DonorsChoose Challenge: Journalism students need a computer

A group of high school students in a rural community in South Carolina thought their school needed a journalism program and a school newspaper. They had no support or funding from the administration, but they went ahead with efforts to make it happen.

Raising money with bake sales, and using a computer and camera borrowed from the teacher, this group of enthusiastic students produced 8 issues of a student newspaper last year.

Their teacher turned to DonorChoose.org to raise money to fund a computer that the journalism class can call its own. The project is Computer Needed for New Student-Run Newspaper!. Here’s how the teacher explained what the students need:

In order to continue the success of the journalism program, it is crucial that the students have some technology to help them continue the creation of the newspaper. Many of them have expressed desire to explore careers in journalism after college, and I would love for them to have a laptop to call their own in the classroom so that they can make their dreams come true! We are asking for a HP Pavilion Widescreen Notebook Computer for the students to compose stories, complete layouts, and submit issues of the paper. The HP Pavilion Widescreen Notebook Computer would be the most integral part of the program, and it would be utilized everyday in the construction of the newspaper.

The total needed to make this dream come true for these future journalists (and future bloggers!) is $1057, almost half of which has already been raised. It’s a tax-deductible gift and amounts as small as $1 are welcome. This will help the 35 students currently in the program, as well as students who will use the computer in coming years. These students worked hard to prove themselves, and produced a school newspaper that benefits the entire high school. I want to help them keep the momentum going with a donation toward that new computer, and I’m asking you to help, too. Give a dollar (or 5 or 10) to provide the technology to keep the news alive in Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

The BlogHer Contributing Editors’ Challenge page has the give button. The project for Computer Needed for New Student-Run Newspaper! is on page 2. You’ll find a link to page 2 near the top of the list of projects on page 1. Please give. Even a single dollar will help. Click this ad, it will whisk you there. After you click Give, look for the “change” link to adjust the dollar amount to whatever you can afford to give.

You can learn more about BlogHer’s participation at Blogger Challenge in Support of Public Schools. If you can, give a dollar or more to other supported teacher requests, as well as to the one featured in this post. All the BlogHer Contributing Editor’s projects are listed on the BlogHer Contributing Editors’ Challenge, along with that all important Give button. Just look for the project called Computer Needed for New Student-Run Newspaper! and click that Give button.

If I tell you that my high school journalism teacher was a frumpy woman with her hair in a bun who tugged on her girdle all the time, you’ll realize how long it’s been since I was in high school. In spite of her appearance, that teacher and that class started me on a path than I’m still on today. Every word I wrote that was “published” in the school newspaper was a thrilling encouragement to me. Our equipment was provided by the school district. However, the students in the Computer Needed for New Student-Run Newspaper project have struggled to get the equipment they need. They’ve raised funds of their own by working in the community to get the supplies. These students produced newspapers on their own, in spite of the difficulties. Surely, you can spare a dollar or two to support this dedicated teacher and her hard-working students.

You can start your own blogger challenge in support of any of the DonorChoose programs. Start at the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge Page. Add information to your own blog in support of the journalism students in North Carolina who have worked so hard to create a school newspaper, or in support of the other available projects at DonorsChoose.

Cross Posted at BlogHer: DonorsChoose Challenge: Journalism students need a computer