The Public Affairs Reporting program is looking for former students to assist with two events happening at and around UIS in the months to come.

1. On April 20 at 3 p.m., the UIS School of Communication and Media (the academic unit that includes PAR) is hosting an alumni panel discussion to highlight what alumni are doing with their degrees. This opportunity is open to PAR alums who are journalists OR have related careers, like PR or lobbying. The event is at UIS.

2. We'll have more details soon, but during the week of July 17 SCM will host a high school journalism camp for local teens going into 10th through 12th grades. Our plan is to provide classroom-style journalism lessons in the morning and then set the students loose in the afternoon to report and write stories about things happening around Springfield. We'd love to have some PAR grads help us with teaching, editing and coaching. (We will pay you.) Commitments could range from one day to the whole week. Our hope is high school students going through this experience will meet a lot of talented Springfield journalists and be inspired to come back to UIS for a Journalism or PAR degree down the line.

If you have preliminary interest in either of these opportunities, let's talk! Contact PAR director Jason Piscia at jason.piscia@uis.edu or (217) 206-7494.