PMM Dedicates Journalism Lab at Eastern High School in Honor of Journalist
Prime Movers Media established a new journalism lab at Eastern Senior high School in honor of the late Elsie Carper, a trailblazing reporter, editor and news administrator at The Washington Post. The Elsie Carper Charitable Fund contributed $35,000 to Prime Movers Media for journalism and media literacy mentoring at DC high schools.
Eastern recived a $10,000 grant to provide updated equipment for the mass media center, “The Elsie Carper Journalism Lab.” A plaque in memoriam of Ms. Carper is displayed in the classroom, which hosts computers and other high-tech media equipment.
Eastern is one of the eight high schools where PMM sends professional journalists and interns from The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs to work with the students. PMM worked with Eastern to revive its mass media program, even assisting the administration in its search for a journalism teacher.
Ms. Carper graduated from Eastern High School in 1937, and received a scholarship to GWU, where she received her bachelor’s degree.
After graduation, Ms. Carper worked at the Post for 48 years. She was one of the first reporters on a major metropolitan newspaper to write about the then segregated black schools in the nation’s capital. She was promoted to edit the Post’s “Style” section and transformed its coverage of society news and women’s features to more serious community issues. As the Post’s assistant managing editor for news administration, she encouraged the hiring of more women and African Americans.
The grant to Eastern and PMM is only one way Ms. Carper continues to give back to the community. Before her death in May 2007, she established the charitable fund, which also awards money to GWU’s American Studies Department and she endowed the Elsie M. Carper Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.
“The dedication of the Elsie Carper Journalism Lab is a fitting honor for a legendary newspaper journalism pioneer who devoted much of her storied career to diversifying The Washington Post newsroom, as well as the kinds of news it covered,” Leonard Downie Jr., vice president at large of The Washington Post, said in a written statement. “Elsie’s unwavering dedication to journalistic excellence and diversity, her unquestioned integrity, her steely toughness and her sly, ice-breaking humor combined to make her a figure of great influence during her half century at The Washington Post.”
Showcase Lets Our Students Take Center Stage
Approximately 100 D.C. students showed off their best class work at the 8th Annual Prime Movers Media Student Showcase and Awards celebration, on May 9, at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.
The day started with a discussion of Presidential campaign ads with members of the White House Correspondents’ Association: Ed Henry of Fox News, Carol Lee of the Wall Street Journal, Bill Press of The Bill Press Show (syndicated talk radio) and Jared Rizzi, POTUS Channel on Sirius XM Radio.
After lunch, our DCPS students showed off their student-produced media productions and received recognition for outstanding work during the 2011-2012 school year. Emcee for the Showcase was Maureen Bunyan of WJLA-TV. Student co-hosts were Gaia Lawrence of Ballou High School and Ky’lend Adams of Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
DCPS schools sharing their work were: Anacostia High School, Ballou High School, Banneker Academic High School, Coolidge High School, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, McKinley Technology High School, Roosevelt High School and Richard Wright Public Charter School for Journalism and Media Arts.
Prime Movers Media Directors Awards were presented to Bill Lord, vice president and general manager of WJLA-TV and News8, and to Iris Wilson, program specialist with the D.C. Public Schools Office of Career and Technical Education.
And the Winners of the Jack Donaldson Scholarship Are...
Congratulations to the two Jack Donaldson Memorial Scholarship and Internship winners:
Angel Brock of McKinley Technology High School won the $24,200 scholarship
Shante Nia Hayes of Chapelgate Christian Academy won the summer paid internship at
Atlantic Media.
The Scholarship and Internship are given by the
White House Correspondents’ Association. Angel and Shante were congratulated by President and Mrs. Obama April 29 at the WHCA’s Annual Dinner, which was attended by more than 2,000 people including journalists, Washington insiders and entertainment figures.
In her essay, Angel Brock wrote that as a fifth grader, she had a “life changing” experience when Fox 5 News chose her as its student of the week to do the weather report. “I delivered the weather report in three segments ... This was the beginning of my career aspirations.” She plans to major in Broadcast Journalism. Today Angel reports, shoots and edits video for her McKinley high school broadcast class and writes for the school’s website.
