Kent State University is hosting its 10th ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Institute now through July 22. Thirty-four teachers from 19 states are on campus as they learn from newsroom and classroom professionals and produce their own projects. ASNE is the American Society of News Editors.

More than 600 applicants applied to attend an institute this year, which are held at five locations: Arizona State University; Kent State; University of Missouri, Columbia; University of Nevada, Reno; and University of Texas, Austin. From this pool, each location chooses its top 35 applicants based on the teacher’s résumé and experience and invites the candidates to a two-week intensive program. Each ASNE Institute is made possible by a $130,000 grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

This year at Kent State, the high school teachers, also known as ASNE fellows, will learn from well-known professionals such as Candace Perkins Bowen, director of Kent State’s Center for Scholastic Journalism; John Bowen, Journalism Education Association (JEA) Scholastic Press Rights Commission chair and Kent State adjunct; Susan Hathaway Tantillo, past JEA secretary and Kent State adjunct; H.L. Hall, past JEA president and Kent State adjunct; Jon Wile, The Washington Post lead A1 page designer and School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumnus; Mark Goodman, Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism at Kent State; Frank LoMonte, Student Press Law Center; Bruce Winges, editor-in-chief of the Akron Beacon Journal; Wayne Dunn, Ohio JEA mentor; Georgia Dunn, Ohio state JEA director; and Sarah Nichols, JEA’s Yearbook Adviser of the Year in 2011.

At Kent State, C. Bowen is the point person for ASNE. She has raised more than $1 million in grants for the School of Journalism and Mass Communications through the institutes and research funding. J. Bowen, Hathaway Tantillo and Hall will all act as leaders for the three teams of fellows. The four instructors have decades of combined experience in high school journalism and a passion for helping other teachers excel in the field.

Prior to arrival in Kent, fellows receive packages full of information and resources to utilize both during their time at the institute and in their careers. Resources include textbooks, articles and a syllabus. Also, the fellows receive a membership in the Journalism Education Association courtesy of ASNE, as well as a membership in their state or regional scholastic press association and a subscription to their local daily newspaper.

Once they begin the two-week program, the fellows cover a wide range of skills that are vital in the various fields of high school journalism from technology, multimedia and ethics, all learning through hands-on training. After a week of informational sessions that cover the foundation of these skills, the fellows create their own online multimedia story-telling projects using photos, video and audio.

To understand the intensive projects the fellows produce within their teams, visit the archives at http://new.jmc.kent.edu/asne/2008/stories/coffee1.html for the past ASNE Institutes. From 2008, one group of fellows focused on the coffee wars taking place in Kent. The group analyzed the battle happening then between Susan’s Coffee and Tea and Starbucks.

Outside of the intense learning environment, the fellows have social activities and trips planned that help expand their understanding of journalism, as well as provide for an exciting weekend. The fellows will get the chance to tour the Akron Beacon Journal offices on Wednesday, July 13, and attend an afternoon news meeting with the Beacon staff. On Thursday, July 14, the group will travel to Porthouse Theatre to see The Sunshine Boys and learn how to write a review. Also, the fellows will have the opportunity to travel to Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern.

“There's so much enthusiasm and hard work during those two weeks,” C. Bowen says. “The result is some very long-lasting connections. We have listservs that groups use for advice and support and even for bragging when everyone goes back home.”

Some fellows from the past have enjoyed Kent State's training so much they have continued their education with Kent State’s fully online master’s degree for journalism educators. To keep up to date with the fellows and their progress over their two-week learning experience, including the blogs, pictures and video, visit www.ksuasne.org/2011. Also, follow along with the ASNE 2011 hashtag on twitter: #asnekent11.

Other College of Communication and Information and School of Journalism and Mass Communication individuals involved in the ASNE Institute include: faculty members Sue Zake, Jan Leach, Rick Senften and Deborah Davis all teach, as do students Casey Braun and Stacy Stevenson. Stan Wearden, dean of the College of Communication of Information, and school Director Jeff Fruit join in festivities throughout the week as well.