Southern Miss Hosting Journalism Workshop for High School Students

Seventeen Mississippi high school students are spending June 5-10 on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi as part of the High School Journalism Workshop.

Under the guidance of journalism faculty and students in the university’s School of Mass
Communication and Journalism, the students will produce a newspaper, Web site, television newsmagazine and daily 5 p.m. newscasts for WUSM-FM (88.5).  They’ll also work on a campaign for DREAM of Hattiesburg, a non-profit agency dedicated to preventing the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. 

“Workshops like this are an excellent way for students to get a taste for what a career in journalism might be like,” said Kim LeDuff, workshop director and assistant director of the school. “The focus of the workshop is on multi-media and multi-culturalism.  We think the future of the news industry is journalists who can successfully negotiate both a variety of media and a culturally diverse society.”

Participating students include:

•  Jonathan Boyd, a junior at Columbia High School
•  Yolanda Cruz, a recent graduate of Biloxi High School
• John Davenport, a home-schooled junior from Poplarville
• Laurel Duty of Collins, a senior at Lamar Christian School
• Derrick Forge of Jackson, a junior at Hillcrest Christian School
• Justina Greer, a senior at Terry High School from Byram
• Savannah Griffin, a senior at Houston High School
• Rebecca Hebert, a senior at St. Patrick Catholic High School in Gulfport
• Helen Kyriakoudes of Bay St. Louis, a recent graduate of Our Lady Academy    
• Ashley Martin of Big Creek, a junior at Grenada High School
• Danalycia Minor of Hattiesburg, a junior at Oak Grove High School
• Malaizsa Peters, a recent graduate of Tylertown High School
• Ashleigh Piazza, a senior from Vicksburg Catholic High School
• William Pipes of Hattiesburg, a senior at Oak Grove High School
•  Zoe Pratt of Windsor Mill, Md., a sophomore at Piney Woods School
• Deejay Rolison of Conehatta, a junior from Newton County High School
• Mary Elizabeth Winton, a recent graduate of Columbia High School

The workshop is sponsored by the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, the Mississippi Press Association and DREAM of Hattiesburg.  The students’ work will be available to view at the workshop’s Web site:  http://www.usm.edu/highschooljournalismworkshop/.

For more information, contact Dr. Kim LeDuff at kim.leduff@usm.eduor 601-266-5461.