2025 Classes & Workshops

Instructor:

• Carlos Ayulo

Whether you’re new to designing pages or want to take your skills to the next level, this course is for you. All levels of designers from any print publication type will benefit from learning the concepts and design principles while gaining practice with the premiere desktop publishing program Adobe offers. This course will include both the basics of InDesign as well as more advanced tools to make your job on staff a bit easier. Good design isn’t really about the software, though — as you learn and practice, you’ll be exposed to important concepts to build your skills and take your ideas to the next level across every aspect of your media program. If you’re the designer for the promotions of the news program making social media graphics, flyers or announcement banners across your school, you can amp all of your design thinking and skills with this course as well. Here are some additional design topics we’ll cover in this track:

• Principles of design
• Elements of design, including how to create a style guide with color palettes and typography
• Grids, alignment and structure
• Content-driven design
• Trends in graphic design
• Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator tips

Participants will have the opportunity to learn and engage in a variety of ways, including

• Critique sessions of published designs
• One-on-one sessions with the instructor on work in progress

There are several design exercises and projects in this class, but each designer (or team of designers if from the same publication) will share a design piece(s) at the end to showcase their new skills that they can then apply directly back to their schools in the fall.

Instructor:

• Sarah Nichols

The Editorial Leadership classes will help you reimagine the way you see your student media program and yourself as a leader in it. Students will learn how to strengthen their teams as well as how to improve the work those teams produce with emphasis on how to communicate, motivate and innovate. Leaders of all experience levels will be challenged with ways to take themselves and their staffs to the next level as we look at production cycles, management techniques, coverage systems and other workflow efficiencies, all while putting people first. Following best practices from professional media outlets and real-world examples, leaders will leave with the “why” and the “how” along with at least two practical and applicable digital media elements to implement for the upcoming school year.

Instructor:

• Anna Steenson

This Motion Graphics class is for a video or broadcast student looking to create their own custom animated graphics on screen. Whether you’re starting from square one or have worked with templates in After Effects before, this course will meet you where you are and take you to the next level. Come with some ideas in mind and leave with new skills in hand. Your work can be used in the upcoming school year for video, social, web or broadcast pieces along with a great portfolio piece to share. All campers will have the opportunity to share their work and get featured during the showcase at the end of camp.  This class is hands-on and built for the student ready to learn and create something new.

Instructor: TBD

Whether you’re new to photography completely, looking to take your skills to a more advanced level or eager to understand why some shots turn out better than others, this class will meet your basic photography needs. Participants will get hands-on training with their cameras — whether it’s a fancy DSLR, a smartphone camera or anything in between. We’ll learn about exposure based on shutter speed, aperture and ISO while turning good photos into great ones. We’ll also learn composition techniques and experiment with angles and distances to practice journalistic storytelling as well as artistic, creative shoots, and at the same time we’ll make sure everyone understands the photo ethics involved when shooting, cropping and publishing photos for your audience. The course includes practice activities for any experience level and camera type, including how to edit those images with free tools online. Photographers will learn best practices for how to share photos on social media, collaborate with others in your media program (in person or remotely) and manage files for maximum efficiency. Field work and field trips are both a part of this course.

Instructor:

• Gary Hairlson

Already have a good understanding of shutter speed, aperture and ISO? This class will help take your photography skills to the next level. Participants will work on a variety of skills that go beyond the basics from using light and creating a photo story to advanced compositional techniques and tips for making great photos. Campers will need a DSLR camera to take this course.

Instructor:

• Amy McCoy

If you’re enjoying your work in the journalism classroom, there are many exciting career paths to consider beyond traditional roles at newspapers and magazines. This course will introduce you to a range of opportunities that build on a strong foundation in journalism, including careers in public relations, social media, graphic design and marketing, sports and political communication, and other fields where storytelling, research, and communication are essential.

Through classroom adventures, daily field trips and interactions with industry professionals, you’ll explore how journalism skills can be applied in diverse and dynamic career settings. You’ll also gather insights and strategies to strengthen your own journalism program. The course concludes with a final project, where you’ll feature the communication careers that most interest you and outline potential paths to achieve your goals.

Instructor:

• Chris Snider

Running the social media accounts for your school is more than just posting a photo here and there, and you know that. Social Media management for your school publication takes planning, strategy, creative thinking and ability to execute from writing and photography to video and audio stories. In this class, you’ll determine what channels you should be on to best reach your audience, what information engages them most and how to plan for and execute against a content calendar to be consistent and successful. You’ll look at the analytics and how those numbers can help you decide on what to post more of or what to not put effort into. Overall, in the social media class you will have time to learn, plan and prepare for the school year ahead with a social media management plan that fits your school, your staff and your goals in the new year. This class includes fieldwork and field trips. You’ll be able to add pieces of your work to your portfolio and/or to your plans as you head into the next school year.

