The Georgia Journalism Academy at Grady College: A Huge Success!

The Georgia Journalism Academy, held June 5-10 at The University of Georgia's Grady College, was a huge success! The camp gives young journalists an intense weeklong experience in the fields of journalism and mass communication, offering valuable hands-on instruction.  

The program is open to rising sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school. Academy instructors include Grady College faculty and staff, and local media professionals. A major bonus for Academy attendees is to experience life on the University of Georgia campus for a week. Students are housed in a campus residence hall and supervised by Academy personnel who are familiar with the UGA campus and Athens. Most meals are in the University’s award-winning dining halls. Activities are planned throughout the week designed to let Academy students get to know each other, the campus and have fun! 

Academy students choose a core class: broadcasting, feature writing, sports writing, editorial writing, photojournalism or advertising. While learning, students are working together to produce the official Academy newspaper, website, TV news show and/or advertising campaign, and maintain blogs about their week. Students will also participate in production classes, graphic design, web design or broadcast production -- and take informational sessions on public relations, staff leadership and how to get into the University of Georgia. 

We in the Advertising and Public Relations department, value and appreciate this program and the opportunities it provides to potential Grady students.  Thanks to the generosity of alumni, friends and our board members, we are able to help support the program and full scholarships for two deserving students to attend this program with financial assistance.  

This year's scholarship recipients:

Autumn Pressley (pictured left) is a rising senior from Stockbridge attending Woodland High School. This was her first time attending the Academy. She’s interested in attending the University of Georgia, Auburn University or Boston University and plans to major in mass communication. Last year she was the business editor of her yearbook’s staff. She is an active member in National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, National English Honor Society, Beta Club, and Girl Scouts of America. She has received the President of the USA’s Volunteer Service award, Principal Scholar, Girl Scout Bronze and Silver Award, as well as the Young Scholars Award. She is also on the Cross Country/Track & Field team and the Lacrosse team at Woodland High. She has an identical twin sister, who also attended the camp. 


Arman Bryan is a rising junior from McDonough attending Ola High School. He is currently part of Ola’s Newspaper Hoof Print as the Graphics Editor. He is interested in attending either UGA, USC, UNC or NDSU and plans to major in mass communication in the future. Arman is a member of Youth Leadership Henry and was selected for the Georgia Power Washington Youth tour this year. He was adopted at an early age from Kazakhstan and raised in Georgia. He has also been involved in the Jr. Beta Club, Beta Club, Peer Mediator Program, Henry County Poetry Recitation, Henry County Spelling Bee, the Duke Talent Identification Program and the academic team for four years.