A high school student brainstorms a project idea during the Cronkite School’s Media Innovation Camp. The third annual program runs June 16-28, 2019.
Nineteen high school students will learn how to use new technologies to tell compelling stories during a two-week summer camp at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The students, who come from high schools throughout the state, will experiment with augmented and virtual reality, game creation, motion books and podcasting. They will work under the guidance of Retha Hill, director of the Cronkite School’s New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, as well as other ASU faculty and staff, Arizona Republic journalists and technology experts.
The third annual innovation camp, which runs from June 16-28, is a joint venture among Cronkite, The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com and the USA Today Network.
The high school students, who were selected for their interests and accomplishments in technology and communications, will get hands-on experience creating a digital project centering on the Garfield Historic District, a historic downtown Phoenix neighborhood that has been undergoing rapid redevelopment.
“This year’s project is the most ambitious to date,” Hill said. “At the end of the two weeks, we hope to have a multimedia, interactive product that can be a guide for other journalists on how to tell the complexities of a story through the use of different mediums.”
Students get a taste of what it’s like to be a college student, living in the Taylor Place residence hall on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus and enjoying full access to the latest digital equipment in Cronkite’s state-of-the-art building.
The camp is free to selected participants, thanks to The Arizona Republic’s Media in Education program, which is funded by subscribers who donate the value of their subscription during vacations or other temporary stoppages.
“Traditional journalism and new technology intersect every day in our newsroom and in newsrooms across the country,” said Greg Burton, executive editor of The Arizona Republic and azcentral. “We’re proud once again to sponsor this media innovation camp to support the next generation of journalists.”
In addition to the Media Innovation Camp, the Cronkite School is hosting several other summer programs, including the Sports Broadcast Boot Camp, a program for high school students interested in sports journalism, and the Journalism Technology and Democracy program for journalism educators from abroad who are studying entrepreneurship, media innovation and government.
Participants in the 2019 Media Innovation Camp are:
Sandra Beltran Valeriano, Mesa High School, Mesa
Uriel Choi, Arizona College Preparatory – Erie Campus, Chandler
Amber Clark, Page High School, Page
Bailey Defoor, Greenway High School, Phoenix
Will Eggert, Fountain Hill High School, Fountain Hills
Brandon Friedman, Phoenix Coding Academy, Phoenix
Aubrey Harvey, Hopi Junior Senior High School, Navajo County
Kobe Hollins, Phoenix Coding Academy, Phoenix
Christian Johnson, Gilbert Classical Academy, Gilbert
Isaiah Jump, Page High School, Page
Jennifer Maldonado, Lourdes Catholic School, Nogales
Kaitlyn Martinez, Phoenix Coding Academy, Phoenix
Elizabeth Navarro, Sunnyslope High School, Phoenix
Adrienne Ndikum, Shadow Ridge High School, Surprise
Cristabela Parra, Salpointe Catholic High School, Tucson
Aedan Rivas, South Mountain High School, Phoenix
Michael Start, Sunnyslope High School, Phoenix