Region 1 Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists

Christine Fisher - Multimedia Journalist

This March I was honored and humbled to win the Region 1 Mark of Excellence Award for general news reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists.

This award recognizes the best collegiate journalism in the country, and Region 1 spans along the Eastern Seaboard from Maine to Pennsylvania. During this award cycle, SPJ received more than 4,000 submissions from the 12 regions, and the other recipients of this award were from Harvard and Yale.

I received the award for the series I produced on the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s property auction in 500 vacant, scattered-site properties were auctioned for more than $11 million. Because a majority of the properties were sold in bundles of anywhere from two to 25, many local residents were upset.

I could not have received this award without the award winning, hyper-local news site PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com or partner site PlanPhilly.com, and I truly appreciate the support they provided.

Continued work with PlanPhilly

After working with PlanPhilly through a partnership with PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com, I’ve continued to work with PlanPhilly and its blog arm, Eyes on the Street.

My most recent stories can be found through the links below…

Mariposa and Common Market Work to Meet Fresh Local Food Demand
When Common Market started in 2008 as a way to provide a direct link between regional farmers and urban food providers, it had just five customers. One of those customers, Mariposa Food Co-op, was a four-person-staff, 700-member co-op operating a single-aisle storefront grocery on Baltimore Avenue.

Since then, Common Market and Mariposa have experienced remarkable growth, and this March that growth became visible when Mariposa managed a $2.5 million relocation from its 500-square-foot storefront to a nearly 5,000-square-foot retrofitted, historic bank just up the street from its former location.

West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub to Launch this April
This April Preston’s Paradise and Greensgrow Farms plan to launch the West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub, a mobile grocery store that will serve Lancaster Avenue and the surrounding communities.

“Preston’s Paradise has been running a push cart market for about five years now, and we were looking for a way to scale up and be a more consistent access point to fresh food in our neighborhood,” said Ryan Kuck, West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub project manager.

Debut of Japanese Garden’s Sakura Pavilion Kicks off Cherry Blossom Festival
Of the more than 200 buildings built in West Fairmount Park for the 1876 Centennial Exposition, only four remain, and two of those – originally built as “comfort stations” or bathrooms – were in dire need of attention before theFriends of the Japanese House and Garden and the City of Philadelphia began an adaptive reuse restoration project in 2010.

On March 31, Friends of the Japanese House and Garden hosted the grand opening of that completed project.

Small Scale Development Company Wins Preservation Alliance Award 
When Power House Development, Inc. began building on a vacant lot at 1824 Diamond St. the company had no idea the lot was part of the Diamond Street Historic District or that it would have to build the house in accordance withPhiladelphia Historical Commission guidelines.

For a small, locally owned and family operated company like Power House, such news can be intimidating given the perceived costs of historic construction, but Power House, which also happens to be female and minority owned, exceeded the Historic Commission’s expectations, and for that, the company will receive two grand jury awards at thePreservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia’s Preservation Achievement Awards luncheon this May.

Social media in the classroom, best practice guidelines

While I was working with ASCD to cover the annual education conference in Philly this past March, I wrote a series of articles on social networking best practice policies for both teachers and students. 

Social networking transforms professional development
If you’ve been following or tweeting the #ASCD12 hashtag, you are part of Eric Sheninger’s personal learning network (PLN), a group of people with common interests sharing information and exchanging conversations.

For people like Sheninger, a high school principal and coauthor of Communicating and Connecting with Social Media, PLNs can span the globe—thanks to social media and online idea-sharing tools… Read the full story here.

Creating social media guidelines for educators
More videos are uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than the combined number NBC, ABC, and CBS have produced in 60 years, and yet many schools restrict students from accessing this world of information.

At 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, administrators at North Carolina’s Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WSFCS) gave teachers permission to use YouTube in their classrooms. As Steven Anderson and Sam Walker presented the session “Understanding and Creating Social Media Guidelines for Educators,” teachers in WSFCS tweeted to thank them for pushing for this access… Read the full story here.

