by Tom Eveslage, MJE

After leafing through the latest issue of C:JET, in its 47th year of publication, I decided to share a brief retrospective from the afterlife of a JEA member. I’ll explain.

In 1967, during my second year as a high school teacher and journalism adviser in Minnesota, I knew I’d need some help. I was 23 years old, and though I’d edited my college newspaper, there was a lot I didn’t know about teaching journalism or advising a high school newspaper. But I knew I liked doing both, and wanted to learn more.

Tom Eveslage, MJE

I’d joined JEA as a new teacher, and liked what it offered, so when JEA announced it was accepting lifetime memberships for the first time, I thought it might pay for me. My annual teaching salary in that suburban St. Paul school was about $5,500 that year, so paying $200 for a lifetime membership deserved some thought. But an annual JEA membership then was $20, so I decided that if I spent at least 10 years with high school journalism, it would be worth it.

So I became the proud owner of JEA’s first lifetime membership card. I’ve never regretted my decision. I knew I’d benefit—and did—from JEA’s teaching tools and professional guidance. I had already seen the value of teachers helping teachers.

My first year of high school teaching, a college prof of mine told me about the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund and its summer program for advisers. I applied and was accepted. That summer at the University of Minnesota I learned more about journalism and met marvelous teachers from across the country. Soon after, I took editors to Chicago for my first national convention. Then came my first “publication”—an article in Quill & Scroll about how a policy statement helps a newspaper staff make editorial decisions.

And during the career that unfolded, I remained loyal to JEA, wanting to give (and take) all that I could. So many helped me. Thanks to Linda Puntney, I worked on the commission that established JEA’s certification program, as well as the Press Rights Commission with John and Candace Bowen, and JEA President Dorothy McPhillips’ two year study of scholastic journalism.

I retired in 2013, but have never stopped learning from JEA’s pool of dedicated teachers.

Journalism, teaching and advising have changed during the past four decades, but one thing has not. Journalism teachers and advisers still need comrades in the trenches, educators who understand, value and are willing to share strategies for success and satisfaction.

I was lucky. JEA entered my life at just the right time, soon after I embraced teaching and knew I wanted to work with journalism students. Thanks to JEA, I found many others who shared this interest and dedication.

When I received JEA’s lifetime membership card in 1967, it was meant to last me through my career. So the card (and label on C:JET then) said my membership would be for 40 years, expiring (presumably after I would) in 2007. Discovering that year that I was still alive and active in scholastic journalism, JEA “renewed” my lifetime membership. Safely. It now extends to August 2075, shortly before my 133rd birthday.

[As an aside, a lifetime JEA membership is an even better deal today. My membership of $200 was 3.63% of my 1967 annual salary. Using today’s comparable second-year teaching salary of about $40,000 a lifetime membership at 3.63% would be $1,455. But JEA is still using the same cost ratio for annual and life memberships today—just $60 for an annual membership and $600 for lifetime.]