Media Diversity Day to encourage careers in the media

On Tuesday some students will participate in Media Diversity Day, a student-created event that will promote career opportunities in the media.

Kory Vargas-Caro and Tatyana Delgado, seniors in the Communication Arts Program (CAP), organized the event.

The event will begin at 12:45 PM. If their sixth-period teacher signed up, students will choose from various workshops to attend. There will be two one-hour sessions: from 12:45 to 1:45 and from 2:00 to 3:00. Students may attend either one or both. Students with an 8th period can go to the second session if their 8th period teacher signed up.

A variety of media professionals will talk with students so they can "get a taste of D.C. media," according to Vargas-Caro. Confirmed speakers include Mil Arcega of NBC-4 and Dorothy Gillian of the Washington Post.

Delgado worked at Channel 9 over the summer. She said that she became interested in a career in journalism and wanted to share her interest with others, especially minority students that don't think they have the talent. "I saw how important diversity is [in the media]," said Delgado.

Vargas-Caro agreed that the purpose of Media Diversity Day is to show students the opportunities available to them. "I want to expose students to all the things they can do," he said.

Delgado and Vargas-Caro work on La Comunidad, a TV program produced by Blair Network Communications (BNC) for Hispanic students. They point to the composition of Blair's media organizations: Silver Chips, the school newspaper, and Blair Network Communications, which produces the morning announcements program and a radio show. "The majority of them are CAPs and Magnets," said Delgado.

According to Delgado, Principal Phillip Gainous has strongly supported the idea since they proposed it to him in October. Gainous' original plan was to cancel afternoon classes on the 16th so all students could participate in the activity. Some teachers complained that they would lose a day of important test preparation for the High School Assessment (HSA) and Advanced Placement (AP) tests, forcing administrators to scale the event down.

CAP coordinator Dolores D'Angelo regretted that Media Diversity Day couldn't be as big as envisioned. She said that there only a few months to organize the event, and a full year of preparation would be necessary to plan an entire half-day activity. "This is a first step," she said, "and maybe in the future we'll be able to expand it."