Helping students create positive digital footprints
When asked what words come to mind when they think about students posting to the Internet, many educators list words like danger and safety.

But with the likes of Robert Nay—who created one of the most downloaded iPad apps of 2011 when he was just 14—and even Justin Bieber—who began his international superstardom as a YouTube sensation—as inspiration, students and teachers alike should know the positives that posting to the Internet can offer… Read the full story here.

Schools as safe spaces for students

In March, I worked with ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development), an educational leadership organization. ASCD hosted its annual 3-day conference in Philadelphia, and I worked with the organization to cover various sessions and conference events. 

It was a whirlwind weekend and a great experience. I produced content for the Conference Daily printed newspaper (We handed our content to the printer at 7 p.m. and had fresh copies, hot of the press by 5 a.m. each morning) and for the conference blog. Below are a few of the stories I produced. 

Effective classroom management for new teachers
In many fields, professionals say you need to log 10,000 hours to become an expert. For new teachers, that can take about five years, and those first five years are often the most challenging…. Read the full story here.

Helping students create positive digital footprints
When asked what words come to mind when they think about students posting to the Internet, many educators list words like danger and safety.

But with the likes of Robert Nay—who created one of the most downloaded iPad apps of 2011 when he was just 14—and even Justin Bieber—who began his international superstardom as a YouTube sensation—as inspiration, students and teachers alike should know the positives that posting to the Internet can offer… Read the full story here.

Creating safe schools for LGBT students
When parents at one North Carolina school refused to return a library book that featured a gay main character, the issue drew mixed reactions and international attention. Some parents wrote to the school to ask that their child not be given access to the book. Conversely, others wrote to ask that their son or daughter read the text. Before the controversy settled down, 32 copies of the book were donated to the school’s library, from as far away as Australia.

A teacher from that North Carolina school shared this story during Peter DeWitt’s “Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students” sessions… Read the full story here.

Freelance Work with PlanPhilly.com

After working with PlanPhilly last semester through a partnership with my journalism capstone course PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com, I’ve continued writing for PlanPhilly. This week I had two articles on their site.

The first is a look at the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan, a joint effort by some of the city’s best planning groups to plan for a thriving industrial future in one of Philadelphia’s most important industrial districts. That story can be seen here.

The second story was a blog post on PlanPhilly’s blog, Eyes on the Street. This post is an update on the Philadelphia Housing Authority property auction – the somewhat controversial issue I covered last semester. My update can be seen here.

Hope you enjoy!

Temple University English Department Alumni Newsletter

This summer I wrote the content and copy for the English Department’s annual alumni newsletter. I also handled the design and production. The finished product can be viewed here…

Fox School of Business Features Writing Update

In May I joined the Fox School of Business communications and PR team. I’ve written about the position and shared clips before, but here is a recent update of some (not all) of my work. A complete collection of my work for the Fox School can be found on the school’s homepage, www.fox.temple.edu

Fox 10-10-10 marketing students fund smiles, name a dog – and raise $20,000 for charities

In just four semesters, undergraduate students in the Fox School’s entrepreneurial marketing course, popularly known as 10-10-10, have raised more than $50,000 for an array of charities and organizations, but their impact goes beyond even that impressive monetary value.

More…

Sanat Sarkar named Cyrus H.K. Curtis Professor for 30 Year Commitment to Statistics Department

Dr. Sanat Sarkar, a key member of the Fox School’s Department of Statistics for nearly 30 years, was recently named Cyrus H.K. Curtis Professor, an endowed professorship that supports his research and travel.

In his 30 years at Fox, Sarkar has authored more than 70 papers, received top awards and grant funding in recognition of his work, and supervised approximately 20 PhD students.

More…

Fox students travel to Connecticut for Travelers actuarial case competition

Early this semester, Fox professor Krupa Viswanathan took six of her top actuarial students to the Travelers Case Competition in Hartford, Conn.

Competing against actuarial students from Bentley University, Bryant University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the University of Connecticut, Viswanathan’s students were given five hours to analyze a case relevant to Travelers Insurance and then present their findings to a panel of executives.

