Date: Jul 16, 2010

Metropolitan Area Teens Investigate Diversity While Perfecting Their Journalism Skills

Innovative Free Summer Program Funded by The Rauch Foundation

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Metropolitan area high school students will be challenged to investigate and report on some of the important issues facing their hometowns and Long Island as part of a free two-week summer program called J-DIV. J-DIV, which stands for Journalism Diversity, is being funded by The Rauch Foundation.

The program, which began July 6, 2009, allows nine high school students representing diverse populations to experience what it is like to be professional investigative reporters. The students will report on their communities using the Long Island Index’s interactive map and reports to focus their stories. Guided by Hofstra’s journalism faculty, the teens will learn basic research and reporting techniques, as well as how to use some of the School of Communication’s state-of-the-art equipment to produce multimedia stories.

Once completed, the students’ story packages will also be published in a traditional print format. The students will also be interviewed on WRHU Radio Hofstra University and receive a $250 stipend upon completion of the program.

“The world is going through some extraordinary changes right now, and it is important to have bright, curious, intelligent young men and women who know how to find the story and bring it home,” said Program Director Peter Goodman. “Our hope for these students at the completion of the program is that they realize what a difference their stories can actually make.”

For more information: Program Directors, J-DIV

Peter Goodman                                Carol Fletcher
Peter.Goodman@hofstra.edu             Carol.T.Fletcher@hofstra.edu
(516)463-6556                                (516)463-6464

BIOS OF STUDENT PARTICIPANTS

John Binoso is a senior at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, where he serves as the Editor-In-Chief of the student publication, The Chariot.  He has been an honor student throughout high school and is involved in numerous clubs and activities.  He has also volunteered at numerous hospitals and walk-a-thons.  Music and songwriting are some of his passions and he has been playing the guitar for four years.

Sara A. Gottlieb attends the Village School in Great Neck. Her interest in journalism started when she was 13-years-old. It was then that she decided to join Middleview, the Great Neck Middle School newspaper. She was the movie and book reviewer, and was the paper’s first advice columnist.

Jaclyn Lattanza is a senior at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station. She is Editor In Chief of her school newspaper, The Warrior, which she joined as a freshman. She has also became a Staff Writer and Entertainment Editor of the website www.teennewsnet.com as a freshman, and has been on the team since.   She has been featured in Newsday’s Kidsday section and has received an award from the Long Island Press.

Maddie Michalik is a junior at Floral Park Memorial High School. She is a member of the Junior Honor Society, the Class of 2012, and Mock Trial team. She is also News Editor of the school newspaper, The Shield, and historian of Key Club. In her spare time, Maddie likes to spend time with her family and friends, write, and read. She also has a passion for art and photography.

Ashley Seymour is a senior at Smithtown High School West.  She has been an active participant with the school’s literary magazine since her freshman year and is also a member her school newspaper, The Bulls Eye.

Faatimah Sharieff is a senior at Island Trees High School in Levittown. She has been on staff at her school newspaper, The Bulldog, since tenth grade, which sparked her interest in journalism. In her free time she loves to enjoy time with her family and friends. Some of her favorite things include reading, writing and chocolate!

Allison Teicher is a senior at New Hyde Park Memorial H.S. She has been an editor on her high school’s newspaper, The Chariot, for six years, and was awarded the position of Editor-In-Chief for the 2010 – 2011 school year. This past January, she became the Co-editor-In-Chief of the Decorative Artists of Western Nassau’s newsletter. She has been a Girl Scout for 11 years and has been New Hyde Park Memorial’s Foreign Language Honor Society President for two consecutive years. Allison has also been published in New Hyde Park Illustrated multiple times in the past two years.

Nia William is a senior honors student at Roosevelt High School.  She has always had a passion for writing stories and poetry.  At age ten, she was a finalist in the McDonald’s Gospel Fest for one of her poems. Her first poem was published when she was 12 in Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans. She also enjoys playing volleyball, spending time with family and friends, and reading.

Cassidy Witkowski is a senior at Island Trees High School in Levittown. She is an honor student and a member of the student council.  She plays soccer, basketball and lacrosse.  She enjoys hanging out with friends, going to the beach, and writing poetry.  She works as a hostess at a small family-style restaurant called The InnBetween.  Her favorite subject in school is English, which led her to journalism. She dreams of becoming a journalist in the fashion field.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from about 150 undergraduate and more than 160 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services; and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. The University also provides excellent facilities with state-of-the-art technology, extensive library resources and internship programs that match students' interests and abilities with appropriate companies and organizations.  The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future. For more information: http://www.hofstra.edu .

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