CNN Press Release: CNN and Leadership Unplugged Celebrate 5th Anniversary with its 500th Student

CNN Worldwide, in partnership with Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc) and 21st Century Leaders, is hosting 100 current Georgia high school juniors and seniors for the fifth annual Leadership Unplugged: A CNN Experience from June 21-25 on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology.

This diverse group of students, selected from a competitive pool of applicants from across the state of Georgia, will participate in a weeklong series of training sessions and discussions focused on the media and current events. Each Leadership Unplugged workshop will be a dynamic, interactive experience led by professionals, mirroring the kind of training major companies provide to their high-ranking leaders. The discussion groups and workshops will focus on a wide range of topics including diversity, ethics in media, and audience engagement. In addition, panels and mentoring sessions will be held by several anchors and executives including CNN’s Don Lemon and Abbie Boudreau, HLN’s Susan Hendricks and Richelle Carey, and CNN International’s Errol Barnett, and CNN Student News Carl Azuz, and Kelly Regal executive vice president of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.)., Jack Womack senior vice president of domestic news operations and administration for CNN/U.S. and Bill Galvin senior vice president of HLN programming.

“Leadership Unplugged: A CNN Experience is an amazing opportunity for these students to learn about the media industry,” said Donna Krache executive producer of CNN Student News. “My CNN colleagues and I are honored to be a part of this program and delighted that we have reached a milestone of 500 students attending this event.”

The curriculum for Leadership Unplugged was developed by CNN Student News, CNN’s 10-minute, cost and commercial-free news program for middle and high school students that airs weekdays throughout the school year at 4:00 a.m. (ET) on HLN and is streamed on www.CNNStudentNews.com. Free teacher materials for each show are also available on the CNN Student News homepage.

The classes and workshops are led by volunteer employees at CNN and TBS, Inc. Following the classes and workshops, the students work in teams to develop a story idea based upon the lessons they have learned. The week concludes with the student teams presenting their proposals before a panel of judges comprised of CNN and TBS, Inc. executives.