Shante Hayes has been studying journalism since the sixth grade in the Aspiring Journalist summer class at the
University of Maryland. Since then she has been a returning student at the Washington Post Urban Journalism Program, and produced broadcast packages and co-anchored the news. Shante also is yearbook editor at Chapelgate Christian Academy.
The Scholarship and Internship were given by the White House Correspondents’ association to subsidize the college education of a student in the Washington, D.C. area with a demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in journalism.
They are named for Jack Donaldson, a 12 year-old actor, baseball player and lover of Legos, who passed away in September 2011 as the result of a storm-related accident. He is the grandson of Julia Whiston, the association's executive director.
Ballou Seniors Give College Presentation
Two seniors from Ballou High School presented a video project sponsored by Prime Movers Media on May 1 at The George Washington University. The presentation was part of the Spring 2012 Service-Learning Symposium of the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service.
Dontray Crawford and De' Jau Stevens, both 18, worked with Hamil Harris of The Washington Post, their teacher Arnelle Hughes and Saudia Harris of Prime Movers Media to write, shoot and edit their video about a GW Service-Learning project - People Animals Love (PAL) - at Stanton Elementary School. The project used hands-on work with animals, coupled with reading and writing about each animal, to teach young students literacy skills.
Annual Showcase May 9 Will Spotlight Student Work
Save the date now for our annual year end celebration, Prime Moves Media Showcase, May 9 at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.
The day will begin for our high school students with a multimedia discussion of Presidential Campaign ads with members of the White House Correspondents Association. After lunch, our DCPS students will join our guests to show off their student-produced media productions and receive recognition for outstanding work during the 2011-2012 school year. Our emcee for the Showcase will be Maureen Bunyan of WJLA-TV.
DCPS schools that will be sharing their work include: Ballou High School, Banneker Academic High School, Coolidge High School, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, McKinley High School, Roosevelt High School and Richard Wright Public Charter School.
All year Prime Movers Media has provided professional journalists and GW journalism interns to media classes at schools across the District. In addition, PMM has sponsored news discussions, college readiness workshops, newsroom tours and special journalism camps with our media partners.
College Interns Learn from Our Professionals
Prime Movers interns teach and mentor students – but they also learn from some terrific professional journalists. This semester we offered our interns print and broadcast opportunities. Washington Post Reporter Cheryl Thompson led a March 23 Brown Bag Lunch session on investigative journalism.
On March 29, Walter Watson, a senior producer at NPR, invited the interns to watch a live broadcast of “Talk of the Nation” – and its post-broadcast critique. Interns also had a full tour of NPR and a discussion of National Public Radio programming.
Post Cultural Reporter Jacqueline Trescott invited our interns to the Post newsroom on April 6 and then took them to the National Geographic headquarters where they covered an exhibit and wrote stories that Jacqueline critiqued.
Washington Post and Duke Ellington HS Push 'Fast Forward'
Thanks to Jaye Linnen of the Washington Post’s Young Journalists Development Project for partnering with us to offer, Fast Forward, an eight-week journalism program, Jan. 24-March 15, tailored to media students from Duke Ellington School of the Arts. On Tuesdays from Jan. 24 to March 15, approximately 20 Ellington sophomores and juniors and their teacher, Koye Oyedeji, travelled to the Post to meet professional journalists and discuss news and feature writing, editing, interviewing and video journalism.
Prime Movers provided two-hour weekly lesson plans, handouts and other resources. Post reporters, editors and videographers discussed their stories, their jobs and gave tips. By the end students were using digital video cameras to conduct video interviews. One student wrote: “The Fast Forward Program definitely made me more interested in journalism” and taught “how to write in a better way. Thank You! I also have the urge to read the news everywhere all the time.”
DC Juniors & Seniors, Apply Now for the Jack Donaldson Memorial Scholarship
We’re just days away from the Feb. 15 deadline for the Jack Donaldson Memorial Scholarship funded by the White House Correspondents’ Association. Now is the time to get in your essay and application for this $18,000 scholarship.
Applicants must be a District of Columbia Public School juniors or seniors with a demonstrated interest in journalism/mass communication through Prime Movers Media. Our four-year DC High Schools are: Anacostia, Ballou, Banneker, Coolidge, Ellington, McKinley, Roosevelt, School Without Walls and Wilson.
