Four advisers and their students have been selected as JEA/NSPA First-time Convention Grant recipients for the Spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in San Francisco, which will take place April 20-22: 

• Benjamin Carlson — Roosevelt Junior High School; Modesto, California
• Andrew Carroll — Elkins (West Virginia) High School
• Megan Kelley — North Platte (Nebraska) High School
• LiAnn Yim — The Nueva School; San Mateo, California.

Recipients represent distinctly different school situations, coming from an independent school, a junior high and two rural high schools in opposite parts of the country.

“A majority of my students live an hour or more away from a major urban area of 50,000 people or more. This has a significant impact on my journey as a journalism educator,” Carroll said. “First, it limits the opportunities for professional development and networking for me and my students. Without significant outside support, we have to figure it out on our own — and that’s what we’ve been doing so far. Second, the geographic isolation means that community journalism is fragile, and I have to work harder to convince students of the value of journalism and that it is a viable career. And that is my ultimate goal — I want to craft a generation of students focused on serving rural communities in West Virginia.” 

Yim has advised at private schools in both Texas and California, but her greatest challenge as a journalism educator has been the same in both places.

“Working with students who come from families with vastly different political beliefs, the same challenge has emerged: How to write and discuss stories concerning issues that have become intensely polarized nationally and even locally in the media,” she said. “Many of these issues are directly related to and impact people of color who often are not represented in our school, much less our newsroom.” 

Yim said she looks forward to the opportunity for her newspaper, yearbook and literary magazine staffers to meet other journalism students who are just as dedicated and committed to their craft as they are, and to learn from and alongside them.

Carlson has similar hopes for his seventh and eighth grade staffers. The 60 students in his program produce a newspaper, yearbook, online news site, radio-TV show and podcasts.

“Having students collaborate outside of their comfort zone with others and helping the students to understand the different cultural needs of their peers is a challenge,” he said. “By taking the students to the conference, I know that it will expand the students’ perspective outside of their current world view and help them to strengthen their leadership skills for the program.”

As part of the planning process, participants are encouraged to make use of a new collection of resources geared toward traveling to the National High School Journalism Convention. Participants also will receive guidance from JEA Vice President Val Kibler, MJE, to help students set goals with measurable outcomes based on their unique circumstances.

Kelley said, “A lot of my students have never been out of our state, let alone to a large city like San Francisco. Not only would this be a huge opportunity for them to view the country beyond the walls of our conservative town and state, it will give them the opportunity to broaden their journalistic skills.”

The First-time Convention Grant provides complimentary registration for advisers and two of their students, a National Student Media Contests entry for each student, adviser participation in JEA’s Outreach Academy and one NSPA publication critique for each school.

Details from past participants are available here.