Rising Star trophies are given to advisers who are in their first five years of advising a media program and have shown great dedication to scholastic journalism and have had success advising at least one media program. JEA members are encouraged to nominate deserving individuals.
Entry Criteria
Nominations may come from scholastic press associations, yearbook companies, fellow teachers, students and/or parents. The nomination should include an updated resume of the nominee, sample pages (PDFs) from print publications (limited to five spreads/pages) and/or links to school news sites and/or broadcast program video/audio, to show the quality of the media the teacher advises. The nominator should also include a letter explaining how the nominee shows promise as an up-and-coming adviser. The nominator may also include no more than three additional letters of recommendation from others who support the nomination. The nominee also must provide answers to questions that provide insight into their program and perspectives surrounding scholastic journalism.
The nominee should meet the following criteria:
- Have one to five years’ journalism teaching and/or advising experience. (May be entering the sixth year.)
- Demonstrate a commitment to journalism education.
Foster an awareness of the rights and responsibilities granted by the First Amendment. - Seek additional professional development opportunities to improve skills as a journalism adviser and teacher.
- Encourage student editors to attend workshops, conferences and conventions.
- Show commitment to continually improve the medium or media advised.
- Empower student editors to make all editorial decisions in a responsible way without content being subject to prior review.
- The Rising Star is voted on by the full Awards Committee with each member considering all entries and voting for no more than 50% plus one of the candidates. Those with remaining eligibility may resubmit in following years.
Award Recognition
This is a juried award. Entries are evaluated by a national panel of journalism educators consisting of the JEA Awards Committee. JEA will present each winner with a trophy at the Fall JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention. Several awards may be presented each year.