Talon Chamber Partnership
This fall the Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce started a new partnership with Ankeny High School’s student paper The Talon. This new partnership is spearheaded by the Graphic Designer Mackenzie Cowden and Educator Mrs. Alissa Hansen. As part of the partnership between the Ankeny Chamber and Mrs. Alissa Hansen’s journalism classes, student journalists are contributing articles to the Ankeny Business Journal.
We will be working on this partnership in 3 parts:
Profile Articles – Based on recorded interviews, students will be ghost writing short autobiography articles with Chamber Members’ own words. Several of these have already been published in the Ankeny Business Journal. You can read the stories of chamber members in those pages, as well as on The Talon News Site. (Some may even be shared on this blog!)
Event Coverage – Students will attend Ankeny Chamber events to get quotes and take videos of the events. The students will write stories and produce media content based on these events. So far, we have had a student attend Witches Night Out as well as Discover Ankeny! Witches Night Out coverage can be read about in our November Journal, and Discover Ankeny was highlighted in our December Journal. Both events were packed and we hope they will be again in Fall 2024.
Membership Directory – A Downloadable PFD of the Membership Directory currently located at www.ankeny.org/member-directory. All chamber businesses will be listed alphabetically by category with a link to the business’s website. However, members will have the option to purchase more ad space & recognition for their businesses. In partnership with Ankeny High School’s student-run news media team, The Talon, this directory will also include articles on the history of Ankeny and its landmarks as well as Ankeny Chamber SummerFest. Tentative publish date of April 1st 2024. Talk to your favorite TRC representative if you wish to have ad alongside your business’s listing!
Students will be given professional bylines and credit for all stories written for the Ankeny Business Journal. These stories may be shared in The Talon – The Student-Run News Site of Ankeny High School https://ahstalonnews.com, as well as be included in the students’ portfolios.
In exchange for these articles, Mackenzie Cowden will help Mrs. Alissa Hansen’s Spring Journalism class with creating an InDesign based Talon news magazine. Melisa Cox, President/CEO of the Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce, believes “This will be a great partnership with the school.”
To date we have had articles written by the talented student reporters Vivian Wu, Ava Tomlinson, and Joanna Guerrero. Ms. Wu also created an amazing video covering our first ever Witches Night Out! We hope our readers enjoy their contributions!
Article provided by: Mackenzie Cowden