The Tombras School Helping Emerald Youth Students Expand their Communications Skills During Summer Workshops
The Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations offers a content creation summer workshop for high school students through the Emerald Youth Foundation’s Calling and Career program.
The “Content Creators Toolkit” workshop offers students the opportunity to learn advertising and PR skills from Tombras School faculty. The workshop provides hands-on experience in social media management, introducing students to career opportunities in public relations and advertising.
Emerald Youth’s Calling and Career program aims to educate ninth through twelfth-grade students about the impact of public service careers in the community and teach them about business development and management, time management skills, content creation, colleges, the trades, and financial literacy, to reach personal goals.
Benjamin Davidson, a junior at Career Magnet Academy and a member of Emerald Youth Foundation’s soccer team, was one of twenty students who participated in the program. He joined after his dad heard about the Calling and Career program and signed him up.
During the program, students were given tablets, tripods, and microphones to complete assignments around campus to post on social media.
“I’ve learned a lot about content creation, how to make videos and promote things,” said Davidson.
Associate Professor Maria De Moya led students through engaging and interactive sessions.
“I want students to think strategically about social media content creation, something they are already experimenting with, and realize that their passion and creativity can be a gateway to a college experience and career in advertising or public relations,” she said.
Along with completing assignments related to content creation, students got to do a scavenger hunt around campus and visit the UT Creamery and the Tennessee Theatre.
Davidson shared, “My favorite assignment was storytelling because we had to make up a story and then record it. It was just fun and active because we were up and moving around.”
Clark Reyes, the Calling and Career director for Emerald Youth’s North Ministry location, said, “Knoxville is their home, and being on UT’s campus, walking the campus, and getting to eat in the dining halls is quite an experience for them. This is in their backyard, but yet they don’t get to visit often.”
Many of the program’s students come from schools such as Austin-East, Fulton, South-Doyle, and West High School. Reyes believes that, without the opportunity to visit colleges and universities with Emerald Youth, some students may not be able to envision themselves in higher education.
“That is why we make sure they get to explore the college, eat at the dining hall, and learn in our classrooms,” says Dionne George, Tombras Program manager and administrator of the workshop. “We want them to see that they can have a home at the Tombras School and UT.”
The summer months especially can be extremely tough for Reyes’s students to stay focused on learning and reaching their goals
.
“It’s good to have something during the summer when usually there’s not a lot of opportunities for some kids,” Reyes said. “I always believe that if we are around students, we know that they’re not in trouble. We may be just hanging out on our campuses with few activities to do. However, if they’re in the same space with us, they’re in a group of those who care about them and they’re not getting into trouble. This opportunity allows us to grow, not drop in learning, and experience being on UT’s campus.”
High school sophomore Promise Jones is especially grateful for the opportunity. She has aspirations of becoming a homicide detective working in the forensics field. She found the workshop beneficial in understanding college campus life and faculty-student interactions.
“It’s a really good program. Some assignments can be hard but you have people around you who care, especially the people here like Professor De Moya,” Jones said. “I feel like Professor De Moya really likes what she does and she works excellently with her students.”
Jones particularly enjoyed visiting the UT Creamery and doing a product review on the ice cream.
“That’s something that I like to do and it was fun to do it as an assignment,” she explained.
Both Jones and Davidson said they would recommend the program to other students, and said that no matter what field they may go into, the educational experience is one they can take with them.
Reyes added they hope to continue growing the Calling and Career program and have more students sign up for the Tombras School workshop next year.
“Having support from the Tombras School and this partnership is important for us. It’s something that we look forward to every summer,” Reyes said.
The Tombras School Helping Emerald Youth Students Expand their Communications Skills During Summer Workshops written by Kristen Gallant and originally published on the College of Communication & Information site.