Director at large run-off election 2017

Director at large run-off election 2017

Tom Kaup, MJE

Bio

tom-kaup-150x200pxThe Nebraska farm values of simplicity and hard work have stayed with Thomas Kaup, MJE, throughout his life, even though life has taken him far from there. Kaup received a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of St. Thomas, in English, in 1980, a licentiate in sacred theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, in 1986, and a master’s degree in educational design from Western Governors University in 2013.

Kaup began teaching in 1985 and started advising journalism in 1995. He joined the JEA in 1996 at a summer institute at the University of Missouri and have been a member ever since. He has been a National Board Certified teacher since 2004.

Kaup’s career took him into middle school, where he began to advise yearbook and newspaper at George Russell Middle School in Omaha, Nebraska. While there Kaup was recruited by the Omaha Public Schools to help found a communications magnet school, Alice Buffett Magnet Middle School. During his tenure there, he co-wrote a textbook, “Middle School Journalism,” published by Teaching-Point Inc. of Florida.

After a move to Auburn, Washington, in 2007, Kaup became active in the Washington Journalism Education Association and served on the board of directors for many years as secretary. Kaup is currently the adviser of the Troy InVoice newspaper and Invader yearbook at Auburn High. In 2014 he was named the Washington Journalism teacher of the year, and was honored in 2015 by the Dow Jones News Fund as a Special Recognition Adviser.

Why I want to serve

For 20 years I have had the broad shoulders of the JEA advisers to lean on. I think it is time to step forward and be those broad shoulders for others. I bring a great a range of journalism experience, from advising in a small Catholic high school in Iowa, a wealthy suburban middle school in Omaha, to a premier magnet middle school program in a large urban district. I am now advising in a suburban city that has faced tremendous challenges and changes, in the highest area of poverty in the sparkling technological Emerald City.

I want to be a fearless advocate to increase the visibility and recognition of diverse schools, especially those in areas with high poverty such as mine. I want to reach out to the advisers who may not often speak up, or step ahead to be heard, to find out their unspoken needs and speak them loud and clearly. I want to be the advocate for good change, an advocate for new voices and new directions within the organization at a crucial time in the world of scholastic journalism.

I promise to never utter, nor tolerate, the phrase, “We have always done it that way.”  An organization that does not take the hard measures to separate the wheat from the chaff will not grow. With great respect for the traditions of the JEA, I promise to ask the questions, challenge assumptions, and build on the solid foundation to an ever more dynamic and relevant organization for teachers.

It would be an honor to collaborate with the national association and offer my ears and shoulders to all advisers.

My goals

Pedagogy

The incredible resource of the Curriculum Initiative should be promoted and enhanced with adaptations for journalism programs in a wide variety of schools. From small rural schools, large urban schools, to mega-schools in the suburbs, journalism can and should be taught in a wide spectrum of skills and abilities.

Journalism education must continue to tackle the issue of real vs. fake news, reliable vs. unreliable sources, in an increasingly cacophony of the sensational breaking news syndrome that often disregards the truth. The JEA should continue to be a bold voice for solid, authentic journalism education that can help to stem the tide of rumor and insinuation that continue to masquerade as news.

Advocacy

I pledge to be a tireless advocate for the benefits of journalism education. Finding alumni of solid journalism programs and publicizing their achievements would be another way to promote the value of journalism in schools.

I want to advocate for the unspoken advisers. Those who struggle to keep their programs alive, the ones who fight to publish three newspapers a year, who literally start from the bottom up each year with their staff.

I want to be the voice for the unspoken needs of all advisers who work multitudes of hours maintaining the stellar journalism programs that continue to shine at state and national programs. The organization needs to continue to find ways to bolster advisers in these programs as well, and not take for granted that they will always be there.

Innovation

Any person can literally publish video, photos or text, regardless of the impact or consequence. The JEA needs to continue to help advisers using cutting-edge methods and technology, to adapt the timeless values of ethical, unbiased and factually based journalism to function in an age of 140 characters or less.

