Illinois Press Foundation awards grants to 19 school journalism programs

The Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Foundation have announced the awarding of grants to 19 scholastic journalism efforts throughout the state, including at Harrisburg High School.

Of the 19 recipients, 18 are high schools and one is an elementary school. The awards are part of the Illinois High School Journalism Grants Program offered by the Illinois Press Foundation and financially sponsored for a third consecutive year by Illinois Farm Bureau.

More than $25,000 total in grants will be distributed to the schools in the fall to pay for laptops, cameras, broadcasting equipment, newspaper printing costs, website hosting fees and more. The Illinois Press Foundation Board of Directors' Education Committee approved the grant recipients.

"Each year of the grant program, we see an expansion of learning opportunities for students in the schools we visit, and that's exciting," said Jeff Rogers, executive director of the Illinois Press Foundation. "Today's high school journalism students are doing it all - writing, editing, shooting photos and videos, producing newspapers, running websites, doing broadcast pieces. But no matter what format they're using, these students are still engaged in and learning the foundational elements of journalism."

Matt Wettersten, executive director of marketing news and communications at Illinois Farm Bureau, congratulated the 2023 grant recipients.

"The talent inside each of these programs is promising, and helping these programs develop and grow is rewarding," Wettersten said.

This year's grant recipients include:

Carlyle High School, $1,500 to purchase 6 Chromebooks and accident protection.

Carterville High School, $1,000 to purchase 2 electronic dry storage cabinets for cameras and accessories.

Edwardsville High School, $1,320 to purchase 2 microphones, mic stand, digital voice recorder, stream deck, capture card, webcam, green screen backdrop, and Ring light kit.

Harrisburg High School, $1,173 to purchase a camera, camera mount microphone, and lens.

Jacksonville High School, $1,000 to pay the website hosting fee and to purchase an iPad and software.

John Hancock College Preparatory High School in Chicago, $1,500 to pay for some of the cost to print the school newspaper for a full school year.

Lockport Township High School, $800 to purchase a camera and accessories.

Madison Elementary School in South Holland, $1,500 to purchase a camera and memory card.

Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School in Chicago, $1,500 to purchase 3 cameras and accessories.

Morgan Park High School in Chicago, $1,214 to purchase 3 camera lenses.

Normal Community West High School, $1,500 to purchase a camera with 2 lenses, and to pay for printing costs for the student newspaper.

Putnam County High School in Granville, $1,500 to purchase paper for printing, 25 editions of "NewsHound's Guide to Student Journalism, and one year's worth of domain name and website service for the student publication's digital edition.

Schurz High School in Chicago, $1,500 to pay for the setup, hosting fee, site booster, training, and Classroom Manager for the student publication website.

St. Charles North High School, $1,140 to purchase an iPad with keyboard, a teleprompter kit, an Apple pencil and 2 microphones.

Thornridge High School in Dolton, $1,500 to purchase a camera and LED studio light kit.

West Chicago Community High School, $1,500 to purchase 3 cameras.

Wheeling High School, $900 to purchase a wireless video transmission system.

William Howard Taft High School in Chicago, $1,500 to pay for website hosting fees, 2 cameras, camera lenses and SD cards.

York High School in Elmhurst, $1,500 to purchase a MacBook Pro.