More…

Two Fox finance majors earn top national recognition from the Financial Management Association

Wenhao Zuo and Pete Grant, Fox School finance and international business double majors, have been named Financial Management Association (FMA) Collegiate Fellows – a title only 23 students nationwide received this year.

More…

Fox School of Business, Temple University

My current position is features writer with Temple University’s Fox School of Business, which also represents the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management.

My duties range from writing event coverage to profiling faculty, student and alumni for internal and external publication; pitching to media outlets; maintaining databases and assisting with rebranding efforts.

To date, some of my published clips include the following:

• Fox EMBA grad earns Champion of Change title from the White House

When Patience Lehrman immigrated from a village in Cameroon, West Africa, to a small town in Washington state, she never imagined she would one day sit at a White House roundtable advising top immigration policymakers. But this May, that is exactly what Lehrman, a recent Fox School of Business Executive MBA graduate and national director of Temple’s Project SHINE (Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders), found herself doing…

• Love of sports and Temple inspires painter’s work, published by Temple Times

A friend once told Arlene Dowd, “Always pick up the biggest brush you have and just start painting.”

That’s the approach Dowd, administrative coordinator for the Fox School of Business’ Human Resource Management Department, took with a recent fundraising project — a bird’s-eye-view painting of a packed Liacouras Center…

• TEFI World Congress, hosted at Temple, activates change in tourism education

This May tourism educators and industry professionals from around the world traveled to Temple University’s Main Campus to hear 37 presenters from 11 countries speak at the Tourism Education Futures Institute (TEFI) World Congress.

For three days, the 2011 World Congress attendees heard from internationally renowned tourism educators and professionals, worked together to develop programs and initiatives in the forward-thinking spirit of TEFI, and enjoyed themselves in Philadelphia…

• Fox launches Center for Statistical Analysis to further university-wide collaboration

The Fox School’s Department of Statistics has launched the Center for Statistical Analysis (CSA), which will serve as an avenue for university-wide collaboration and as a means to further the university’s overarching research mission…

Social Media for DiscoverVeggie

I recently started working as Social Media Manager for DiscoverVeggie, a website that pulls and lists vegetarian items from restaurant menus in cities across the country. As Social Media Manager, I will be blogging (see recent blogs below) and managing Facebook and Twitter.

• Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/DiscoverVeggie
• Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DiscoverVeggie
• Or read our blogs at: http://blog.discoverveggie.com/

A handful of DiscoverVeggie blog posts:

• Is Going Vegetarian A Religious Thing?
• Documentary Review: GROW!
• Lessons from my Hippie Mom
• Philadelphia Attractions for the Earth-Conscious Explorer
• Meatless Monday Breakfast Ideas
• Documentary Review: Forks Over Knives
• Green (Easter) Eggs and (Vegan) Ham
• Walmart Introduces Flax Milk
• Supplementing Your Vegetarian Diet
• Bringing Meatless Mondays to School
• National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
• Traveling as a Vegetarian Doesn’t Have to Spoil a Trip

To find the complete collection of my posts for DiscoverVeggie, visit http://blog.discoverveggie.com/author/christine-fisher/

Philadelphia Business Journal

During the Spring 2011 semester, I interned with the Philadelphia Business Journal. As the editorial intern I manage a weekly “Good Works” column and a listings section “People on the Move.” I also wrote several by-lined articles ranging from Q&As with the … to a look at how alternative energy trends impact law firms.

General Clips:

• Philadelphia’s Healthiest Employers: VWR International
• Q&A with Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner
• Renewable energies fuel growth of legal practices 
• Course helps students dial into mobile app industry
• Q&A with the president of the Delaware Valley Chapter of of the Association of Corporate Counsel (Delvacca)

Good Works Samples:

• Teddy tradition – Supporting the Keystone Hospice
• Workers dress down to rustle up funds for Japan
• Family Foundation
• By Girls, For Girls
• Art Unleashed to free up donations

Blogs:

• Could pension issues bring turmoil to Philadelphia?
• Jobs important part of Phila urban landscape