Teaching public radio in a St. Paul high school, so close to Minnesota Public Radio.
From early September 2008 through early November 2008, University of Minnesota (U of M) senior and former National Public Radio (NPR) intern, Will Wright and U of M Prof. Catherine R. Squires taught several seniors at Gordon Parks High School how to make basic public radio stories and audio slide shows.
The classes occurred during one of English teacher, Paul Creager's, 12-grade classes. Gordon Parks High School, is an alternative learning center within St. Paul Public Schools.
This project's timing coincided with an imminent and historic presidential election. It made sense to have the students' work address this phenomenal event within the topics of history, English, civics and social studies. Those which dovetail with the election and which can reflect the students' lives.
Many of the students are described as "at-risk." These students, who have persevered through double their share of hardships, worked in groups to produce stories about what the 2008 presidential election meant to them.
This public radio training project was created because the Twin Cities high schools have nothing that will introduce them to public radio journalism. The timing, talent and money to bring radio to the students happened to collide when Wright met Prof. Squires.
Neither Wright or Squires understood why America's largest regional public radio network, Minnesota Public Radio, didn't have a program that would seek, recruit and groom the next generation. Wright had recently returned from interning at NPR. Wright is a fifth-year senior and a non-traditional student who majors in communication studies, but he's focused on public radio storytelling.
Professor Catherine R. Squires, of the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC), had just began her second semester at the U of M when she met Wright. Squires is the inaugural Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity & Equality at the School of Journalism & Mass Communication. Squires earned her Ph.D. in Communication at Northwestern University in 1999. She was Assistant Professor in the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies and the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan from 2000-2007 before moving to the Minnesota. Her research focuses on the interactions between media, social groups, and political issues involving race/ethnicity. The absence of a vehicle for teaching radio journalism frustrated them equally when they met in spring 2008.
Neither of them was going to wait for someone to let them do or bring what was needed. Such as to bring a pilot program into Gordon Parks High School. SJMC's first professor of journalism, diversity and equity, Squires felt compelled to find or make a way to work with Mr. Wright. After he designed the project and the lessons during the summer of 2008, they have brought lessons in public radio storytelling to Paul Creager's English class.
National Public Radio, in Washington, D.C., has its Next Generation program, which Doug Mitchell runs. Chicago Public Radio has someone, in human resources, who coordinates internships and mentorships.
Well into designing this pilot project, Wright learned that, American Public Media, the distributor for Minnesota Public Radio, the largest regional public radio network, had been denied grant money for a program that might accomplish something similar to the Gordon Parks public radio project.