Community Tampa Bay Named 2024 FPES Friend of NIE

Newspaper in Education (NIE) programs are extremely relevant in the world today, especially in Florida. Research shows that young people who are exposed to newspapers in their classrooms are more likely to become daily readers of the newspaper, become more knowledgeable about the world around them and become more involved citizens in their communities.

In our ever-changing world of education and independent learning, quality primary and secondary sources have become paramount. Teachers need fact-based sources to enhance their lessons and encourage critical thinking skills, and that is where the newspaper comes into play.

Since 2013, Florida Press Educational Services (FPES) has presented an annual Friend of NIE Award in recognition of an individual or organization that has helped to further FPES’ goal of promoting literacy and critical thinking by using the newspaper as an educational resource.

The 2024 Friend of NIE recipient is Community Tampa Bay. Tammy Briant Spratling, Community Tampa Bay’s CEO, accepted the Friend of NIE award Friday, July 26 at the 2024 Florida Media Conference.

Community Tampa Bay was founded in the Tampa Bay region in the 1940s as a regional affiliate of the National Conference for Christians and Jews, which later became known as the National Conference for Community and Justice. The mission of Community Tampa Bay is to cultivate inclusive leaders to change communities through dialogue and cross-cultural interaction.

Since 2015, Community Tampa Bay has contributed invaluable expertise to several large, grant-funded NIE programs. The most recent collaboration is “Separate is not Equal: Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education,” a project examining the history and the continuing impact of the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision, which established in 1954 that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional.

This project funded by a grant from Florida Humanities included the following components:

• An NIE publication that was printed and distributed to high schools in Citrus, Duval, Hernando, Hillsborough, Leon, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pasco and Pinellas counties by the Citrus County Chronicle, Key West Citizen, Tampa Bay Times, The Wakulla News and The Yulee News;
• A teacher guide and webinar; and
• A series of five in-person community conversations in Miami, Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and Tampa – two of which were moderated by Briant Spratling.