Region 7, Northeast

Jane Blystone

Jane Blystone has advised student publications for 33 years. She served seven years as Region 7 director for JEA and as the chair of the Student Journalist of the Year Scholarship Committee for five years. She served JEA as local chair for the Philadelphia convention. A member of the JEA Certification Commission and Scholastic Press Rights Commission she works to promote responsible journalism in schools. A past president of PA School Press Association, Blystone serves as vice president of PSPA. She has judged student publications for CSPA, Quill and Scroll, SIPA and various state associations. She has received the JEA Medal of Merit, JEA special recognition yearbook adviser award, and MJE certification, the CSPA Gold Key and the CSPA James Frederick Paschal Award. Blystone earned the NCTE English Leadership Quarterly Best Article of the Year award (2004).

Statement of Goals:
Scholastic journalism is the ultimate 21st Century educational experience for students. It is comprehensive, rigorous and authentic learning that prepares today’s students for leadership roles in media, education and politics as they enter high-pressure careers. As media outlets change the way they deliver information, classroom teachers need to change the way they deliver journalism instruction. JEA helps teachers provide such cutting edge integrated curriculum. With that change, many publications and student journalists have been silenced because they write hard-hitting, responsible stories. Working with the Scholastic Press Rights Commission and the Certification Commission gives me a wider view of the needs of advisers and student journalists. I would like to continue to provide leadership in the Northeast Region 7 to strengthen student publications and inform administrators about the importance of including scholastic journalism programs into their curriculum. Journalism provides opportunities for students to hone 21st century skills such as effective written and oral communication, problem-solving, collaboration, critical thinking, analyzing and assessing information, leadership of peers, and entrepreneurship. As your representative in the Northeast Region, I will support advisers and students in their endeavors to grow great journalists for the 21st Century.