JEA COMMISSIONS

Certification

Joe Humphrey

Joe Humphrey, MJE, teaches newspaper, yearbook and broadcast journalism at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Fla. He is president of the Florida Scholastic Press Association and a current member of the JEA Certification Commission. Humphrey also teaches journalism at the University of Tampa and works as Associate Editor of The Laker, a weekly suburban newspaper north of Tampa. Humphrey, who worked as a daily newspaper reporter before entering the classroom, is a frequent speaker at conventions and workshops. He was a 2010 Dow Jones News Fund Distinguished Adviser.

Statement of Goals:
The JEA Certification Commission plays a valuable role in recognizing excellence within our professional community, and I would make expanding the pool of recognized advisers a top goal. Through promoting the importance of certification, I was able to bring JEA to Florida last spring to help a handful of teachers earn CJE status. This year, I’m honored to report that the Florida Scholastic Press Association is paying the cost for as many as 25 advisers to seek certification, an example of relationship-building I’d hope to replicate in other states. Honoring advisers for their knowledge, skill and passion is an important duty of our commission.

Other specific goals:

• Work with the committee and professional journalists to ensure certification exams reflect modern-day expectations of the field. I was proud to work on revisions to the CJE and MJE exams last fall and recognize the importance of that being a never-ending process.
• Ensure the certification process is user-friendly and tech-savvy.
• Promote MJE certification, working closely to mentor candidates who produce projects that are timely, useful to scholastic journalism and then published rather than simply shelved.
• Be an active, vocal member of the JEA Board, ensuring that our organization places what’s best for scholastic journalism (and journalists) ahead of politics and special interests.

Kim Green

Kim Green, MJE, has taught journalism and advised student media for 23 years of her 33-year teaching career, including the past 13 years at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind. There, her students’ publications, The Triangle news magazine and Log yearbook, have earned NSPA Pacemakers, CSPA Crowns and Quill & Scroll’s George H. Gallup awards. Log was inducted into NSPA’s Hall of Fame in 2010. Kim is currently a member of JEA’s Certification Commission. In addition, she serves on the Ball State University School of Journalism Secondary Education Advisory Committee and C4 Regional Partnership Board (representing multimedia/telecommunications). A former president of the Indiana High School Press Association, Kim served on the board for five years in various offices, directed the state On-Site Contests for five years and co-chaired the state convention planning committee for three years. An instructor at workshops and speaker at conferences and conventions around the country, Kim has been recognized as the 2010 Edna Folger Outstanding Educator, 2009 JEA Distinguished Yearbook Adviser, 2006 Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Distinguished Adviser and 2004 Indiana Journalism Teacher of the Year. A bona fide farm wife, Kim’s favorite role is GiGi to her two-year-old granddaughter Annie.

Statement of Goals:
In 2005, a community group led by two school board members demanded prior review of all student media in the school corporation following an in-depth story package The Triangle staff did on their peers’ casual attitude toward oral sex. My students prevailed and retained control of their content, and as a “survivor,” I know how important my JEA Certification became in solidifying the legitimacy of our program in this battle. I fervently believe a knowledgeable, confident adviser is the first line of defense against prior review. In addition, with program cuts threatening scholastic journalism around the country, highly qualified journalism teachers can truly make a positive difference in support of maintaining their programs. These are the reasons I have served on JEA’s Certification Commission since 2008 and am running for Chair in this election.

If elected, I will work tirelessly to continue initiatives this fine group of educators has been working on and promoting. These include, but are not limited to

• providing all journalism teachers seeking CJE and MJE designation with resources to achieve certification
• creating an effective, more concrete MJE project rubric
• continuing to assess the effectiveness of CJE and MJE tests
• collaborating with other JEA Commissions for the betterment of journalism education
• seeking ways to spread the word about the value of gaining and maintaining Certification

I believe my experience and my passion will be my greatest strengths in this capacity should I be elected. I would appreciate the opportunity to serve the Commission, JEA and fellow advisers as Certification Commission Chair.

Development /Curriculum Commission

Tom Gayda

Tom Gayda, MJE, is in his eleventh year directing student publications (newspaper, yearbook, website and literary magazine) at North Central High School in Indianapolis. He is the current JEA Region 6 director and Scholastic Journalism Week chairperson. For three years he was a member of the Scholastic Press Rights Commission. In addition to his duties with JEA, Gayda has served as president of the Indiana High School Press Association and co-planner of the organization’s annual convention. He is the current editor-at-large and former editor of Blend Magazine. Gayda has also spoken at numerous local, state and national conferences and conventions. He maintains his own website, www.tomgayda.com, that is full of resources for student journalists and advisers.

