High school students experiment with media innovation at ASU's Cronkite School

Twenty high school students from across Arizona are at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication as part of an intensive, two-week media innovation training camp.

The High School Media Innovation Camp, a joint venture among the Cronkite School, The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com and the USA Today Network, pairs high school students with entrepreneurs, technologists, journalists and professors to learn how to create compelling content for digital audiences.

The residential camp on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus is free to participants thanks to support from the Arizona Republic’s Media in Education program, which is funded by subscribers who donate the value of their subscription during vacations or other temporary stoppages.

“The High School Media Innovation Camp is a fantastic opportunity for the next generation of journalists to immerse themselves in the future of news,” said Greg Burton, executive editor of the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. “Our ability to deliver deep and engaging stories is limited only by our imagination, and this camp is a place where imagination takes hold.”

The camp, which started June 17 and runs through the end of the month, is led by Retha Hill, director of the Cronkite School’s New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, and Anita Luera, the school’s director of high school journalism programs.

The camp includes sessions on news games, 3D model creation, 360-degree video and 3D printing, among other topics taught by Cronkite faculty and Arizona Republic/azcentral staff.

“The High School Media Innovation Camp exposes students to some of the latest cutting-edge technologies that are reshaping journalism,” Hill said. “We’re looking forward to seeing what the students design for their final projects.”

Students experience the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus, staying at the Taylor Place residence hall and visiting the Sun Devil Fitness Complex.

ASU has topped the U.S. News & World Report rankings as the most innovative school in the country for three consecutive years. The Cronkite School has played a key part in the university’s drive to innovate with recent initiatives that include Innovation Day, an annual daylong celebration dedicated to journalism innovation.

2018 Media Innovation Camp Participants

Mikayla Anderson
Fountain Hills High School, Fountain Hills

Aubrey Carpenter
Desert Edge High School, Goodyear

Sydni Cloutier-Standiford
Horizon Honors High School, Chandler

Riley Duemler
Red Mountain High School, Mesa

Anthony Ellerman
Basha High School, Chandler

Talia Frindell
Chaparral High School, Scottsdale

Amanda Hicks
Centennial High School, Peoria

Andrew Kim
BASIS Chandler, Chandler

Minha Kim
Desert Vista High School, Phoenix

Minseo Kim
Desert Vista High School, Phoenix

Alexandra Krueger
Xavier College Preparatory, Phoenix

Connor MacSpadden
Regis High School, Phoenix

Xavier Martinez
Cesar Chavez High School, Phoenix

Aaryan Mukherjee
Hamilton High School, Chandler

Kris Ortiz
Douglas High School, Douglas

Melissa Rimsza
Cactus Shadows High School, Scottsdale

Sam Sarlo
Thunderbird High School, Phoenix

Emmerald Smith
Westwood High School, Mesa

Mario Stinson-Maas
McClintock High School, Tempe

Eve Wodarcyk
Hamilton High School, Chandler