For more information email primove2@gwu.edu .
GW Students: Change Lives - Maybe Even Your Own. Become a Spring Intern
Interning with Prime Movers Media program has been a great learning experience. I have always gone to private schools, so it was eye-opening to get an inside look at DCPS. Every day I came into class, I gained more respect for teachers and felt like I was a component in improving each student’s learning ability
Nicole Wilkins, Intern, Roosevelt High School
[My professional journalist partner] has been such a wonderful source of wisdom and advice and I feel fortunate to have her as a mentor figure. Actually, because of her, I was able to make a connection at [a DC news bureau] and eventually landed an internship there. Even better news: that internship led to a job offer .
Azhar Al Fadl, Intern Ballou High School
Registration is open for our Spring 2012 interns. Prime Movers Media internships combine teaching and journalism, as interns are paired with veteran journalists to teach journalism skills to District of Columbia Public School students. Interns encourage high school students to become strong writers and thinkers while learning from experienced media educators and veteran journalists and gaining contacts that can open doors for a job or internship in the future.
PMM internships are open to all GW students. Interns choose to earn zero, one, two, or three credits. For zero or one credit, interns work an average of 5 hours of week (including travel time); for two credits, 10 hours a week; and for three credits, 15 hours a week. Hours can be flexible to fit student schedules.
Richard Wright Students See a Newsroom in Action
We are so pleased that our newest partner, Thomson Reuters, has jumped right into our program and begun working with our students. On Dec. 20, eighth and ninth graders from Richard Wright Public Charter School visited the Thomson Reuters Washington bureau to learn how a newsroom operates.
During a lunch after the tour, students had Q&A sessions with Washington Bureau Chief Mary Milliken, Political Editor Alistair Bell and White House Correspondent Caren Bohan.
“Prime Movers Media is doing very important work and we are very much looking forward to helping in that effort,” said Rob Doherty, Reuters’s general manager for the United States.
Dec. 9 College Fair helps PPM Students Prepare for the Future
Scholarships, SATs, college essays and careers were some of the subjects covered at the annual Prime Movers Media College Fair on Dec. 9. Approximately 40 students from McKinley Technology High School, Roosevelt High School and Richard Wright Public Charter School came to George Washington University for an afternoon of information on the goals and guidelines of getting into college – and graduating.
Speakers included Nelson Greene and Matthew Avery of DC College Access, Kimberley Gordy of George Washington University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Kamara Jones, a fellow with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Hamil Harris of The Washington Post, Ray Baker of WHUR-FM, Stacey Samuel of CNN, freelance journalist Azhar Alfadl and members of the PMM staff.
Students had the most questions about finding and winning scholarships. Nelson Greene gave a timetable for Junior Year that included writing four general essays to have available for scholarship applications. Matthew Avery explained about the different forms of college loans – and when they must start being re-paid.
White House Correspondents Give Students an Inside View of the White House
Prime Mover's partnership with the White House Correspondents Association is bringing our students together with some of the top journalists in the country. On Oct. 21, more than 50 high school students and their teachers came to George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs for a question-and-answer session with three White House Correspondents. Michael Scherer of Time magazine, Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News and Sam Youngman of The Hill answered dozens of questions asked by students from Duke Ellington Performing Arts High School, Richard Wright Public Charter School and School Without Walls.
Teachers and students were excited about getting this insiders’ look at the Presidential Campaign and the journalists were impressed with the students’ question preparation and presentation. Student asked questions on a wide range of topics, the economy, college loans, Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, help for Africa, and the role of China in the future. Michael Scherer told the students the US-China relationship will be “the biggest issue of your lifetime, not a crisis and chronic ongoing issue.” protests.
At the end, Sam Youngman said he was “thoroughly impressed by the level of sophistication in the questions.”
The next week WHCA’s Michael Scherer of Time magazine hosted two Prime Movers students from Ballou High School at a White House Press Briefing. On Oct. 27, Ballou Juniors Danae Roach and Dameian Prince got a behind-the-scenes look at a press briefing and took a tour of the White House media center. First came the press briefing by Presidential Press Secretary Jay Carney and then a conversation with Jaime Smith, special assistant to President Obama and deputy press secretary, who talked about her life in government service in the West Wing.
