
By Louisa Avery, MJE, JEA awards chair
Nine individuals who have contributed significantly throughout their scholastic journalism careers have been named Journalism Education Association Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. They will be honored at the Spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Kansas City.
The award recipients are
- William B. Allen, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, Stow, Ohio
- John Bowen, MJE, Stow, Ohio
- Michele Dunaway, MJE, Kirkwood, Missouri
- Mark Goodman, Akron, Ohio
- Marva Hutchinson, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Jeff Kuchno, St. Louis
- Kathy Schrier, MJE, Seattle
- Nancy Smith, MJE, Eureka, Missouri
William B. Allen
William B. Allen advised the newspaper at East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina for decades.
Layna Hong, a former student of Allen’s who now works in public radio, said Allen gave her the first space where her voice, words and work mattered.
“Like all the best educators, Mr. Allen was tough on his students, but always fair,” Hong said. “He exemplified the journalistic values of integrity, commitment and community and expected the same from his students. He meticulously went over each of our stories with his red pen and wasn’t afraid to critique and correct. He treated us like equals and valued our diverse experiences and perspectives.
Hanna Wondmagegn, a former student who now works as a photojournalist and photo editor in New York City, said that she would not be where she is today without Allen.
“I believe that legacy isn’t just the work you create in this world, but the people you inspire to dream along the way. And Mr. Allen has done both,” Wondmagegn said. “The seeds he has planted in all his students over the years has only strengthened the global journalism community. Mr. Allen exemplifies the qualities of a leader and true dedication to the journalism field.”
North Carolina state director Steve Hanf got to know Allen through the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association, which he served through multiple board positions and led workshops every summer.
“I know I speak for countless folks in the state when I sing the praises of Bill Allen,” Hanf said. “He has dedicated his life to impacting the next generation of journalism students and advisers.”
Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE
Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, has spent more than 50 years as a scholastic journalism educator and college professor, director of scholastic journalism organizations and a national leader serving on the board of JEA for many years, including two terms as president and finishing another term for a president who resigned.
“She’s the Godmother of the JEA Listserv and the Tuesday JEA news quiz,” nominator Susan Hathaway Tantillo, MJE, said. “Her non-stop dedication over the years has strengthened every aspect of JEA.”
Linda Puntney, MJE, retired JEA executive director, worked with Bowen through JEA and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
“She is a visionary, but more importantly she is a passionate doer,” Puntney said. “If Candace is involved the job will get done and the work will be exceptional. Without Candace, and the contributions she has made, JEA and scholastic journalism simply would not be the same.”
Bowen created the online master’s program at Kent State University tailored to high school journalism teachers who wanted more knowledge about their chosen or assigned field. Marina Hendricks, CJE, South Dakota state director was the program’s first graduate.
“I am one of countless former students who will say that you never stop being one of Candace’s “kids,” long after you leave her classroom,” Hendricks said. “By text, Zoom, social media post, phone, snail mail or in person, Candace continues to offer us guidance, wit, wisdom, consolation and even reality checks if necessary. She is our champion — and a most deserving recipient of the JEA Lifetime Achievement Award.”
John Bowen, MJE
Despite advising publications and teaching media law and ethics at Kent (Ohio) State University for many years, Bowen is best known for leading the Scholastic Press Rights Committee (formally Commission) from 1979 until 2017.
“His passion and commitment goes well beyond the knowledge-based teaching of the First Amendment specifically and media law in general,” C:JET Editor Bradley Wilson, MJE, said. “He works with teachers and students to apply that knowledge.”
Current Scholastic Press Rights Director Kristin Taylor, MJE, said that Bowen’s impact on scholastic journalism is profound.
“His tireless efforts to support New Voices efforts, contributions to pedagogical strategies and lessons in JEA’s curriculum and on SPRC’s site, commitment to supporting individual advisers in their fights against censorship, and decades of service as both a high school and collegiate educator make him an ideal candidate for JEA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Lori Keekley, MJE, who worked with Bowen on the committee for many years, said Bowen doesn’t need the spotlight; he is fine just plugging away at whatever needs done.
“While SPRC director, he empowered those he worked with while allowing them to question and learn,” Keekley said. “He often asked questions instead of giving answers — and he knew the answers. Other times he would pose a question to the group about a new topic of interest to gauge what we thought about it. This was never a judgment. He wanted to see what we thought. Because of this approach, I’ve learned more about law and ethics from John Bowen than anyone else — and I know I’m not alone.”
Michele Dunaway, MJE
Last June, Michele Dunaway, MJE, retired from Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri, after teaching middle and high school English and journalism since 1994.
