Teacher revives student news media after attending ASNE’s Reynolds High School Journalism Institute
Carlos Briano had a newspaper problem.
The El Dorado (Texas) High School teacher couldn’t get enough students to maintain the school’s newspaper. Although the school had an award-winning yearbook, its newspaper didn’t receive much attention.
“My newspaper was going in the opposite direction (of the yearbook), which pained me terribly because I used to work at the local paper here,” said Briano, who was an editor at the El Paso Times before breaking into teaching.
The school’s newspaper was shut down in 2011.
In 2012, Briano attended the Reynolds High School Journalism Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. There, he learned the importance of convergence in today’s media environment and the necessity to prepare young journalists for college and professional journalism careers. It became apparent that secondary-school journalism teachers are integral to the success of the journalism industry, especially if new-media skills are being taught.
“That just psyched me up that we could impact journalism in America at the high-school level,” Briano said.
Briano left the Institute ready to revitalize his school’s newspaper. He met with the school’s Web technology teacher to brainstorm ideas about converting the newspaper into an online publication.
Briano launched a news website dedicated to El Dorado High School, and the website is moving full steam ahead. Student staff members expect to be El Dorado’s No. 1 source for news, according to Briano.
Briano attributes his success at El Dorado High School to his time at the Institute.
Applications for the 2015 Institute are now available.
New for 2015, the Institute will include one week of on-campus training combined with pre- and post-Institute instruction online. Teachers who have previously attended the Institute are welcome to apply. Also, to celebrate the Institute’s final year, 10 people will win $100 prizes for referring family, friends and colleagues to apply.
Funding for the Institute comes from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The charitable grant supplies all travel, housing and instructional expenses for the teachers, as well as optional continuing education credit, so there is no cost to teachers or their schools.
