The Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College has honored four recipients of the 2017 S’Park Media Mentor Award. The S’Park Award recognizes high school teachers and advisors who are committed to igniting a passion for media in their students.
“The privilege of teaching students to leverage media to give them voice and engage in issues that impact their communities is something that the Park School shares with our media mentor awardees,” said Diane Gayeski, dean of the Park School. “Over the years, this initiative has provided a pipeline for some of our best students as well as a community of peers for the mentors. It's always a joy to hear about the remarkable work being done by high school students and honor the people who inspire them and nurture the intellectual curiosity and creativity.”
This year’s recipients are:
- Alyssa Boehringer, adviser of journalism for the past 12 years at McKinney High School in McKinney, Texas. Boehringer advises the student broadcast station, yearbook and online news site. She has brought students to journalism conferences all over the country, where they have ranked among the top in the nation. Her students have won multiple Pacemakers and Best in Show awards from the National Scholastic Press Association. Boehringer is president-elect for the Texas Association of Journalism Educators and is the 2017 National Broadcast Adviser of the Year for Journalism Education Association.
- George Mayo, teacher of film production in the Communications Arts Program at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mayo has been teaching for 15 years and also advises the school’s TV studio and advanced media program, “Blair Network Communications.” His students create short films, produce and run all aspects of a daily morning news show, and work with their community to put together a 30-minute show featuring short documentary-style films.
- Barbara Tanzman, teacher of media and technology at Brooklyn Technical High School in New York, New York. Tanzman’s expertise is graphic communication and branding, having over 20 years of professional experience in graphic design and marketing. She encourages her students to apply for internships, scholarships and participate in media competitions. Her students have participated in worldwide competitions and have won numerous awards in digital photography, video editing and digital illustration and packaging.
- Teresa White, program manager at the non-profit organization Free Spirit Media in Chicago, Illinois. White serves as the program coordinator and producer of FSM News, one of the organization’s many afterschool youth-led media programs. She has helped teens and youth create newscasts for Chicago’s public access television channel and produce in-depth projects with PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs.
The winners were invited to an award dinner and reception at the college. While on campus, they met the advisors and managers of the Park School’s own nationally acclaimed student media outlets and learned about the Park Scholar Program, which provides full-cost-of-attendance scholarships for communications students.
Student-operated media programs in the Roy H. Park School of Communications include a weekly newspaper, The Ithacan; radio stations WICB-FM and VIC Radio; television station ICTV; Park Productions, a media production unit; and Park Design House, a graphic design unit.