The Public Relations Cases and Campaigns class gains hands-on experience through their media representation of the Boys Hope Girls Hope New Orleans organization.

Under their mock firm name, “Hype Public Relations,” the class manages the organization committed to helping disadvantaged and abused children that are academically capable, but do not have the resources to succeed, according Alexia Barrail, mass communication senior.

“Children from ages eight to 18 are provided with long-term residential housing and educational opportunities,” Barrail said. “They are selected by a three-to-four-month approval application process and through referrals of teachers, social workers or counselors.

“It is a boarding school, but they still get to see their parents depending on the situation,” Barrail said. “A main aspect of their program is to mend the ties between the parent and child through programs.”

The Boys Hope Girls Hope center, founded by the Rev. Father Paul Sheridan, S.J., partnered with Loyola, said Ashley Stevens, the account executive for Hype Public Relations and music seinor.

“We took on the organization as a part of our service learning,” Stevens said. “The mutual agreement between the organization and the class is that they get a free campaign and we get real-world experience.”

The class is collecting data so that it can send out press releases to major news outlets such as the Times-Picayune and Gambit and get the center established in the media, said Soraya Schwartz, a logistics sponsorship team member.

“We are basically running the class ourselves,” Stevens said. “Professor Andrews is just guiding us, but ultimately we decide the tactics we are going to use to create awareness. Not everyone has that opportunity.”

Kamaria Monmouth can be reached at [email protected]