After attending the Reynolds High School Journalism Institute this past summer, 135 teachers from across the country now feel more confident in their ability to teach diverse topics ranging from news writing to social media.

“Teacher training is essential to vibrant student media programs,” said Le Anne Wiseman, director of the American Society of News Editors’ Youth Journalism Initiative, which administers the Institute. “Pre- and post-Institute survey results indicate that the Institute is effective at increasing teachers’ confidence in critical skills essential for preserving our democracy and preparing students to become active and engaged citizens.”

As a result of the Institute, average teacher confidence increased by more than 60 percent in 15 focus areas, according to the survey:

• Getting government documents through open-records requests
• Dealing with legal issues
• Working with administrators to avoid censorship
• Dealing with ethical issues as they relate to publications
• Working with diversity-related issues regarding publications
• Developing school publications policies
• Recording and editing audio
• Shooting and editing video
• Creating information graphics
• Writing news stories for the Web
• Editing Web publication content
• Managing Web content using content management systems
• Raising sponsorship funds
• Developing journalism curricula
• Working with professional journalists to link high-school journalism to the profession

“My Reynolds experience has, quite literally, changed the way I do everything,” said Anne Hayman, a teacher at Arlington High School in Arlington, Washington. “I have more confidence in what I’m teaching. I have more ideas and options to share. I have a ton more resources, and I have found a place to ask questions that have previously gone unanswered.”

Applications for the 2015 Reynolds High School Journalism Institute are now available at SchoolJournalism.org. Applications are due March 1.

“The Reynolds (High School Journalism) Institute provided me with something invaluable: a guidepost telling me what the very best looks like,” said Paul Apfelbeck, a teacher at Galena Interior Learning Academy in Galena, Alaska. “The exposure to new technology, presentation of useful teaching methods and interaction with other professionals opened my eyes to what can be done in a journalism class.”

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 for referring family, friends and colleagues to apply. When filling out the application form, teachers will be asked for the name and contact information of the person who referred them. Ten winners will be selected at random from among the names collected.

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.

Since it began in 2001, more than 2,200 secondary-school teachers have attended the Institute.

“Not only was the Reynolds Institute a great review of journalism basics, but it inspired me to reach higher,” said Sandra Gaul, a teacher at Wahlert Catholic High School in Dubuque, Iowa. “I loved spending time with fellow journalism teachers because, often, ours is a lonely department of one, and now we know there are others out there who face the same struggles we do.”