The Fair Media Council has expanded its FMC Media Savvy Teacher Awards program, to offer the program to a wider range of students and to offer enhanced benefits to teachers, including a cash prize.
Beginning today, teachers working in the 4th-12th grade levels are eligible to enter their students’ work. Entries are accepted on a rolling deadline basis, and are due by the 30th of the month. (Note that projects entered into the awards program must have been completed within 18 months of entry. Projects exceeding the 18-month time frame will be disqualified.)
“Today’s media savvy children grow up to be world-class citizens,” said Jaci Clement, CEO & Executive Director of the Fair Media Council. “That’s why this program is so important to both teachers and students.”
Teachers may choose from a variety of categories in which to enter, which are noted here:
- CyberBullying Prevention: To further children’s understanding of what constitutes cyberbullying and how to prevent it in their schools
- Financial Literacy: To create money savvy kids, this category encourages children to use news as a means to help them understand everything from what a bank does to how credit cards work and the importance of saving and compound interest.
- Drug & Alcohol Abuse Prevention: To create kids with healthy minds & healthy bodies, children need a strong understanding of the dangers of drugs and alcohol. FMC encourages teachers to create projects using news to help students understand how to keep their bodies healthy, and how drugs and alcohol can cause physical, emotional and mental problems.
- General News Literacy: To further children’s understanding of local, national and world events, this category asks teachers to create projects of their choosing that incorporate at least three news sources. Projects should contain an element that allows children to compare and contrast information from different news sources.
- Current Events: Create a project revolving around a current issue in the news and define a goal for the children to reach a deeper understanding of the issue.
Full details as well as the online entry form are available here.
Why use news in the classroom? Comparing and contrasting information builds critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills in children, as well as improved reading and writing skills, and an awareness of current events that helps take children to the next level in understanding their world.
That’s why FMC encourages teachers to use news in the classroom: Project ideas are limited only by imagination, and current event topics are always changing. Plus, media — whether it’s newspapers, TV, radio or online sources — are readily available to teachers and students, making projects easy and affordable to create and complete.
In addition, FMC makes it easy to enter.
The Fair Media Council works to create a media savvy society.