus on community. When Patch was starting up, local editors for each Patch site were told to connect to the community in as many ways as possible, said Marcia Parker, Patch’s West Coast editorial director. In carrying this out, many editors spoke with local high school journalism classes, and it was in that way B