Training advisers in the use of newer technology should continue to be the focus of promoting innovation in journalism classrooms. The JEA itself should evidence through its website and use of social media the best way to adapt news gathering and reporting through new media.

Finding new ways to bring advisers together at national and regional events should be a priority. Participation in virtual meetings using Go to Meeting, Google Hangout or other venues that connect advisers to each other would be a good innovation for the organization.

Community

The greatest strength of the organization are the members, the people who write the emails, post on the Listserv, go to the conventions and meetings, and stay after school until late in the night working with their students. Finding a way to connect these isolated denizens throughout the country not only will strengthen a sense of working together on a common cause, but also help the community of advisers to survive and prosper.

Membership outreach should continue to be a priority. Encouraging current members to personally reach out to the other advisers in their district would be a great first step towards not only building a stronger adviser community, but more membership for the organization.

There must be a way for advisers to not only get together to compete and promote their considerable accomplishments, (which is of course valuable), but also a way to get together to offer support, advice and simply a broad shoulder to lean on. The organization must find new avenues that promote camaraderie.

Excellence

Excellence can be measured in many ways. Recognizing and celebrating excellence in the craft of journalism, as seen in publications and broadcast, is certainly the main function of a national organization of advisers. Competition excellence is by far the most prevalent measure used in professional organizations, and is as it should be.

However, I will encourage the JEA to also to continue to measure and celebrate excellence in journalism programs in other ways as well. The sheer fact that some programs survive needs to be hailed as excellence. Excellence needs to be hailed in programs that have been in place for over a hundred years, advisers who have stayed in the trenches for their whole career, and those advisers who are always in the background. An A is not the only way to acknowledge excellence.

 

Julia Satterthwaite, CJE

Bio

julia-satterthwaite-150x200pxJulia Satterthwaite, CJE, teaches journalism, multimedia design, writing for publications, and literature and writing at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California, where she advises El Estoque and elestoque.org. Prior to this school year, she advised The Talon and rochestertalon.com in Rochester Hills, Michigan, for 11 years, and served as Michigan’s JEA state director for two years. Her students’ publications consistently earn top state and national honors. She was awarded Michigan’s Adviser of the Year in 2014. In Michigan, she spearheaded the development of EdCamps for journalism teachers, a one-day workshop class titled Building Next Year’s Staff and a collaborative JEA Day of Doing project that resulted in a 16-page tabloid magazine with QR codes teasing to online content. In addition, she endured many prior-review battles and worked closely with the incredible student advocates at both the Student Press Law Center and the Scholastic Press Rights Committee. Satterthwaite earned a B.A. in secondary English and journalism education and a M.A. in curriculum and instruction from Michigan State University, where she fell in love with the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. She also fell in love with her husband, Rod, while teaching at MIPA’s summer journalism workshop. Satterthwaite served two years as the MIPA’s first vice president, two years as president and two years as JEA Liaison before she and Rod found their dream jobs in California and moved to Redwood City. She enjoyed attending and presenting at her first JEA Northern California Journalism Day and looks forward to expanding her California network. She loves spending time with her family, reading, singing, being outdoors and traveling. Her love for travel developed when she attended 10th-12th grade at Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan, and her sports teams, choir and family traveled all over Europe and Asia.

Why I want to serve

Attending journalism conventions, workshops and J-Days are the highlights of my year. There’s something really inspiring about seeing the energy of a bunch of journalism kids learning and creating together, as well as getting a chance to hug and chat with some of my favorite people on earth: my adviser tribe. You see, advisers are my people. And the very reason I am where I am today. Cheryl Pell, Betsy Rau and Bobby Hawthorne got me started on the right foot by teaching me a thing or two in college, and then a slew of MIPA and JEA advisers were there for me when I was trying to develop curriculum, improve publication flow, battle prior review, celebrate successes or even just vent about how challenging this job can be. I love advisers so much, I even married one. After doing the job for many years, I started to feel more at ease and like I could finally come up for air. It was then that I decided I wanted to be on the other end of the mentor relationship and help others succeed in this profession by establishing a number of ways for advisers to collaborate. It helps that I’m naturally approachable and welcoming, got a lot of practice with facilitation from serving as English Department teacher leader at my school for many years and am very organized (my closet is organized by color and type). If elected to director of the West, I’d love to continue to develop collaborative opportunities, share resources and be an advocate for journalism advisers in the same way that so many have done for me.

