Podium Programs

Our central editorial board, made up of RPS students from all 8 high schools

Podium was honored to present at The Community Foundation's annual luncheon. Our students read their work and received a standing ovation!

The Podium Foundation's motto is "Where Youth Take A Stand." To that end, we have founded an organization that seeks to create broad platforms of expression and quasi-professional experiences for the student population of Richmond's public high schools. A key part of Podium's mission is to provide for Richmond's public high school students a wealth of extracurricular, system-wide writing programs that parallel or exceed those available in the high schools of the surrounding counties.

Podium has forged partnerships with Richmond Public Schools, VCU Honors College, local corporations, plus dozens of volunteers to advocate for and provide increased opportunities for the learning/teaching of writing skills in the city high schools.

Under the belief that competence with the written word is an irreducible skill in our culture, the Podium Foundation operates a range of programs, each of which aims to increase the self-esteem and creative reach of Richmond's students, as well as strengthen cooperative talents and skills they will use in their transition to college and/or the professional world. Podium provides Richmond's high school students with real experience in working to deadlines, editing, as well as the incalculable thrill of seeing their works published and widely viewed.

The creative content of all our programs is the sole product of the students themselves, including writing, illustrating, design, and editing, all accomplished under Podium mentorship.

Our programs include:

The Podium Literary Journal

Entering its second year, the Podium journal puts on citywide display the creative, non-fiction, and artistic work of RPS high school students. The works are created in classrooms across the city, and outside of class by the students themselves in five categories: short fiction, short memoir, op/ed, poetry, and illustration. The pieces are created, edited, and selected in each school, then sent to a central student committee for selection and inclusion into the final journal. A student design team works with the VCU Brand Center to create the final look of the 4-color journal. The 100-120 page journal is published and distributed at no cost to all city high schools, and over fifteen thousand free copies are placed into the community.

Students visit Worth Higgins & Associates
to do an on-press check!

Podium Website and People's Choice Award

The Podium website is more than the online presence for the Podium journal. The site includes audio and video podcasts featuring student interviews and performances, a comment board, a Facebook page, and online publishing. This year, artwork from the high schools will be featured on the website, where the public can vote for their favorite submission. The artwork receiving the most votes will automatically win a spot in the journal as the "People's Choice Award."

Virginia Voice

Annually, the Podium journal will be read and broadcast by Virginia Voice, a non-profit that provides an audio reading and information service for those who cannot read for themselves because of vision impairment or other disability in the greater Richmond and Norfolk/Hampton Roads areas. Also, select high school authors will be interviewed by the Voice about their work and lives.

Photos from the Virginia Voice recording session
-Audio coming soon!

Podium Skills Academy

All student members of the journal central editorial board and design team will participate in a multiple session academy designed to familiarize them with the professional skills and real-world experiences of the publishing field. Students will visit several local companies to receive on-site overviews of the broader publishing industry including editing (selection, copywriting, copyediting), design (layout, graphics, web development), printing (pre-press, on-press, quality control, paper), electronic publishing, logistics (distribution), and the business of publishing (budgeting, finance, revenue).

Writing Strategies Conference

Along with RPS and VCU, Podium will offer an annual summer series of creative and expository writing and pedagogy workshops for teachers across disciplines in grades 6-12. Our mission is to provide teachers continuing education workshops for incorporating writing of all kinds into their classrooms. Each cadre of teachers (up to 30 per year) will receive recertification points from RPS as well as participate in professional development opportunities throughout the year.

Podium Live! At Dogwood Dell

As the Opening Night of the Dogwood Dell 2010 season, Podium will present a staged reading of the annual Podium journal. Working closely with the Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation, professional actors, friends of Podium, local officials and celebrities will read students' published works, while students' art pieces will be projected via multimedia. Participating students will receive public recognition at this venue that seats over 3,000 people!

Richmond Times-Dispatch monthly column

The Times-Dispatch has partnered with Podium to publish a monthly column titled "Where Youth Take A Stand," featuring the writing and artwork of RPS high school students. All RPS high schools will participate on a monthly rotating basis, submitting a 700 word opinion piece on current events, accompanied by an original piece of art by a student of that school.

Partnership with VCU Honors College and CIS

Each year, VCU Honors College students volunteer as Podium club leaders. These students run the student editorial board, organize club activities, and mentor their high school charges. These Honors students work alongside Communities in Schools professionals to organize writing seminars open to all students, and serve as Podium's ambassadors to the teachers and students of each city public high school.