News

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) students eagerly participated in hands-on lessons that demonstrated the hard work that comes with informing and entertaining the public. 

The CHS Media Literacy class visited SIUE’s Department of Mass Communications on Thursday, Sept. 7. Students toured the University’s television broadcasting studios, WSIE FM 88.7 The Sound Radio Station and the Alestle newspaper. 

“We wanted to show students all of the opportunities in the different areas of mass communication that are available to them as careers,” said CHS fine arts instructor Jordan Hope, who co-teaches the Media Literacy class with CHS English instructor Colin Neumeyer. 

It was the second time that CHS’s Media Literacy class came to the Mass Communications department. 

“We had another great visit from media students at the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School,” said Musonda Kapatamoyo, PhD, professor and chair. “My colleagues Theresa Pauli and Benjamin Moyer took the lead in showing the wonderful students all our gadgets (bells and whistles in the TV studio) and explaining how the instructional equipment fits into our curriculum.” 

“The students simulated anchoring TV news and visited our podcasting lab, as well as the video editing labs,” continued Kapatamoyo. 

“We also toured the WSIE radio station,” added Jordan. “Robin Boyce (associate director of Underwriting Sales) interviewed CHS student Dannica Davis on a portion of the radio segment. Then, a professor in the Theater and Dance department showed us the set design studio, prop and costume rooms. Finally, we visited with the staff at the Alestle.”  

Davis said she learned a lot from her media exposure. “It was interesting to find out the different careers associated with the Mass Communications department,” she said. 

“It is refreshing to see how curios and motivated the students are,” noted Kapatamoyo. “They represent the kind of student who the Mass Communications department aspires to recruit, retain and ultimately graduate. We hope to see more visits from future classes.” 

The SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School is a school-of-choice for families in the East St. Louis School District 189. The mission of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School is to prepare students who are career- and college-ready upon graduation. To achieve this mission, the school and its staff will positively impact the educational and economic lives of East St. Louis, Illinois youth through individualized instruction in core academic subjects, exploration of career interests and aptitudes, assistance in realizing students’ talents, high academic goals, and expectations that graduates will become competitive employees for the 21st century.  

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Students from the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School’s Media Literacy class toured the University’s TV studio as part of their visit to the SIUE Department of Mass Communications.