(San Antonio, TX, July 3, 2008) – On Friday, June 27, scholarships totaling $11,000 were awarded to seven high school students who completed the 24th Annual Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College.   Also, two students were nominated for $1,000 scholarships in a national writing and photography competition sponsored by Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Inc., one of the sponsors of SAC’s Urban Journalism Workshop.

Called a “journalism boot camp,” this year’s Urban Journalism Workshop involved 12 students from seven San Antonio high schools who spent two weeks immersed in SAC’s Journalism-Photography Department learning the basics of reporting, writing and photojournalism.  Students were given direction by college faculty and professional journalists from workshop sponsors, including the San Antonio Express-News, Austin American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, San Angelo Standard-Times and Texas State University-San Marcos. The workshop culminated with You S.A., the newspaper produced by workshop participants that  is printed courtesy of San Antonio Press, and can be found online at www.theranger.org.

The $2,000 Regina Montague Memorial Scholarship, honoring a 1997 participant who died in a car accident in 2004, went to Melissa Martin, a senior at Clark High School.  The scholarship, provided by the Montague family of Bandera and the Express-News, honored an outstanding workshop participant who submitted the best essay on predicting ways newspapers will change in five, 10 and 20 years. Montague interned at the Express-News before graduating from Boston University.

Three students received $1,500 each from the Alamo Community College District Foundation to study journalism at San Antonio College.  They are Brianna Roberts, a graduate of O’Connor High School; Andrea Marquise, a senior at Stevens High School; and Lindsey Medina, a junior at Clark High School.

Three others each received $1,500 scholarships to study journalism at SAC from the W. B. Daugherty Scholarship Fund, established by the late chair of the college’s Journalism-Photography Department and a founder of the UJW at San Antonio College.  The recipients are Chris Rodgers, a senior at Stevens; Samuel Gomez, a graduate of Warren High School; and Valdemar Tejada, a junior at Wagner High School.

For the Dow Jones competition, the workshop staff nominated Martin for writing and Dylan Elmore, senior at Madison High School, for photojournalism.  They will compete against nominees from 27 other Dow Jones workshops around the country for renewable $1,000 scholarships. Winners will be announced in December.

Martin’s story for You S.A. traced local teens volunteering in China and Uganda, and a group from Wichita, KS, pitching in at the San Antonio Food Bank. Elmore’s front-page photo of a homeless couple under the Commerce Street bridge illustrated a story on the need for Haven for Hope, a campus for the homeless that is under construction on the west side of downtown.

In addition, six students received certificates for outstanding performances during the workshop. Medina was honored for news reporting; Zahra Farah, a senior at Stevens for work ethic; Rachael McBride, a senior at Clark for photojournalism and AP news style; and Rodgers for graphics.

Honorable mentions went to Tejada for work ethic and Gomez for photojournalism.

Other sponsors of the workshop are Canon, San Antonio Press Inc. and the Alamo Community College District.  SAC Journalism Instructor Irene Abrego is the director.

The 2009 workshop will mark the 25th anniversary of the workshop at San Antonio College.  For more information, contact the San Antonio College Department of Journalism and Photography at (210) 733-2870.