My goals

When we moved from Michigan to California, our 5-year-old son, Micah, switched allegiances in a heartbeat from the Tigers to the Giants, the Lions to the 49ers and the Spartans to the Cardinal (what a ridiculous mascot, by the way). My husband was heartbroken. I thought it was disappointing, as I’ll always root for the Tigers and the Spartans (the jury is still out on the Lions), but it’s not surprising that Micah had a change of heart. He’s only 5, after all. He didn’t have any personal investment in the teams.

It got me thinking about the teams I root for and why. The Tigers. The Spartans. The students and advisers I’ve worked with on team MIPA and team JEA. My allegiance is steeped in years of experience, attendance at events and forming strong relationships with fellow teammates. I’d be honored to be elected as a “captain” for team JEA as West region director. I’d strive to continue the advancement of JEA’s core values of pedagogy, advocacy, innovation, community and excellence.

I hope to continue to develop the Curriculum Initiative and demystify the resources so advisers don’t have to spend much time searching for what they need five minutes before they have to present it. The work that has been put into this initiative has been immense, and it is a great selling point for JEA membership so I’d like to continue to help advisers navigate the resources and advertise them to those who are not yet members. If we have strong teachers, we can build strong programs. Strong programs can save journalism.

As a former frequent flier at the Scholastic Press Rights Committee and Student Press Law Center, I hope to continue to fight for embattled students and advisers who are under threat of prior review or censorship. With the current political climate, the First Amendment has never been more important. We’re tasked with training the next generation of journalists who will have to carry out the work of covering the unpleasant topics that others would prefer to sweep under the rug. Students can’t practice important skills if their content is being stifled. Specifically, I’d like to support these students and advisers by writing letters of support or by being a sounding board.

I’m also fortunate enough to have landed a teaching gig in Cupertino, the home of Apple, where the kids teach me a new tech tool almost daily, from how to code an interactive graphic to the many uses of Knight Lab. It’s invigorating to be a part of a program that’s telling stories in a wide variety of ways. JEA’s Digital Media team is already producing such informative work for those of us who are dabbling in digital, but I hope to contribute some of the stuff I’m learning to a broader audience as well.

In addition to facilitating a sense of community in our classrooms and carrying on all of the weird traditions and inside jokes that journalism kids and advisers find hilarious (Kill the orphans. Marry the widows. We have issues. I’m very font of you. Give ’em Hel-vetica. You’re just my type. Get the name of the dog.), we must establish a community with other advisers. We’re often the only person who does this job at our school, and attending PLC meetings in other content areas can be unhelpful. But the collective knowledge of the JEA membership is beyond measure. I hope to continue to foster a spirit of collaboration and bring new faces and ideas into the fold. When people would come to journalism adviser EdCamps, they often felt unsure if they had anything to contribute, but throughout the course of discussion, everyone brought something valuable and unique to the table. I want everyone to feel like he or she is an important member of team JEA.

Whether it’s through the established curriculum or helping each other more informally on the Listserv, fastidiously supporting First Amendment rights or listening to a student or adviser who just needs to vent, following and sharing about current trends in digital and social media or brainstorming ways to maintain excellent reporting and writing skills, seeking a mentor or getting certified, celebrating successes outlined in state director reports or giving a shout out to an unsung hero, cultivating more diversity or reaching out in unexpected places. We’re all striving for the same thing on team JEA: excellence. I’m no fair-weather fan.

 

Password Reset
Please enter your email address and press [Return] or [Enter]. You will receive a new password via e-mail.

If you don't receive it within a few minutes, please call (785-532-5532) or email us (staff@jea.org), and we'll be happy to assist you.