With the new year, we know that you and many of your students are thinking about summer.

Do you have a student thinking about a career in communications or enjoy writing? We have just the thing: the Boston University Summer Journalism Academy, hosted by Boston University College of Communication.

For 13 years, our program has taught high school students in-person and virtually core skills in news reporting, interviewing, and writing, focusing on hands-on experience in and around Boston and their home communities. Taught by award-winning working journalists such as Pulitzer Prize winner Lara Salahi and Rochelle Sharpe, students learn how to follow facts and get to the heart of stories affecting communities.

We challenge students to step outside their comfort zone – and experience life as a working journalist. In the past, our students spoke with policymakers, reported from a massive immigration march, and highlighted issues affecting teens during the pandemic. They learned how to interview strangers, ask probing questions and assemble it in a concise story on deadline.

Students learn practical skills during their sessions and will receive a taste of how a newsroom operates.

The academy now offers two options: an on-campus residential program over three weeks for students with journalism experience and a learn-from-home program over two weeks for all experience levels. For students interested in photography, we offer a special photojournalism track for both.

Applications for the on-campus session June 26 to July 14 are due on April 14. Applications for learn-at-home sessions starting June 19, July 3, and July 17 are due on May 5.

Best of all, students will save $400 off the full fee for the on-campus academy or $200 off the full fee of the learn-from-home academy if they apply, are accepted, and registered in full by March 3.