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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Lee student selected for journalism program
By Jessica Robertson
Baytown Sun Published July 29, 2007 As Lee High School senior-to-be Stephanie Perez rubs elbows this summer with some of the most prestigious names in journalism, she’ll be well on her way to joining that crowd.
Perez, 17, is one of 22 high school students from around the country that was selected to attend the Princeton University Summer Journalism Program, which began last week in New Jersey.
The 10-day intensive seminar will give her the opportunity to learn secrets of the trade from editors at The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New Republic, ABC News and The Washington Post.
“I still don’t know what to expect,” Perez said on Thursday as she was waiting for her flight in the airport. “We’re going to be working with some really prestigious writers, and I’m excited about that.”
The program, which began in 2001, is geared toward providing juniors and seniors from low-income backgrounds with an opportunity to gain insight in the field, director Richard Just said.
All four directors are former editors at The Daily Princetonian, he said, that created the program to fill a desperate need for reporters with more diverse backgrounds.
“One of the things we really struggled with was recruiting students that didn’t just come from upper-middle class backgrounds to work for the paper,” Just said. “It’s a problem the broader world of journalism struggles with as well.”
That’s why the program focuses not just on teaching the techniques of reporting but also on those needed to apply to top-tier universities, he said.
“We want to get them fired up about being journalists, and we want them going to top schools and working for student papers there,” Just said. “That’s the best pipeline into great jobs in the world of journalism.”
Even after students have left the program, the guidance doesn’t stop. Just said he and the other directors keep in touch with the budding journalists throughout the fall semester to keep them on top of their college applications.
Perez, who will graduate from Lee next year, already has several schools on her radar, including Northwestern University, New York University and Columbia University.
“I’ve narrowed it down to those three,” she said. “I really want to find one close to a big city so I can become familiar with the places I want to be.”
Although she’ll call Baytown home for at least another year, Perez plans to pursue a journalism career in either New York City or Chicago.
“I want to end up in a bigger city,” she said. “I’ve always pictured myself walking through New York, like all the movies you see.”
Movies have played a big part in Perez’s writing so far. Her interest in journalism flourished during her sophomore year at Lee, when she began writing movie reviews for the school’s newspaper, The Leeder.
“That was when I thought, ‘I could do this for the rest of my life,’” Perez said.
At Lee, she’s been able to hone those skills by focusing on subjects she knows the most about — student life and her favorite films.
“I’ve written about the beginning of the (school) year, when we’re all trying to get over the sluggishness of summer,” Perez said. “But my favorite was a review of (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) because I was familiar with it and knew I’d get the information correct.”
She’ll have the chance to flex those reviewing muscles this summer while learning how to write about some possibly unfamiliar subjects, Just said.
“The great thing about the program is students get to try their hand at all of it,” he said. “Every student is going to write a news story, a sports story, a movie review and an op/ed piece.”
In the last few days of the program, students will be asked to select one or two of their favorite stories that will be used in their own newspaper, The Princeton Summer Journal.
Collaborating with other teen journalists from around the country should be an exciting and worthwhile experience, Perez said.
“We can learn from each other,” she said. “It’s going to broaden my horizons and better my writing, just by listening to their ideas.”
For more information on the Princeton University Summer Journalism Program, visit www.princeton.edu/sjp.
Baytown Sun Published July 29, 2007 As Lee High School senior-to-be Stephanie Perez rubs elbows this summer with some of the most prestigious names in journalism, she’ll be well on her way to joining that crowd.
Perez, 17, is one of 22 high school students from around the country that was selected to attend the Princeton University Summer Journalism Program, which began last week in New Jersey.
The 10-day intensive seminar will give her the opportunity to learn secrets of the trade from editors at The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New Republic, ABC News and The Washington Post.
“I still don’t know what to expect,” Perez said on Thursday as she was waiting for her flight in the airport. “We’re going to be working with some really prestigious writers, and I’m excited about that.”
The program, which began in 2001, is geared toward providing juniors and seniors from low-income backgrounds with an opportunity to gain insight in the field, director Richard Just said.
All four directors are former editors at The Daily Princetonian, he said, that created the program to fill a desperate need for reporters with more diverse backgrounds.
“One of the things we really struggled with was recruiting students that didn’t just come from upper-middle class backgrounds to work for the paper,” Just said. “It’s a problem the broader world of journalism struggles with as well.”
That’s why the program focuses not just on teaching the techniques of reporting but also on those needed to apply to top-tier universities, he said.
“We want to get them fired up about being journalists, and we want them going to top schools and working for student papers there,” Just said. “That’s the best pipeline into great jobs in the world of journalism.”
Even after students have left the program, the guidance doesn’t stop. Just said he and the other directors keep in touch with the budding journalists throughout the fall semester to keep them on top of their college applications.
Perez, who will graduate from Lee next year, already has several schools on her radar, including Northwestern University, New York University and Columbia University.
“I’ve narrowed it down to those three,” she said. “I really want to find one close to a big city so I can become familiar with the places I want to be.”
Although she’ll call Baytown home for at least another year, Perez plans to pursue a journalism career in either New York City or Chicago.
“I want to end up in a bigger city,” she said. “I’ve always pictured myself walking through New York, like all the movies you see.”
Movies have played a big part in Perez’s writing so far. Her interest in journalism flourished during her sophomore year at Lee, when she began writing movie reviews for the school’s newspaper, The Leeder.
“That was when I thought, ‘I could do this for the rest of my life,’” Perez said.
At Lee, she’s been able to hone those skills by focusing on subjects she knows the most about — student life and her favorite films.
“I’ve written about the beginning of the (school) year, when we’re all trying to get over the sluggishness of summer,” Perez said. “But my favorite was a review of (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) because I was familiar with it and knew I’d get the information correct.”
She’ll have the chance to flex those reviewing muscles this summer while learning how to write about some possibly unfamiliar subjects, Just said.
“The great thing about the program is students get to try their hand at all of it,” he said. “Every student is going to write a news story, a sports story, a movie review and an op/ed piece.”
In the last few days of the program, students will be asked to select one or two of their favorite stories that will be used in their own newspaper, The Princeton Summer Journal.
Collaborating with other teen journalists from around the country should be an exciting and worthwhile experience, Perez said.
“We can learn from each other,” she said. “It’s going to broaden my horizons and better my writing, just by listening to their ideas.”
For more information on the Princeton University Summer Journalism Program, visit www.princeton.edu/sjp.