Fourteen students attended the 39th NEHSJC Summer Program June 20-27 at the Gwen Ifill School of Simmons University in Boston.
The students from around New England went out on assignments in the city and produced a newspaper and a website focused on the theme of “250 Years: An Unfinished Experiment.”
The week ended with a banquet attended by the students and their parents as well as members of the NEHSJC board and invited guests at Regis College in Weston. The late Carole C. Remick, a co-founder of the program, attended Regis College. The Remick Foundation funds the program, which is free for students to attend.
In addition to Simmons University and Regis College, the program is supported by The Boston Globe and the New England Newspaper and Press Association.
NEHSJC Managing Director Leah Lamson and Program Director Meghan Irons welcomed the guests and presented each of the students with a certificate in recognition of their hard work during the week.
Also speaking was Milton Valencia, NEHSJC board president and assistant metro editor of The Boston Globe, and board member Ann Moritz, who introduced former students John and Joanna Lin. The Lins, a brother-sister team, received grant money through the collaborative’s Going Forward Initiative to create a start-up news site, Allstonia.
Mary Kaye Leonard, Remick Foundation director, presented each of the students with personalized leather journals. Diti Kohli, board member and Boston Globe reporter, unveiled the students’ website during the banquet.
Other board members in attendance were Corey Allen, director of industry partnerships, Boston Plan for Excellence; Paula Bouknight, assistant managing editor at the Boston Globe; Michelle Johnson, emerita professor of journalism at Boston University; and Colleen Malachowski, the Carole Remick Endowed Director at Regis College.
In addition to the board members, many Boston area media professionals dropped by to work with the students. Four college students served as resident advisors during the week. They were Mary Bosch, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Maddy Jimiera, Emerson College; Christina McCabe, Northeastern University; Daniel O’Toole, Emerson College; and Alanna Quirk-Aboujaoude, Simmons University.
Applications for the 40th summer program will be going out in January.
This year’s students are:
Bela Bukaty, Freeport High School, ME
Abigail Chachus, Andover High School, MA
Shianne Charette, Cabot High School, VT
Megan Espelin, Belmont High School, Belmont, MA
Gabriel Freeman, Westford Academy, MA
Rayan Kalinda, Leominster High School, MA
Tobias Kennedy, Bangor High School, ME
Katerine Lacourcier, Essex High School, VT
Lynsey Lavely, Danville High School, VT
Gabriella Muhonen, Mascenic Regional High School, NH
Audrey Owusu-Aikins, CT
Lillian Paige, Thornton Academy, ME
Darby Yang, Milton Academy, MA
Jia Jing Zeng, Freeport High School, ME