Oaktown Teen Times: A Springboard For Inner-City Student .

Oaktown Teen Times: A Springboard For Inner-City Student Journalists

Farmington, MN (PRWEB) February 23, 2011

The Oaktown Teen Times is proof positive that a vision needs but dedication, hard study and a little chance to become reality.

The reality, in this case, is one that propels underserved youth toward opportunity.

OTT, a non-profit newspaper written by, for and about teens in Oakland, Calif. is distributed free-of-charge to 10,000 Oakland public school students four times per school year. The paper is printed by the Oakland Tribune as a world service.

The programâ#8364;#8482;s stated aim is to keep journalism alive for students who are underserved, and to let them to let their voices be heard. Further, itâ#8364;#8482;s helping kids to make reading, writing and research skills while engaging in authentic coverage of their schools and communities.

Over the preceding 8 years, OTT has worked with hundreds of teen writers, photographers and artists from Oaklandâ#8364;#8482;s 15 high schools as good as several middle schools and charter schools. Contributors are nearly all students of color; many qualify for discharge or reduced lunch, donâ#8364;#8482;t speak English as their first language, and are first in their families to aim to college.

Launched in 2004 as a standalone newspaper, OTT in 2010 extended its range from mark to online with Oaktownteentimes.org (Oaktownteentimes.org).

The Web siteâ#8364;#8482;s aim is to serve students continue their skills in print journalism to the online space, where multimedia allows for more in-depth, creative and comprehensive storytelling.

The technology behind Oaktownâ#8364;#8482;s web site is provided and supported free by Minneapolis-based School Newspapers Online (SNO), whose established niche is frozen in the ease and extensibility of its technology, which schools leverage to continue their capacity to the digital space. With the technology details and questions covered, advisers and students can stay focused on the center of serious journalism.

Tom Hutchinson co-founded SNO and is pleased to continue his companyâ#8364;#8482;s technology to assist the community of OTT journalists become more savvy online publishers.

â#8364;#339;Itâ#8364;#8482;s exciting to see the great subject being produced by the Oaktown staff,#226;#8364; said Hutchinson. â#8364;#339;We`re proud to help them deliver their influence to a full online audience.#226;#8364;

Lisa Shafer and Beatrice Motamedi, co-managing editors of the OTT, work with students to publish and edit stories for both paper and Web site. Their biggest advantage is seeing students honored for their work. Last year, 11 OTT students won awards in a competition sponsored by the California chapter of the National Federation of Press Women. OTT also hosted a press conference with Oakland`s city attorney and a patrol captain regarding a new gang injunction, and took five students to the JEA/NSPA convention in Portland through a Donors Choose grant.

This year Shafer and Motamedi are sounding to expand OTTâ#8364;#8482;s multi-media presence and take its Web site a favourite of students. Beyond that, theyâ#8364;#8482;d like to recruit more schools to enter in the program, and help motivate and promote additional schools to get their own Web sites established, especially if they cannot give the printing bills associated with a hard copy newspaper.

A main goal remains to get more support to have the OTTâ#8364;#8482;s work into the future. Sponsors to date include the Oakland Tribune, JEA Northern California, the Newspaper Association of America, Donors Choose and the Open Circle Foundation.

Donors can lead to http://oaktownteentimes.blogspot.com and place a tax-deductible donation through OTTâ#8364;#8482;s fiscal sponsor, Media Alliance. Checks can be made out to Media Alliance with "Oaktown Teen Times" in the memo, and mailed to:

Media Alliance

1904 Franklin Street, Suite 500

Oakland, CA 94612

Those concerned in volunteering with the plan can contact Shafer directly at lisalshafer(at)gmail(dot)com or Motamedi at bymotamedi(at)gmail(dot)com, or by writing to oaktownteen(at)gmail(dot)com.

Anyone interested can also show support by leaving to the students` SNO Web site at http://www.oaktownteentimes.org and interpretation and commenting on student work.

About Oaktown Teen Times

The Oaktown Teen Times is a non-profit newspaper by, for and about Oakland teens. It is distributed free to 10,000 Oakland public school students four times a school year. It is fiscally sponsored by Media Alliance, an Oakland-based media advocacy group.

For more information, please visit oaktownteentimes.org/ oroaktownteentimes.blogspot.com.

About School Newspapers Online

School Newspapers Online, established in 2008 by a high-school newspaper adviser and instructor and an Internet content management expert, is a society based in Minnesotaâ#8364;#8482;s Twin Cities that focuses specifically on the needs of high-school newspapers looking to make or enhance their bearing on the Internet. SNO has designed its Web sites, well over 400 to date, to address the concerns and needs of newspaper advisers and their staffs. In an era of tight school funding, the fellowship aims to retain its Web sites affordable while offering all the functionality and design flexibility found on major newspaper sites.

For more information, please visit schoolnewspapersonline.com.

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