A new board of directors begins its three-year term today serving the Journalism Education Association. President Sarah Nichols, MJE, appointed one new and five returning committee chairs to lead and serve the organization’s standing committees beginning May 1 as outlined in the organization’s bylaws (Article VII).

Awards: Karen Slusher, CJE

Slusher advises student media at Eaglecrest High School in Centennial, Colorado, and has been an Awards Committee member since 2011. She has been recognized as a JEA Rising Star and previously served as CHSPA (now CSMA) president in Colorado. She earned a master’s degree in journalism education from the University of Missouri.

Certification: Kim Green, MJE (Ball State University Department of Journalism; Muncie, Indiana)

Contests: Nancy Y. Smith, MJE (Lafayette High School; Wildwood, Missouri)

Digital Media: Aaron Manfull, MJE (Francis Howell North High School; Saint Charles, Missouri)

Professional Outreach: Jonathan Rogers, MJE (Iowa City High School; Iowa City, Iowa)

Publications and Public Relations: Evelyn Lauer, MJE (Niles West High School; Skokie, Illinois)

In addition, Bradley Wilson, MJE, (Midwestern State University; Wichita Falls, Texas) will continue to serve as editor to Communication: Journalism Education Today, JEA’s quarterly magazine.

“This group represents the best of the best. I am humbled by their dedication to the organization and willingness to serve our members. What each of these leaders has given to JEA already is commendable, but their ideas and plans moving forward will without a doubt make our programs and initiatives stronger and even more valuable to teachers and their students — as well as more visible within education and media conversations at the national level,” Nichols said.

Kate Klonowski, MJE, has been appointed to a new position as Higher Education Liaison. In this role, she will work with higher education organizations such as AEJMC to share quality, pedagogy-oriented research with our members and continue to further JEA’s vision for more scholastic journalism research as well as help to implement the JEA/NSPA shared research grant developed last year.

Klonowski is a Ph.D. candidate in Cultural Foundations at Kent State University. She has been a student media adviser at several schools over the past 20 years and specializes in founding and rebooting student news outlets — most notably a collaborative project involving diverse high school journalism programs.

“Kate has a long, impressive background in higher education and a passion for supporting scholastic journalism,” said Educational Initiatives Director Megan Fromm, MJE. “We need to keep building bridges with our colleagues in colleges and universities, and Kate is just the right person to help us do that.”

Erin Coggins, MJE, will serve JEA in a new position as Social Media Editor.

Coggins teaches journalism and advises publications at Sparkman High School in Harvest, Alabama. She worked in public relations for five years before entering the education field. Her experience includes working for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, a PR firm and an art museum, and she currently conducts PR duties for her school. Coggins earned a B.A. in Public Relations from The University of Alabama.

“Erin’s vast experience in professional communications and public relations will be a huge asset to the organization as she works with the board and headquarters staff to coordinate our social media presence. Since becoming a JEA member 15 years ago, she has expressed a genuine desire to engage with members. Her Ed.S. in curriculum and work at the state level on educational issues make Erin a great addition to the team,” Nichols said.

Complete contact information for the newly appointed leaders will be available on the JEA website within the next few days.

The elected board members will meet May 19-21 at JEA Headquarters at Kansas State University for a retreat and strategic planning session.