Industry Education Council honours Hamilton Spectator’s partnership in work-shadow program

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[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/hamspec.jpg” caption=”The Industry Education Council has awarded its IEC Partners in Education Mentorship Award to The Hamilton Spectator for its participation in the Faculty of Social Sciences’ Career Placement Program. Photo by Matt Terry.”]The Hamilton Spectator's conscientious mentorship of students from McMaster's Faculty
of Social Sciences has netted the newspaper an award from the Industry Education
Council.

The council presented the Spec with its 2011 IEC Partners in Education Mentorship
Award this week, recognizing the newspaper's seven years of participation in the
faculty's Career Placement Program. McMaster nominated the paper because of its high
degree of commitment to the program.

“We're really proud of the recognition. We do this every year and we love doing it, but
earning this award really is the icing on the cake for us. It shows us that we really are
making a difference,” said Stephanie Zawadzki, regional human resources co-ordinator
for Metroland Media Group, which publishes The Spectator. “The Hamilton Spectator has
a big focus on being part of the Hamilton community. We really want to make a
difference in our community.”

Students compete annually for four spaces in the program. Successful candidates spend
one-on-one time with staff in every department at the newspaper's headquarters on
Frid Street, near Main and Dundurn streets. Students shadow staff members as they
work and interview them about what they do.

Each participant chooses a particular area of concentration such as journalism,
advertising, production or circulation, and spends extra time with staff there.

The students each visit the paper once a week for a total of five individualized sessions,
during which they can ask their own questions to develop a sense of what newspaper
careers require and offer.

The experience enriches students' overall education by helping them appreciate the
relevance of their academic studies and giving them a chance to incorporate theory and
knowledge into practical contexts, said Cristina Foley, programming and outreach
manager in the Faculty of Social Sciences' Experiential Education office.

“It assists the students with understanding the array of career options available to them
within this field, and helps to make these types of careers seem more attainable,” said
Foley, who nominated the paper and presented the award. “The impact of offering a
program of this nature is widespread, as it recognizes The Hamilton Spectator as a
community-focused, accessible agency that appreciates the benefit of extra-curricular
education and that has an interest in our students as potential future employees.”

The sessions start in January every year, and participants have just been selected for the
2012 program.