Outside of the journalism world, Gayda co-sponsors the NC chapter of National Honor Society, organizes faculty events as part of his school’s “One School” campaign and appears every Friday morning on “The Faculty Lounge Show,” a live radio program featuring school faculty members.

Gayda has been honored with the following awards: JEA Medal of Merit, IHSPA Adviser of the Year, Ball State University Graduate of the Last Decade, BSU Department of Journalism Young Alumnus, Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Distinguished Adviser and BSU Journalism Day Hall of Fame. He has also been honored by his students at two Top 25 nights and baseball, softball, volleyball and soccer teacher appreciation nights.

Best of all, he really likes this “journalism stuff.”

Statement of Goals: 
I am excited to take on a new role with JEA as curriculum commission chair. The position seems like the natural next step in what I am already doing.

As Scholastic Journalism Week chair I have, for five years, organized activities and materials for advisers to use during the week. Two years ago, I launched my own website {that’s original intent was for my students to use}, but I quickly found that students and advisers from other schools were benefiting as well.

I have a lot of material to share, and I have a strong history of already doing so. Be it my website, SJW materials or items I created and included in Blend Magazine, I am happy to share my work and let others save their time and use whatever I have made.

As chair I would organize a commission that had experts in various areas serve as commissioners to help assist advisers in need. For example, the revamped commission would have experts in areas such as writing, editing, leadership, photography and so on. I envision an active commission comprised of experts who are able to help whenever help is needed.

My commitment to JEA is strong. I have attended 27 of the last 28 conventions, speaking and judging at most. I hold an MJE and will renew next year. I have served as a regional director for two terms and Scholastic Journalism Week chair for five years. I am excited to continue my relationship with the organization and help my fellow advisers in whatever way I can.

Becky Lucas Tate

While advising both the newspaper and yearbook at Shawnee Mission North High School for the past 20 years, Becky Lucas Tate, CJE, has received a Gold Key from CSPA in 2010 and Medal of Merit from JEA in 2008. She was named a Special Recognition Adviser in newspaper by the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund in 1997 and in yearbook by the Journalism Education Association in 1999. She also received the Engel Award for the Outstanding Kansas Journalism Teacher of the Year in 2001 from the Kansas Associated Collegiate Press. She has a Master’s Degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and undergraduate journalism and education degrees from Kansas State University. While teaching high school, her staffs consistently earn All-American and Medalist ratings along with Crown and Pacemaker Finalist awards.

Statement of Goals:
As a JEA member for more than 20 years, I’d like to give back a little of what JEA has offered to me. In the rapidly morphing journalism education industry, it seems that lessons we used three years ago have gone the way of the Zip drive. Online headlines, blogging, interactive design are all areas that many of us lack current skills and knowledge to effectively teach to the 21st Century learner. I’d like to work with other JEA members and tackle a few of these areas while working to create lessons that can be shared with teachers new and old.

Lizabeth Walsh

I have taught yearbook for 19 years, newspaper for seven, and introduction to journalism for four. I have presented a variety of sessions at JEA-NSPA conventions, including classes on coverage, writing, grading, design, and shared teaching materials. As a current member of both the certification and curriculum commissions, I have helped create a more effective CJE exam and have begun the process of correlating the new Common Core standards to journalism. My original curriculum-related work includes an A-Z notebook for yearbook students that can be used as a textbook, a yearbook spread score sheet to be used as a communicative tool during the drafting process and an evaluative tool when each spread is complete, some of the style quizzes shared on the Listserv, and brainstorming graphic organizers for sports and standard coverage.

Statement of Goals: 
If I am elected as the chair of the Development/Curriculum commission, I would work with current commission members (and recruit new members) to create JEA national journalism classroom standards, based on those that states have already adopted as well as the new Common Core standards. I would then create a document that ties unit and lesson plans and texts from the JEA bookstore to those standards, which would make teaching journalism in the coming years easier for all teachers, but especially our newer teachers, who need all the support we can give them. I would also work closely with the certification commission to support our educators in earning their certification as quickly as possible.