The National High School Institute-or, as it is commonly known, the Cherubs program-takes place every summer on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. This year, 84 rising high school seniors are taking part in the journalism division of NHSI, three of whom wrote the articles published on the following pages about Evanston’s Fourth of July parade. Campus Editor Kevin Soter spoke to Roger Boye, long-time director of the journalism division of NHSI, about the program and its students.Excerpts:Summer NU: What is the primary goal of the journalism division of the Cherubs program?
Roger Boye: We want to expose top high school rising seniors to journalism and the world of ideas as well as Northwestern. The two major criteria for admission are outstanding academic record and a solid background in journalism in high school. Summer NU: To what extent is the program geared toward seeking out and training future NU students?
Boye: Some of them will come back to NU. Many of them will, some won’t. Wherever they go to school, these are students who have done enough journalism in high school to want to study it in-depth for five weeks. Most students will leave the program thinking, “journalism is something I want to do in college.” Some students will (not). To come to a decision like that as a 17-year-old is a productive use of your summer. A few of them will decide that they don’t want journalism but it’s a good decision to come to at 17. Summer NU: Does the program give students a boost toward admission into NU?
Boye: I can’t speak for the admissions office, but I think if all else is equal doing a program like this during the summer shows a level of academic commitment that is a plus on your application. To do something like this versus spending five weeks at the beach is a wise and productive use of one’s time and I would think that the admissions office smiles upon that.Summer NU: How do you seek out and select instructors for the program.
Boye: We ask the Cherubs to evaluate the program after it’s over, and once we review the feedback from Cherubs we bring back as many of the instructors who we can who have gotten great feedback. So most years we don’t have more than two or three openings for instructors. We have four people who come in as one-week visiting professors. (We have) eight full-time instructors who are here for the entire program and then we have visiting professionals as well as others who will come in to give single lectures. It’s an experienced staff and people that have been around the track many times in journalism.[email protected]
