For Immediate Release
July 9, 2002
Contact: John Hammond, Director of Public Relations, 210/733-2147, jhammond@accd.edu
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SAC's Urban Journalism Workshop Trains
and Inspires
Next Generation of Journalists |
| San Antonio College’s 18th Annual Urban Journalism Workshop, held
June 10-21, sparked an enthusiastic response from participants, including
two recent high school graduates Brad Candia, from Holmes, and Vangie Sandoval,
from Harlandale. A class of 15 high school students, carefully selected by a panel of journalists and educators, attended the intense, two-week workshop for aspiring print journalists that included seminars with visiting experts and a day of “shadowing” staff members of the San Antonio Express-News. The SAC workshop is one of 30 offered nationwide with a seed grant from the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Inc. Honors Sandoval was one of four students to receive an Alamo Community College District scholarship of $1,500. Other recipients were Emily Foley (O’Connor), Abbey Cedeño (Roosevelt), and Adriana Torres (Harlandale). Torres also won a writing award and will join Rita Alvarado (Brackenridge), who won the photography award, to go on to national competition for the Dow Jones Scholarship. Attraction to Journalism Candia and Sandoval were initially drawn to the field of journalism for different reasons: photography and writing. “I’ve always had fun taking pictures,” said Candia, who took his first photography class when he was in the sixth grade. His newspaper experience includes work on the staffs of three school papers — in El Paso, Minnesota, and Holmes. For Sandoval, writing was the main attraction, as well as doing interviews. “I enjoy getting to know people. Everyone has a story,” she said. Sandoval became the editor of the Harlandale newspaper one year after taking her first journalism course. Learning Experiences “The workshop was very intense,” said Sandoval, who noted that in high school you always have other things to do, but in the workshop you are focused on journalism as a career. She found the environment made it easier to work on deadlines, and she also appreciated the hands-on experience. Candia also found the workshop to be worthwhile. “I started out set on just photography,” he said, “but this was mostly a writing workshop.” He discovered his sole focus on photography was more limiting than he had realized. Both students plan to enroll at San Antonio College this fall and pursue careers in journalism. Major Sponsors Major contributors to the workshop were San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio Press Inc., Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Inc., Southwest Texas State University, Austin-American Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, the Odessa American, Canon USA, the Alamo Community College District, and San Antonio College. For more information about the workshop, contact Irene Abrego, workshop director and journalism instructor, at 733-2870. |
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1300 San Pedro Ave. • San Antonio, Texas • 78212-4299 • (210) 733-2147 |