Instructor:

• Michael Admire

Our sports journalism course brings together writing, social media, video, interviewing and the skills to make your work stand out in all aspects. You’ll get guidance on how to conduct interviews, cover live events, write effective briefs, game previews, personal profiles and recaps. Dive into some of the best sports reporting available to uncover what tips and techniques were used that you can apply to your own coverage. You’ll also get a chance to practice these new found skills and conduct Q&A sessions with practicing sports reporters. Fieldwork and field trips are a part of this course. All campers will produce a coverage package to showcase their newly learned skills.

Instructor:

• Kelsey Kremer

If you want to be a successful communicator in 2024 and beyond, you need to develop strong multimedia communication skills. This course will teach you to create audio and video content for your publication. We will explore how to reach your target audience through short-form video, traditional video and live broadcasts. Students will create content in these formats in class and they will build a plan for how they can use these tools in the upcoming school year. Editing will be done on both phones and computers.

Instructor:

• Kelly Furnas

This web publishing class will be an opportunity to explore layout and design, content organization and digital newsroom structure.  We’ll discuss strategies and tools for managing your online workflow, and we’ll take an in-depth look at online publishing standards and discuss how your coverage and content can be shaped merging new technology into your newsroom. This class works well for a team or individuals wanting to enhance your online presence. You will need to have access (login) to your school’s site and have some working knowledge of making website updates using your school’s SNO, WordPress or similar platform. Your class instructor will be in touch with you before you arrive to ensure you have the access you need. If you don’t have access to your website, you can still learn a lot from this course in terms of setting up a new site and managing an online newsroom. We’ll find our your starting point and ensure you move to the next level.

Instructor:

• Mitch Eden

Looking to get a strong foundation of journalistic writing? This is the class to take. Learn to write like a journalist. In this class you’ll go through everything from how to come up with strong story ideas and planning stories to getting great interviews and writing a strong journalistic story. This class will help you get all the tools you need to be a great reporter on your staff next year. Great for students writing for online, print news or yearbook, but pairs well as a foundation with those writing for audio and broadcast stories as well. Campers write a number of items throughout their time with us. Certain pieces they can use in their portfolio or will be shared in our final day of camp showcase.

 

Instructor:

• Courtney Crowder

You know how to write a basic story. You know to get the facts right and the names spelled correctly. But now it’s time to move to the next level. In the Advanced Writing class, find out what it takes to do compelling storytelling, learn the difference between articles and stories, how to turn a mundane story assignment into something special and how to organize a major narrative project. Come prepared to do some writing and have some fun. Fieldwork and field trips are a part of this class as well. Student campers will produce work to share in their class and use in their portfolios. Some work may be recognized in the large group showcase at the end of camp.

Instructors:

• Sarah Kirksey
• Jonathan Hall

Geared toward all types and sizes of yearbook programs, this track will help students take important next steps for successful yearbook production. While moving forward with verbal and visual elements to develop the book’s concept, participants also will plan coverage strategies and activities for building a positive staff culture. We also will explore ways students can share online content and use social media tools effectively to engage readers and expand the yearbook experience. In a hands-on, interactive environment, this track will help you plan a yearbook students are excited to buy and the staff is excited to produce. For this class, it’s most beneficial to sign up in groups of 2 or more from your school with a max of 5 from any one school. Seating is limited to the first 10 schools that register.

Instructor:

• Aaron Manfull

Looking for a little spark to get fired up for the school year ahead? Wanting to find a few new ways to make your systems more efficient? Come join veteran adviser Aaron Manfull at Media Now in this class just for advisers. Manfull has advised yearbook, newspaper, broadcast, web, literary magazine and even a sports staff at the high school level. He’s even advised middle school newspaper and yearbook. While Aaron will work to help each adviser with whatever their specific needs may be, the class will focus on five things:

• Developing plans for organized intro classes and staff hours

• Making grading easier

• Using AI effectively in the classroom

• Exploring ways to help fund newsroom tools, equipment and experiences for your students

• Recruiting to build and maintain programs

Don’t forget, if advisers have 5 students attending camp, they get $200 off their adviser registration fee! If you would like more information from Aaron about the class, feel free to reach out to him at [email protected]. You can also find answers to many frequently asked questions on our page here just for advisers.