How We Began – Unis Journalism
Unis Journalism, The Living Textbook Project, 2011
The Living Textbook is funded by the McCormick and Ford foundations with additional support from the Kodak Corporation. The project is co-directed by two veteran journalists, Emilia Askari of the University of Michigan and Joe Grimm of Michigan State University. The Living Textbook Project was made possible by the dedication of teacher April Kincaid and the support of Dearborn Public Schools administrators.
Watch the video below to see Unis Journalism, Year One
The Living Textbook by Bill Kubota (Journalistic Filmmaker)
- Exploration of the journalism class at Unis Middle School and jr. journalist Jamila Nasser takes us into her family’s immigration history.
https://www.schooltube.com/media/The+Living+Textbook+Project+in+Dearborn+MI/1_cytyzg5w
- Teacher, April Kincaid, and student, Nour Eidy being interviewed by NPR, radio host Michael Martin (September 8, 2011)
https://www.npr.org/2011/09/08/140291053/teaching-sept-11-to-a-new-generation
- Unis journalism students Mirvat Chammout and Jamila Nasser were amongst the fifteen conversations between Arab Americans from across Michigan and the nation selected through Story Corps. These conversations were recorded to document issues of profiling and stereotyping Arabs in the post-9/11 era.
http://arabstereotypes.org/resources/storycorps
- Unis Middle School Journalism competed yearly (2011-2016) at the Michigan State University, Michigan Interscholastic Press Association Middle School Conference Contest. Unis was proud to have winners each year in the Best Feature Story, Best Caption, and Best Photo Contest Categories.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2013 MIPA Middle School Conference Carry-In Contest. Winning entries were published in 2013 and submitted by schools when they arrived at the Middle School Conference on Nov. 7 at the MSU Union. Nearly 200 student journalists from across the state attended the event.
Project Funding
- Unis Middle School journalism class found out that The Living Textbook Project received 2 additional years of funding from the Ford Foundation. Actress Sally Field captured how we all felt when she won the Oscar in 1985, “I can’t deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!”
- The Living Textbook, funded out of JTM-Create or Die last June in Detroit, has recently received a two-year grant extension from the Ford Foundation to continue its work. Co-directed by Emilia Askari and Joe Grimm, this project sponsored by the Asian American Journalists Association, is produced by seventh-grade students in Dearborn, Mich., who have a unique take on what it means to grow up Arab American in post-9/11 America. They are among the first generation of Americans to have no memory of what life was like before the 2001 terrorist attacks. (excerpt from JTM News)
Read the whole article, Living Textbook Gets Funding from Ford Foundation by Journalism That Matters (JTM News, 2011)
- Part of learning journalism at Unis Middle School includes video shooting and editing. The students were proud to produce videos like the one below that focus on the topic of bullying and friendship.
- Unis Middle School journalism students were also allowed to have their photos become a traveling art exhibit in 2011 entitled, The Heart of Arab America: A Middle School Perspective. The picture’s last stop was the Arab American Museum, in Dearborn, Michigan. The photos were eventually sold to local journalists and members of the community.
The art exhibit event was chronicled below by the Arab American Museum, The Dearborn Patch, Michigan Radio, Need To Know, and Mlive online newspapers.
https://patch.com/michigan/dearborn/student-photo-exhibit-tells-post-911-arab-american-stories
https://animatingdemocracy.org/project/heart-arab-america-middle-school-perspective-0
https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2011/07/arab_museum_offers_tales_of_yo.html
https://www.michiganradio.org/post/new-exhibit-documents-arab-american-students-life-post-911
- New article about Unis Middle School’s journalism program by The Arab American News, August 2012
- In 2013, Unis Middle School journalism students hosted their own version of the popular TV show Shark Tank. The students had a new app competition called, “Pitchfest.” This great event was documented in articles by Press and Guide and The Arab American News.
- After the grant money ended, Unis Middle School journalists continued to thrive and successfully create quality news stories on their blogs. Current student stories are on the blog site, Unis Middle School Community News.
https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/journalism/
- Shake It Off Program
- Unis Journalism formed a Presentation Team in 2015 to teach a class for the Allied Media Conference, located at Wayne State University. The interactive presentation was called, The Hijab: Through the Eyes of Muslims. 75 high schoolers, college students, and other adults learned more about the hijab through a student produced film, accompanied with games, discussion, and poetry.
- An Arab American News article was written about the Unis Middle Journalism Class (November 24, 2016)
Accolades
Unis Middle School journalism students were also given the opportunity to have their photos become a traveling art exhibit in 2011 entitled, The Heart of Arab America: A Middle School Perspective. The picture’s last stop was the Arab American Museum, in Dearborn, Michigan. The photos were eventually sold to local journalists and members of the community.
The art exhibit event was chronicled below by the Arab American Museum, The Dearborn Patch, Michigan Radio, Need To Know, and Mlive online newspapers.
https://patch.com/michigan/dearborn/student-photo-exhibit-tells-post-911-arab-american-stories
https://animatingdemocracy.org/project/heart-arab-america-middle-school-perspective-0
https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2011/07/arab_museum_offers_tales_of_yo.html
https://www.michiganradio.org/post/new-exhibit-documents-arab-american-students-life-post-911
Joe Grimm, co-creator, The Living Textbook
Professor Joe Grimm teaches college journalists to create unbiased content
https://www.secondwavemedia.com/capitalgains/innovationnews/biasbusters0823.aspx
April Kincaid, Journalism, and Social Studies Teacher
April Kincaid wins Middle School Teacher of the Year
https://mcunis.dearbornschools.org/2016/05/15/congratulations/
The 2024-25 journalism students participated in a New York Times activity, Conversations With A Journalist: An Invitation To Teenagers. Students were asked to read an article and pose comments and questions to professional journalists. Our 8th grade student, Lana Zaiter was given a shout out by Sapna Maheshwari, a reporter for the Business section of The New York Times about how TikTok has changed the world. Click below to see the whole post.
Excerpt from the NYT article that shows a mention of Lana Z.’s shout out:
Here is a good example. A student from Alisal High School named Gustavo writes that TikTok has changed him and others he knows:
It has changed our humor to the point where stuff is unfunny and confusing to “boomers” but drop-dead funny to us. At the same time, although this is concerning based on how much time we spend online, it creates a sense of unity among teenagers. You can say a joke that is found on TikTok to a stranger your age and create a quick bond.
Lana, from Unis Middle School, agrees and poses her own question:
Many of my classmates and close friends’ personalities changed almost completely after using TikTok, my entire generation is what could be called “chronically online.” I want to ask about your opinion on this. What effect will this have on our future?
How would you answer? It’s not too late!
By The Learning Network
Published Sept. 26, 2024Updated Oct. 10, 2024