RIT’s School of Print Media Introduces High School Students to Publishing Production

On NBC’s reality television show, The Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump and Eastman Kodak Co. challenged celebrity contestants to create a mobile printing station for one of the company’s printing systems.

While they may not be Hollywood stars, high school rising stars in marketing and publishing will take on an “Apprentice-themed” task for Kodak at an intense summer workshop focusing on publishing at Rochester Institute of Technology, June 29 to July 2. The workshop concludes on Wednesday, July 2, with the students presenting their campaigns to Kodak executives.

To be considered for the Publishing and Advertising Summer Workshop, high school students from across the country submitted letters of recommendation and personal essays. RIT’s School of Print Media has hosted this summer workshop for more than 20 years. A selection committee chose two dozen high school juniors from Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, the Rochester area and across New York state.

“We are really excited,” says Matt Bernius, professor in RIT’s School of Print Media. “This is an amazing opportunity for high school students to learn more about the many aspects of publishing. It will be even more exciting for them to work on this type of marketing exercise for a major company like Kodak. We are grateful for Kodak’s generosity to partner with us this year.”

During the workshop, participants will work with professors and graduate and undergraduate students from RIT’s School of Print Media to produce a marketing campaign about Kodak’s Multimedia Digital Picture Frames. Students will be grouped into teams and create a printed brochure, poster and Web site.

“Kodak is energized to participate in this exciting program,” says Tom Hoehn, director, Brand Communications and New Media, Eastman Kodak Co. “RIT is continually on the cutting-edge of technology and education and we are pleased that we can use our innovative digital products to enrich the learning experience for these students. We can’t wait to see what these creative minds produce!”

On Wednesday, July 2, the teams will present their marketing collateral pieces to Hoehn and Jennifer Cisney, chief blogger at Kodak.com. Hoehn and Cisney, both RIT alumni, will select a winning team. The campaign launch celebration runs from 10:30 to noon in the Frank E. Gannett Building, Room 1265, on the RIT campus.

An interesting dimension to the event is one team of students will serve as journalists and report on the event through the creation of a one-page newspaper and a blog.

Adds Bernius: “These students expressed an interest in working on student publications. During their time here, they will be learning about news collection, handling of assets and online publishing.”

Scholarships were awarded to the students to offset costs. The Rochester Club of Printing House Craftsmen made a $4,000 donation for scholarships. Other corporate sponsors are Flower City Printing, Printing Industries Alliance, Cohber Press, Hammer Litho and Lazer Inc.