Deadline: March 31, 2015
Program Summary
The journalism teacher summer internship program is designed to provide current journalism teachers in Michigan with experience in today’s newsroom so the teacher can share this knowledge with students and become a more effective journalism teacher/adviser. Interns will contribute to all facets of the news business. The program is designed to promote quality journalism instruction throughout the state and encourage high school students to consider journalism as a career. The Michigan Press Association Foundation funds this program. Participants will be expected to seek contacts with newspapers in their area to establish the internship. The newspaper must be a member of the Michigan Press Association and intern applicants must be MIPA members. While final placement decisions will be approved by the MPA Foundation and the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, the MPA Foundation and MIPA will not determine the placements.
Internship Requirements
Internships will be either four or six weeks long, and upon completion of the 40-hour per week internship and submission of the personal evaluation, teachers will receive $1,500 (four weeks) or $2,000 (six weeks). The Foundation will require each intern to submit a journal of his/her activities/reflections during the internship. These journals will be submitted to the MPA Foundation Board and to the MIPA Board to assess the program in order to determine if changes should be implemented in future years. In addition, the MPA Foundation and MIPA will ask interns for permission to publish excerpts in their respective organization’s publications to help publicize the program in the future. Teachers also may be eligible to receive from one to three credits for this program through MSU’s School of Journalism. Teachers would be responsible for paying MSU tuition to receive credit.
Application Form
As part of the application process, teachers will fill out an application form and write a 500-word essay outlining the type of experience they desire and why they would like to participate in the teacher intern program.
While final placement decisions will be approved by the MPA Foundation and the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, the MPA Foundation and MIPA will not determine the placements. That decision remains with the newspaper involved. Each approved applicant is responsible for finding his/her own placement by contacting the newspapers themselves.
Eligibility
Any Michigan high school or middle school teacher who teaches journalism classes or advises a newspaper or yearbook is eligible to apply for an internship. Up to six interns will be selected.
Deadline
Completed applications must be postmarked by March 31 of the year of the summer internship.
Read about MIPA advisers who have done internships.
For more information, please contact Janet Mendler of the Michigan Press Association Foundation or the MIPA office.