Students graduating from Kent JMC will know how to work in creative teams in newsrooms because they are already doing that as juniors and seniors.

And they have the portfolios to show it.

Every Wednesday at noon students from three courses meet in teams during the Collaborative Hour to work on projects they will pursue throughout the semester.

Each team has a reporter, photographer and a designer. Faculty from the three courses circulate among the teams to help students refine story ideas, edit photo shoots, critique layouts and determine if the words and visuals work together.

What makes Kent's program unusual is that all News students in newspaper, magazine, photojournalism and information design have the experience, not just a select few.

After the first drafts of the projects are critiqued, stories are rewritten, photos reshot and layouts are redone. The results are shown to the Collaborative Hour -- more than 50 students from the three courses -- at the end of the semester. Although learning how to produce a package is an important part of the Collaborative Hour, equally important is learning the process

of teamwork. Shy students gain experience in presenting their ideas to their peers and boisterous students learn they have to share the floor.

JMC professors Ann Schierhorn, Fred Endres and Carl Schierhorn conducted nationwide surveys on the use of creative teams on newspapers and magazines and determined that students need to be prepared to work in this environment.

Faculty also wanted students to have a greater understanding of how news packages are put together and to feel the exhilaration when a strong reporting, compelling photos and creative design come together to tell a story.

The resulting projects are submitted to professional and student publications. Some have been published professionally (and students paid), some have been published in campus publications and some have won awards.

And all students walk away with a portfolio piece from the experience.

Click here to view a gallery of their work.

Story by Ann Schierhorn

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