July 11, 2024

DENTON (UNT), Texas – Sixteen high school journalism teachers across the state of Texas have been selected as teaching ambassadors for the UNT Scripps Howard Fund Emerging Journalists Program.

Cliff Hamilton, a teacher at Boswell High School in Fort Worth, is among those selected. He wrote, “Society has changed so much and students need to learn and understand how important communication is for the future. I want to guide students in that direction.”

Megan Ortiz, another teaching ambassador from Kingwood Park High School, also serves as a TAJE regional rep in the Houston area. She organized a free workshop for middle school and high school students as well as a summer camp for elementary and middle schoolers interested in journalism in 2023. “I think expanding the reach and making affordable opportunities for students in the Houston area is critical,” she said.

The other 14 teachers selected for the teaching ambassador program follow:

• Alexis Berkey, Klein Cain High School in Klein.
• Jasmine Binion, Cypress Ridge High School in Cypress
• Danielle Hunt, Ridge Point High School in Missouri City.
• Rebecca Jaramillo, Nacogdoches High School in Nacogdoches.
• Krystle Lopez, College Station High School in College Station.
• Sydney Moyer, Southwest Christian High School in Argyle.
• Frances Packman, Klein Collins High School in Spring.
• Karla Romero Paramo, Frisco HIgh School in Frisco.
• Eleanor Skelton, Westbrook High School in Beaumont.
• Lela Siegel, Brazoswood High School in Clute.
• Jayme Quick, Waskom HIgh School in Waskom.
• Meagan Wavra, Katy High School in Katy.
• Sherri White, Little Elm HIgh School in Little Elm.

“We hope to see many of them at the Texas Association of Journalism Educators Fall Fiesta Oct. 12-14 in San Antonio,” said Dorothy Bland, a journalism professor at UNT who also served as the program director. “We also encourage them to visit our campus with students and host regional workshops as appropriate.”

The Mayborn School’s five-part program is designed tol create a strong mentor network between students, teachers and working journalists. The program includes a series of high school workshops that will encourage and recruit new cadres of students, “career bootcamps,” in partnership with major journalism associations such as the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic journalists, opportunities for students to have their work published by news organizations, and outreach and continuing education programs for high school teachers in Texas.

For more information on the Emerging Journalists Program, visit journalism.unt.edu.

About the Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism

The Mayborn School of Journalism, the only named and endowed school at the University of North Texas, trains nearly 1,000 students in print/digital journalism, broadcast journalism, photojournalism, advertising and public relations. The Mayborn School is also home to the nationally known Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference.

About the Scripps Howard Foundation

The Scripps Howard Foundation supports philanthropic causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and the communities it serves, with a special emphasis on journalism education, excellence in journalism and childhood literacy. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism education, scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry’s top honors for outstanding journalism and the Foundation’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book…” childhood literacy campaign has distributed more than 352,000

new books to children in need across the nation since 2017. In support of its mission to create a better-informed world, the Foundation also partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support impactful organizations to drive solutions that help build thriving communities.

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