Career center students learn publishing business

A collaborative project between the English and Interactive Multimedia classes at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center is giving students a taste of the publishing industry.

Much like the relationships between, writers, editors and illustrators, the students are working together to create a collection of short stories and artwork to enter in RIT’s Young Professionals in Publishing Contest. The students are being guided through this project by English instructor Donna Greer and Interactive Multimedia instructor Mary Ann Thoburn.

The cross-curricular project began with IMM students taking photos with a mystery theme. English students then selected a photo and illustrator to work with and began developing a short story based on that photo. Throughout the process, the artists and writers kept in constant contact, working together to develop their stories.

“For this project, the students are able to experience the full cycle of publishing, from idea inception to publication and the importance of clear, effective communication,” Greer said.

This is the first year the classes have joined forces to participate in the contest. Regardless of the competition’s outcome, the instructors plan to bind and distribute the stories as a publication to the students.