Career Awareness Day to Focus on the Importance of Storytelling

The ‘Communicating News About Science and Agriculture’ Conference Will Be Held on Friday, Nov. 15, in Chillicothe

COLUMBIA –– An upcoming career awareness day for high school students will focus on the importance of storytelling in sharing news and information.

The one-day conference, “Communicating News About Science and Agriculture,” will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, at the Litton Agri-Science Learning Center in Chillicothe, Missouri. Check-in will be from 8 to 9 a.m. 

The event is hosted by the Missouri School of Journalism and the College for Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri.

The conference, lunch, materials and other refreshments will be provided to registrants at no cost. Online registration for the event opened on Monday, Sept. 9.

The event will especially benefit juniors and seniors with career interests in storytelling in science, agriculture, journalism and communication-related areas as well as high school students in general. The conference, lunch, materials and other refreshments will be provided to registrants at no cost. 

An experienced group of presenters who use storytelling on a daily basis will share their insights with the students throughout the day.

Here is an overview of the schedule.

Morning:

Storytelling 101. Andrew McCrea, national public speaker and broadcaster;

Planning the story. Ruby Bailey, executive editor, Columbia Missourian, and Kate Hayes, senior communications manager, Bayer;

Developing the story. Kristofor Husted and Rebecca Smith, reporters, KBIA-FM, an NPR-member station;

Lunch:

Keynote address. Tyne Morgan, host and executive producer, U.S. Farm Report;

Afternoon:

The power of visuals in storytelling. Lynden Steele, director, Pictures of the Year International;

Why storytelling is important. Chris Chinn, director, Missouri Department of Agriculture;

Living the dream job. Christine Tew, director of communications, Missouri Soybean Association and Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council.

Questions about the “Communicating News About Science and Agriculture” conference can be sent to Suzette Heiman, a professor at the School of Journalism and organizer of the event. Link to the event website: https://cvent.me/DwBZb