Media Contact: Matt Bowden
Email: mtbowden1@jhu.edu
Phone: (410) 735-6045 BALTIMORE March, 2008 – Imagine magazine, published by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY), has won a 2008 Gold Award from the Parents' Choice Foundation. Announced March 17, the award honors Imagine as one of the highest quality periodicals on the market geared toward children and young adults. Fifth consecutive year CTY’s magazine has won Gold Award Since 2004, Imagine has garnered the Parents’ Choice Foundation’s highest honor, a track record editor Melissa Hartman is extremely proud of. “Imagine is now the magazine I knew it could become,” she said, “and we have done this without sacrificing our high editorial standards.” Parents’ Choice seems to agree. The Foundation bestows awards each spring on products for young people that, according to its website, “entertain and teach with flair, stimulate imagination and inspire creativity.” In reviewing children's media since 1978, Parents’ Choice has become a resource for NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and a broad variety of other outlets when addressing children’s media topics. In 2003, Imagine took home a Recommendation from the Foundation, and has since then shared the Gold Award each year with periodicals such as Cricket, Ranger Rick, and American Girl. Academics with a difference Where Imagine differs from its counterparts is its status as the only Gold Award winner intended for 12-18 year olds. “The number of programs for gifted teens is growing,” Hartman says. “We do our best to inform pre-college readers about programs that will nurture their academic interests and talents, and to inspire them to pursue those interests.” Published since 1993, Imagine’s five annual issues cover topics ranging from academic competitions and summer programs to college advice and career profiles with such luminaries as journalist Cynthia McFadden, Time science writer Michael Lemonick, and Cassini-Huygens scientist Dr. Jonathan Lunine. The other factor that makes Imagine so appealing to gifted teens is the number of articles featured by writers their own age. Hartman explains that, “we find our student writers in different ways—through our work here at CTY, working with a program we want to feature, such as Earthwatch or Youth Radio. Still others come to us through queries from subscribers . . . I get more queries every year. Ultimately, I’ve found that students enjoy the work that goes into making a work publishable and find it more rewarding than simply receiving an A.” # # # CTY conducts the nation's oldest and most extensive academic talent search and offers educational programming for students with exceptionally high academic ability. CTY parallels, and complements, a gifted child’s regular school experience. CTY’s programs and students have been profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and other premier American publications. Other information: - CTY is a nonprofit center at The Johns Hopkins University.
- CTY draws students from 50 states and DC, as well as students from over 90 countries.
- 2006-07 saw over 73,000 second- through eighth graders participate in CTY’s Talent Searches.
- CTY provided $ 4.52 million in financial aid to over 1,700 students in 2006-07.
- In the 2006-07 Talent Search, 15.6% of students in CTY’s Talent Search were identified as underrepresented.
- Gifted students qualifying for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program may join the Talent Search virtually for free.
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