Covina , California

Any writer, photographer, or artist will tell you, self-expression is something you cannot put a price on. We developed a concept that rose partly from that idea, and the blogging craze: A project, conducted over the internet, which would allow students to express themselves in constructive ways to the world. The internet is the common tie between most every student; but it is not always a productive thing. We want to create something that will change educators' conception of what the internet can and cannot do, to show them how constructive it can be with the right direction, and to inspire educators across the country to embrace technology in the classroom. Later this school year, we will be introducing Express, an eZine (online magazine) to be run by Northview High School's Journalism class, in California. Any student in Northview can then submit writing, poetry, artwork, or digital photography. Journalism will conduct the editing and approval for submitted works and publish them to the Internet. They will also designate special topics and requests that students can theme their writing, photography, or artwork on. Journalism will be responsible for letting students know how to submit work and what guidelines there are. After Express has been run successfully for a given period of time, any high school in California who wishes to participate in this revolutionary project will be welcome to contribute if they are able. This is a multi-phase project with the first phase, the eZine, scheduled to begin early 2007. The second phase will commence once this project has expanded to a number of schools throughout California. Phase two will be a book project that takes work published on Express and turns it into a full-color book available for purchase over the internet, deliverable to anyone in the US. The book will be designed and edited in a special publishing class at NHS over the course of one or more school years. With this project culminating with a nationwide book project, composed of works from students in every state, there is virtually no limit to how many people Express can reach. [view full description]