Park School Honors Media Mentors

By Dan Verderosa, May 3, 2019
S’Park Awards recognize high school teachers for igniting students’ passion for media.

A man and a woman holding glass awards

Susan Malone and Damien Gaudet received S’Park Media Mentor awards.

The  Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College recognized two outstanding media mentors with S’Park Media Mentor awards. The awards honor high school teachers and advisers who are committed to igniting a passion for media in their students.

“The Park School is privileged to sponsor many great speakers and events, but the S’Park Media Mentor Awards program is my favorite,” said Diane Gayeski, dean of the Park School. “Each of our awardees inspires high school students to see media as powerful tools to shape the society that they will inherit, and they instill a culture of excellence in their cohorts. Over the years, the mentors have become a wonderful pipeline for some of our most talented students and we appreciate the opportunity to forge relationships with students who may not otherwise have heard of Ithaca College or thought that a Park School degree could be in their futures.”

The winners were invited to an award dinner and reception at the college. While on campus, they met the advisers and managers of the Park School’s own nationally acclaimed student media outlets and learned about the Park Scholar Program, which provides full-cost-of-attendance scholarships for communications students.

This year’s recipients are:

Damien Gaudet

Damien Gaudet is a media arts teacher at Blackstone-Millville Regional High School in Blackstone, Massachusetts, where he teaches photography and video production. For the last two years, he has worked as part of the PBS Student Reporting Labs. His students’ work has been featured on PBS NewsHour Weekend Edition and other online platforms. Last year, Damien's Student Reporting Labs group was awarded the “Rising Talent Award” for its segments on revitalizing New England mills.

Susan Malone

Susan Malone is an artist and executive director of Wide Angle Youth Media in Baltimore, Maryland. Her passion lies in Wide Angle’s mission to amplify the voices of Baltimore youth to engage audiences across generational, cultural and social divides. Malone has shared her students’ digital media projects across the globe. A firm believer in systemic equity and the power of youth voices, she is driven to help build the next creative class of civic leaders through innovative workforce development initiatives. In addition to her work at Wide Angle, Malone shares her years of expertise as a guest lecturer and strategic adviser for nonprofits and businesses. She has served on a variety of community and grants panels, including four years of service as a Maryland State Arts Council grants panelist.