T.i.P. has helped scores of Boston teens find their voice through the written word. Now, the newspaper has aligned with other programs focused on developing writing skills among
Boston public school students.

WriteBoston Summer Journalism Institute
This four-week summer program offers young people a fun way to improve writing, build journalism skills, and explore exciting places in Boston. Open to freshmen and sophomores, the Institute is sponsored by WriteBoston in collaboration with the Boston Globe Foundation and Northeastern University.

Students learn basic interviewing, fact checking, and news writing skills from professional journalists, then
put those skills to the test during field trips across the city. At the end of four weeks, participants turn in timely, interesting, and polished articles for placement in the fall issue of T.i.P.

Media Matters Writing Conference for Teachers and Teens
Media Matters was developed by the Boston Globe Foundation, in collaboration with UMass Boston
and WriteBoston, to help expand on T.i.P.’s work and to showcase the Globe’s commitment to providing resources for teachers and inspiring future writers.  The inaugural 2005 Conference attracted 450 budding writers and 125 of their teachers from across the Northeast. They gathered at the new UMass Campus Center for a full day of workshops, seminars, interactive icebreakers, and speakers from the worlds of business, academia, media, and the non-profit sector.

The Conference was supported by a number of Boston Globe Foundation Flagship Partners,
including WriteBoston, Teen Empowerment, Teen Voices, and Project: Think Different. Post-conference questionnaires confirm that Media Matters was a hit. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “great,” the average rating of the overall conference by the student attendees was 7.1. The second Media Matters Writing Conference was held in November 2006.

Caroline Knapp Journalism Internship
The Caroline Knapp Journalism Internship Program provides four Boston public high school students
summer employment at area newspapers including the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and selected weekly papers.  Administered by WriteBoston and funded by the Arnold Hiatt Foundation and the Knapp family,
the program was developed to honor the late Boston journalist and author Caroline Knapp.

For eight weeks, interns become valuable members of local newsrooms. One recent Knapp intern, T.i.P. staff writer Samantha Mbawuiki, had several of her articles published, including a byline op-ed piece. Interns also develop their journalism skills through mentoring with colleagues.

BostonTIP.com
With the success of the print version of T.i.P., the Globe Foundation and WriteBoston have turned their attention to the Web. Partnering with the Globe’s acclaimed Boston.com site, they have designed a T.i.P Web site, www.bostonTIP.com. The goals are to help recruit writers and readers for T.i.P., to elicit reader feedback, and to become a resource for teachers, students and parents.