White House Correspondents Partner with PMM for Second Year
We are pleased to announce that the White House Correspondents Association will again partner with Prime Movers Media to allow our students to learn from some of the nation’s premier journalists.
White House correspondents – from print, broadcast and online media – will be visiting PMM classrooms throughout Washington talking about the 2012 Election and teaching our students about careers in journalism.
WHCA President Caren Bohan said, “The correspondents who cover the White House consider ourselves lucky for the opportunities we have been given to have a front-row seat to history. The partnership with Prime Movers is a way for us to give something back by working with young people interested in learning more about journalism and all that it has to offer as a possible career path.
“Our annual scholarship dinner raises money to help a new generation of journalists. The Prime Movers program is a way for us to go a step beyond that to mentoring students interested in journalism. We look forward to another productive year working with Prime Movers.”
PMM Video Debuts at White House Correspondents Association Dinner
President Obama and 2,500 journalists, politicians and celebrities learned about Prime Movers at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Association Annual Dinner in April. The nation's most prestigious association of journalists selected Prime Movers as its partner in September 2010 and will continue its work with our budding youth journalists and media students in the new school year.
Website Offers Fresh Look, News and Student Work
April 27 – Today Prime Movers Media Program at George Washington University premiered its new website. The revamped site includes news updates, videos, and links to the program’s social media hubs on YouTube, Twitter and Flickr.
“We hope that visitors to our site will read and use the updated information and comments from our students, interns, teachers and faculty to learn more about our vision to produce the next generation of informed media professionals and informed media consumers,” said Dorothy Gilliam, PMM director.Visit www.smpa.gwu.edu/primemovers
TV Anchor Maureen Bunyan to Host 7th Annual Prime Movers Media Awards April 27
Maureen Bunyan, a veteran broadcaster and prime anchor at ABC-7 in Washington, DC, will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies at the 7th Annual Prime Movers Media Awards on April 27. The event will be at the Jack Morton Auditorium at George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, 805 21st St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20052.
(by: WJLA ABC 7
Photographer)
Read more
Partnership with White House Correspondents Association
In October 2010, PMM reached a strategic partnership with the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA). As announced, the prestigious journalism organization agreed to provide $20,000 in funding for the program and to make its members available to speak at PMM events. In addition, PMM will be featured at the celebrated annual White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 30, 2011, with President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama in attendance.
(Read the news release )
WHCA participation soon materialized during a November 19 visit by students from Ballou High School to the GWU campus. Caren Bohan of Reuters, who is WHCA's vice president, joined George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno in a mock press conference. In it, students asked Bohan and Sesno about their respective journalism experiences and how they can prepare for a careers in the news media.
(Read news story)
(by: Deborah Harrison) |
SMPA Director Frank Sesno, formerly a CNN correspondent, and Caren Bohan of Reuters, discuss their journalism careers with students from Ballou High School on Nov. 19, 2010. Bohan, vice president of the White House Correspondents' Association, made the first of a series of the group's appearances with the Prime Movers Media program.
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Ballou Seniors Present Video at College Symposium
Two seniors from Ballou High School presented a video project sponsored by Prime Movers Media May 1 at George Washington University. The presentation was part of the Spring 2012 Service-Learning Symposium of the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service.
Dontray Crawford and De’ Jau Stevens, both 18, worked with Hamil Harris of The Washington Post, their teacher Arnelle Hughs and Saudia Harris of Prime Mover Media to write, shoot and edit their video about a GW Service-Learning project – People Animals Love (PAL) – at Stanton Elementary School. The project used hands-on work with animals, coupled with reading and writing about each animal, to teach young students literacy skills.
Dontray and De’Jau’s video, Do you know what goes on in Southeast?, pointed out there is more to Southeast D.C. than the negative images often reported in the news. The Ballou students sait that working with Hamil Harris on the Prime Movers' project taught them how to tell a story. "We had to learn how to catch a viewer's attention," said De'Jau. You have to put it together just like a movie." Dontray added, "Shooting was easy. Editing it, putting the pieces together in a story, was the hard part.
