Inspiration, perspiration, results and rewards!

Now you are starting to get your students organised to produce a team project for 2023, I hope you found last week’s teacher testimony from Alan helpful. The work now will pay off in spades and the benefits to the students are innumerable.

Prizes

We offer prizes of masterclasses and work experience to winning students which are at the very least useful for their futures but can be life-changing.

The following testimonial comes from Alex Mortimer, who was Shine scholar in 2021, winning The Terry Mansfield Award for Tomorrow’s Talent. It will take only a few minutes of your time, but I guarantee it will inspire you:

“When I entered the Shine Media Awards, I had no idea how significant of an impact the competition would ultimately have on my self-confidence, skillset and experience. But the effect of Shine on all of these has been immense, as Shine has given me innumerable opportunities to develop skills, arranging a week of work experience with the global publishing brand Hearst.

Walking into Hearst’s impressive office building – located in the heart of London – I initially felt a little nervous as I hadn’t ever had experience in such a professional setting. But I immediately felt supported as soon as I stepped in the door. The Hearst employees were always friendly and kind, demonstrating a passion for advocating for young people and our futures.

Allowing me to grow professionally

This dedication to helping young people shone throughout the entire week. I am immensely grateful for the many hours Hearst professionals spent talking through their careers in a range of sectors from subscription marketing to e-commerce, outlining the skills required to enter the digital marketing and journalism sectors and giving tips on job applications. I even learned about specialist programmes, such as Awin and SQL, allowing me to grow professionally. The professionals at Hearst also allowed me to shadow meetings, through which I learned invaluable lessons about the day-to-day running of the company and different departments.

Develop invaluable skills

During my work experience week, I was also encouraged to gain hands-on experience through practical tasks. I learned about the use of TikTok marketing to advertise beauty products as I conducted competitor analysis; I gained insight into magazines’ use of podcasts through podcast audits; I learned about data walls by examining different magazines’ use of them. Such tasks allowed me to develop invaluable skills: by completing a proofreading task, I strengthened my editing and writing skills; by delivering presentations on my audit findings, I developed public speaking skills.

Fostering young people to ‘shine’ and reach their full potential

Without Shine Media Awards – and without the help of all of the professionals at Hearst who generously gave up their time to arrange a stimulating, educational and thoroughly enjoyable week of work experience – I would not have had access to this incredible opportunity. I am immensely grateful to Shine and Hearst for this experience, and I can affirm that both companies are committed to fostering young people to ‘shine’ and reach their full potential.”

To find out more about the prizes Shine offers, and who has won them, click here.

If you haven’t done so already, register your student publication, podcast or audio programme with Anneliese at shine@stationers.org.

Till next time!

Alison
Chair of the Shine Committee