March 27 is the deadline to apply to the Mississippi High School Journalism Project (MHSJP).
What: Applications are open for the Mississippi High School Journalism Project, a state-wide initiative to expand journalism education to Mississippi public high schools.
Impact: By the end of the spring 2026 semester, up to 15 high schools will be selected to participate in this journalism initiative. The cohort of instructors will train during the spring and summer with a goal of starting a journalism course ideally by the fall 2026 semester.
What Schools Will Get:
- A high school journalism curriculum
- Free professional training for the instructors of the course
- Free membership for two years to the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association, including all of its services*
- A three-day summer advisor MSPA workshop and journalism training in Oxford (provided free to any teacher with less than five years journalism advisor experience)
- Support from experienced Mississippi student publication advisors
After completing the training, teachers will be able to
- Demonstrate a knowledge of the basics of journalism and how to effectively teach them.
- Start and guide student publications.
- Form and participate in a community of practice to share tips with and to mentor other journalism teachers.
What medium is required for the program? The school is free to choose the medium. The only requirement is that the publication is paired with a new credit-bearing journalism class. Media choices can include:
- newspapers
- yearbooks
- broadcasts
- podcasts
- radio
- literary magazines
Why Is This Needed? While many schools have a yearbook class or club, very few schools offer a credit-bearing journalism class. Involving students in journalism provides them with several workforce-ready skills and community benefits, including
- Developing critical thinking skills
- Strengthening democracy
- Learning to share their generation’s perspective
- Developing skills in written and oral communication
- Developing digital and media literacy skills
- Building a strong sense of community and civic awareness
- Developing story telling skills that can provide an understanding of different perspectives and issues
*The Mississippi Scholastic Press Association provides for its members
- An annual fall and spring conference for advisors and students
- A three-day summer workshop for advisors in Oxford
- Free contests for students with an evaluation, awards and feedback from an out-of-state judge
- Free Journalism Education Association (JEA) membership. JEA offers helpful online resources for teachers such as lesson plans, standards, and PowerPoints on writing, design, marketing, photography and video production.
- A listserve for Mississippi high school advisors
- All resources on the MPSA website
Who is involved? This project is funded by Press Forward Mississippi, an initiative that aims to build sustainable student media by launching new journalism programs at selected Mississippi public high schools. The MHSJP is directed by The Bell, a NYC-based nonprofit focused on building the next generation of journalists. Founded in 2017, The Bell (bellvoices.org) produces student-led podcasts and leads the NYC Youth Journalism Coalition which recently created an inaugural cohort of 30 NYC public high schools to launch new journalism courses and student publications. The Bell is expanding into the state of Mississippi, first launching the Jackson Youth News (jacksonyouthnews.org) in March 2025, which empowers teens of Jackson, Mississippi, to tell stories for their city. The MHSJP was launched January 2026.
For more information, contact project coordinator Kelly Atwood at kelly@bellvoices.org.