The Princeton University Summer Journalism Program (SJP) brings high school students to Princeton to learn about journalism and to gain insights into preparing for college. Richard Just, former Ferris Professor of Journalism and current editor of The Washington Post Magazine, runs the program that he founded 16 years ago with three fellow alumni from the Class of 2001. In this article, sophomores Vayne Ong and Katherine (Kat) Powell describe their involvement in SJP, first as rising high school seniors, then as program coordinators with alumni-funded internships. Powell is now enrolled in one of this fall’s Ferris Seminars, The Media and Social Issues: Reporting on Race in America Today, taught by Tanzina Vega of CNN Money.
Exploring the impact of Princeton’s summer journalism program for high school students
August 28, 2017

Rising Princeton sophomores Vayne Ong and Katherine (Kat) Powell, third and fourth from left, are alumni of SJP and credit the program with helping them prepare for lives as Princeton students. This summer, they served as program coordinators with SJP under Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). Here, they present the final product of the program, The Princeton Summer Journal, with Jeri Schaefer, executive director of PICS; Richard Just of The Washington Post Magazine, co-founder of SJP and a member of the Class of 2001; and Jim Floyd, Class of 1969 and PICS board member.
Photo by Brian Rokus, Class of 1999, SJP counselor and CNN producer