Scholarships available for aspiring journalists

This and that about our continuing efforts to attract community contributors to enhance the total sports experience with The Gazette, TheGazette.com and IowaPrepSports. com:

IN MAY 2010, I wrote about giving Bob Brooks a deserving honor at Kingston Stadium. Thanks to the efforts of an outstanding local committee, that became a reality in the fall with the press box now bearing Brooks' name.

The committee went several steps further, getting an endowed scholarship fund started through the Cedar Rapids School District and raising $30,000 to seed it.

Senior at Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Washington, Kennedy and Metro with an interest in journalist as a career are eligible to win one of two $500 scholarships this spring.

“Applicants will be asked to submit a brief essay outlining why they have decided to pursue an education and/or a career in the field of journalism (including, but not limited to, broadcast, print or new media),” program co-chairman Steve Ridge wrote in an email this week.

I will serve as chairman of the selection committee, helping pick the winners. Check with teachers and counselors about applications.

“Funds permitting, continuing financial support may be provided to original scholarship recipients as their collegiate education progresses, provided that the recipient can demonstrate a continuing good faith commitment to an education in journalism,” Ridge added.

The application deadline is Feb. 29. We'll have more information later, including a media career day for Eastern Iowa high school students and internship opportunities with The Gazette/KCRG, Mediacom and Frank N. Magid Associates.

STARTING LATE TODAY, Chad Cooper will begin his journey as a Web caster, talking small-college men's and women's basketball.

Cooper, who has contributed notebooks to this page the past two weeks, is a 2006 graduate of Cedar Rapids Washington who earned an AA in communication media/public relations from Kirkwood in 2008 and a BA in journalism and mass communication from the University of Iowa in December 2010.

He has worked for Cumulus Media in Cedar Rapids the last three years and done play-by-play for Kirkwood basketball and Mid-Prairie High School football.

“I have always had a love for sports and have always been interested in the local talent that doesn't always get media recognition,” he wrote in an email last week. “This new focus on local college sports, along with the webcast, is a great opportunity at providing that recognition ...”

Catch Cooper's first webcast Tuesday afternoon at www.TheGazette.com

AS ALWAYS, I'm searching for YOUR story. What's your story, what's your favorite sport or team. Contact me at jr.ogden@thegazette.com