High school journalism instructors from around the country will learn innovative teaching skills from July 6-18 at Kent State University as part of the 2014 Reynolds High School Journalism Institute.

Kent State is one of four locations nationwide that host the annual institutes, which are funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and administered by the American Society of News Editors through its Youth Journalism Initiative. The other institutes are held at Arizona State University, the University of Missouri and the University of Texas at Austin.

For two weeks, 32 teachers will learn specialized skills, including news writing, editing, photojournalism and layout. Teachers learn how to produce multimedia projects and also engage in discussions about ethics, news literacy and First Amendment rights.

“Just like commercial media, we at Kent State’s Institute have adapted and improved our program since its inaugural year in 2001,” said institute director Candace Perkins Bowen. “We continue to focus on law and ethics and solid journalistic practices while helping our attendees learn how to use the technology and story-telling devices so important today.”

More than 2,250 high school teachers have been through the program since it started in 2001. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation grant covers all the travel, housing and instructional expenses for the teachers. Teachers also receive paid membership into the Journalism Education Association (JEA) and their state or regional scholastic press association.

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it has committed more than $150 million to journalism initiatives nationally.

The American Society of News Editors, founded in 1922, is dedicated to the leadership of American journalism. ASNE is comprised of top editors, producers and directors at news organizations; deans, directors and endowed chairs at accredited journalism schools; and leaders of journalism foundations and training organizations. ASNE’s Youth Journalism Initiative, launched in 2000, provides journalism-related training and resources for teachers and students across the curriculum at SchoolJournalism.org.

Instruction for the Reynolds High School Journalism Institute at Kent State University is led by:

Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, came to Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication in June 1995 after more than 20 years advising high school newspapers and yearbooks in Illinois and suburban Washington, D.C. She was recognized as a Dow Jones News Fund Journalism Teacher of the Year. At Kent State, she has helped launch the online master’s degree for journalism educators, the only such program in an accredited J-school. She now directs the university’s Center for Scholastic Journalism and is an associate professor, teaching newswriting, opinion-writing and a methods course for the education students. She served on the JEA’s board as vice president, president, past president.

John Bowen, MJE, has taught the past 10 years at Kent State after 30-plus years teaching journalism and social studies at Lakewood High School. He received the Dow Jones News Fund Journalism Teacher of the Year award. Since then, he has been instrumental in developing Kent State’s online master’s degree for journalism educators and now teaches Ethics in Communication and Social Role courses, in addition to teaching newswriting and Multimedia Storytelling. He is also JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission chair.

H.L. Hall, MJE, retired in 1999 after 38 years of teaching—35 as a journalism teacher. The last 26 years he was at Kirkwood (Mo.) High School. He advised both publications, yearbook and newspaper, and both were Gold Crown and Pacemaker recipients. He is a former Dow Jones News Fund High School Journalism Teacher of the Year and JEA Yearbook Adviser of the Year. In 2012, JEA named its Yearbook Adviser of the Year Award after him. He has also received JEA’s Teacher Inspiration Award. He currently teaches Media Management, an online class for Kent State’s master’s program. He is also the co-author of two textbooks — High School Journalism and Junior High Journalism — and he serves as a member of JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission.

Susan Hathaway Tantillo, MJE, retired in June 2001 after 30 years teaching journalism and English and advising the Spokesman newspaper at Wheeling (Ill.) High School. However, she continues to serve on the Illinois JEA board of directors, speak at regional and state conferences, judge scholastic journalism contests and teach in Kent State’s online master’s degree program for scholastic journalism educators.

2014 Reynolds High School Journalism Institute participants at Kent State University:

Emily Allred, Buckeye High School, Medina, Ohio
Diana Aqra, Open Media Foundation, Denver, Colorado
Irene Arholekas, Queens Academy High School, Flushing, New York
Andrea Armstrong, West Salem High School, West Salem, Wisconsin
Cecile Avallone Hall, Oak Hills High School, Oak Hills, California
Josh Bronson, Galena High School, Reno, Nevada
Natalie Calderon, Homestead High School, Cupertino, California
Chelsey Cox, Denton High School, Denton, Texas
Heather Edmunds Reed, Roosevelt High School, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Nicole Gingrich, Chesapeake High School, Pasadena, Maryland
Candice Gravitt, Faith Lutheran, Las Vegas, Nevada
Kit Harris, Baldwin High School, Baldwin City, Kansas
A. Scott Harrison, White Station High School, Memphis, Tennessee
Carl Hauck Grayslake, Central High School, Grayslake, Illinois
Eric Helle, Bonita Vista High School, Chula Vista, California
Amelia Lackey, Durant High School, Plant City, Florida
Christee Lemons, Vista del Lago High School, Moreno Valley, California
Lisa Martin, The Academy of the Holy Family, Baltic, Connecticut
Deborah McGhee, Walters High School, Walters, Oklahoma
Jacqueline Pinchot, Riverside High School, Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
Shannon Rennaker, Winnetonka High School, Kansas City, Missouri
Kyle Ruder, New Miami High School, Hamilton, Ohio
Joel Sanders, Edgewood High School, Ellettsville, Indiana
Jennifer Slama, Festus High School, Festus, Missouri
Kelli Smith, Morgan Park, Chicago, Illinois
Kristin Taylor, The Archer School for Girls, Los Angeles, California
Kady Vanderhoof, Auburn Mountainview High School, Auburn, Washington
Anne Weisgerber, Summit Senior High School, Summit, New Jersey
Emily Willis, Tigard High School, Tigard, Oregon
Susan Willoughby-Crawford, Middletown High, Middletown, Ohio
Casandra Workman, Centennial High School, Las Vegas, Nevada
Jerred Zegelis, Omaha Westside High School, Omaha , Nebraska