As the editor-in-chief of Monsignor Edward Pace High School’s Torch Yearbook, senior Amanda Prats already has a healthy start on pursuing her dream career in journalism. Last month, she added even more to her portfolio when she took part in the 2015 Peace Sullivan/James Ansin High School Workshop in Journalism and New Media at the University of Miami from July 5 through 25.
Prats was accepted into the exclusive workshop and spent three weeks living on the UM campus with 19 other students from several Florida high schools. Students who attended the workshop were eligible to receive scholarships from the University of Miami and Dow Jones.
Utilizing and improving their photography, videography, and writing skills, Prats and the rest of the students created an issue of Miami Montage, a publication created each year at the workshop. Each issue focuses on a specific topic, and after brainstorming on the first day, the students chose “Stemming the Tide,” which focuses on climate change and its effect on South Florida.
In addition to working on the Miami Montage issue, the attendees were taught about media law, ethics, and new journalism by professors from universities across the United States. They traveled off campus to locations like the Everglades to work on their projects and took field trips to the offices of the Miami New Times and WSVN 7 to see news rooms in action.
For her part in the issue, Prats wrote an article about the Clearpath Foundation, a politically conservative organization devoted to educating conservatives about climate change. She also produced a video package about the Tropical Audubon Society and took photos for many of the issue’s articles, even winning an award for Best News Photo.
“I feel extremely fortunate that I was given the opportunity to go through the experience of the workshop,” said Prats. “I learned invaluable lessons from my amazing instructors and formed close friendships with the 19 other students in the workshop.”