Lemke Journalism Project to Begin New Session

The 11th annual Lemke Journalism Project, a series of workshops for Northwest Arkansas high school students interested in writing about diversity issues, will begin Saturday, Feb. 4. The Saturday workshops will run for six weeks, ending on March 10. The project is sponsored by the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism and Tyson Foods, Inc. Applications are due by Thursday, Jan. 19.

In November 2010, Tyson Foods, Inc., announced that it would give $250,000 to set up a foundation account to fund the project for many years into the future. Not only does the grant cover operating expenses, but also made more money available for scholarships to study in the University of Arkansas journalism department.

“We are instituting two changes this year, based on the popularity and longevity of the program and the Tyson grant," said Katherine Shurlds, a journalism instructor who directs the Lemke Journalism Project.

Shurlds said for the first time, students will fill out an application form to the program that includes a statement of why they want to participate as well as a short recommendation from a teacher.

“Last year, we started out with 47 students,” Shurlds said. “That’s just way too many; 30 is really the maximum of what we can handle with our staff, volunteers and space.”

Shurlds said it was difficult for the high school teachers who promote the project to be the ones who said yes to one student and no to another. “But before this year, we didn’t have enough information on each student for us to make the decision. This year we will, and we will be the ones to decide.”  A waiting list will be set up in case some of the students who are chosen do not in fact participate.

The second change this year will be an application for students who want to be considered for Tyson scholarships.

“We have a lot of talented seniors in our group, but frankly, they don’t all want to be journalists,” Shurlds said. So midway through the project this year, students will be invited to apply for the Tyson Scholarships. The staff will then choose the recipients.

Since 2002, the LJP has arranged for high school students to meet with leaders from the community and work with journalism professors and professionals to write stories for a newspaper, The Multicultural News, which is published at the end of the workshop. The newspaper is distributed with La Prensa Libre.

In addition, students can create projects in television, photography and multimedia.

In April, during the department’s Journalism Days, the students return to campus to receive their newspaper, some awards and for a few, scholarships.

The Lemke Journalism Project is free to students. Lunch and snacks are provided, as well as transportation for Rogers and Springdale students. Students from other schools are encouraged to apply, but if admitted to the program, they must provide their own transportation.

All high school students, grades 10-12, are invited to apply for the workshop. High school counselors at Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville high schools should have application forms, but the form can be found at http://ljp.uark.edu.  When completed, the application can be faxed to 479-575-434 or mailed to Katherine Shurlds, Department of Journalism, KH 116, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 72701.

For more information about the program, go to http://ljp.uark.edu, call 479-575-3601 or e-mail <a href=">kshurlds@uark.edu.