“Michele feels strongly about mentoring, coaching, and guiding students and adults involved in scholastic journalism,” nominator Lizabeth A. Walsh, MJE, said. “In her service to the profession, one very specific aspect of her assistance is what she has given to others through her JEA involvement.”
Her contributions to JEA include teaching sessions at national conventions, working on the curriculum committee, writing articles for C:JET, and twice serving on the local committee for the National High School Journalism Convention.
“Although she personally is so involved in many different areas, Michele has never let that get in the way of what is truly important — her students,” Susan Benedict said. “She spends many hours of personal time on work nights and at home critiquing student work. Her expectations are high and her students time and time again meet the bar of expectations set by her and the editors each year. Her students do not settle for mediocre; they want excellence.”
Mitch Eden first met Dunaway 25 years ago at his first yearbook camp, and he describes her as talented, energetic and driven.
“Her love of learning, vision, abundant energy, and superior time management and organization have allowed her to make thoughtful choices and to achieve balance and harmony in her life,” Eden said. “She’s modeled for all her peers that a life outside advising is not only attainable but enjoyable.”
Mark Goodman
Mark Goodman, is an emeritus professor at Kent State University, where he was the first Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism from 2008 to 2021. Prior to joining the Kent State faculty, he was executive director of the Student Press Law Center from 1985 to 2007.
“Mark is passionate about the First Amendment,” Bradley Wilson, MJE, said. “And he’s passionate about making people understand the First Amendment and how chipping away on the freedoms guaranteed in those 45 words can hurt students and their entire community.”
South Dakota State Director Marina Hendricks, CJE, worked with Goodman on the Scholastic Press Rights Committee, Quill and Scroll’s “Principal’s Guide to Scholastic Journalism” project, and the AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Division.
“Along with the countless lessons Mark has taught on student press law, he has provided us with a sterling example of how to handle complex and sometimes contentious topics with grace, humor and well-researched, well-prepared insights.” Hendricks said. “Most of all, he has set the standard we strive to emulate for First Amendment awareness, advocacy and defense.”
Frank LaMonte, senior legal adviser to CNN, and former SPLC executive director said the student press freedom movement is strong and growing now that 17 states have laws protecting the autonomy of student newsrooms, and that there is an annual Student Press Freedom Day calling attention to the need for independent student journalistic voices.
“None of this would exist without the vision, dedication and diligence of Mark Goodman,” LaMonte said. “There is no Student Press Law Center without Mark, who is the living embodiment of advocacy for student and adviser rights.”
Marva Hutchinson
Marva Hutchinson retired in June 2023 with over 30 years of service from Providence Senior High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she advised Roars and Whispers, the award-winning literary-arts magazine. She is a former president of the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association and a former JEA state director. She was also awarded the Gold Key from CSPA and the Kay Phillips Distinguished Service award from NCSMA.
“Marva set high expectations for her students and, no less, herself,” Candace Brandt, CJE, said. “To her students, she gave 100%; the fact that they regularly achieved such high standards and abundant awards is a testament to her skill and work ethic as a journalism educator.”
Former student Abigail Welch said advising literary magazine is different from other forms of journalism because of how personal and emotional the writing and art is to the creator. She has been inspired to teach because of what she learned from Hutchinson.
“She encouraged raw honesty, self-awareness and reflection and curated a classroom environment where we felt safe to explore that,” Welch said. “In doing this, she taught me the value of myself as my own person — what I create but also what I feel, what I do but also my relationships with other people. As I develop my own teaching style, I carry with me that intellectual and emotional balance that I want to offer to my own students. In this way, I hope to carry on my own piece of Ms. H’s legacy beyond the awards collected in her classroom.”
Jeff Kuchno
Jeff Kuchno was a journalism adviser for 25 years in the St. Louis area advising yearbook, newspaper and broadcast.
Nominator Dan Mueller, CJE, was Kuchno’s student and now works for Herff Jones. He said Mueller transformed his life.
“He put an unbelievable amount of trust in me and let me learn how to become a true servant leader,” Mueller said. “He taught me just about everything there was to know about journalism and persistently pushed our local Herff Jones representative to give me a part time job while I attended college. The next 20 years would become history as I have served over 100 St. Louis-area schools as their yearbook representative — a position I would not have been successful in without his education and guidance.”
JEA National Student Media Contests office manager Priscilla Frost has worked with Kuchno for 25 years, since her very first day of teaching.
“What he taught me as a young teacher, from day one, is that excellence is achievable,” Frost said. “He modeled selflessness to the profession, a love for scholastic journalism and an innovative mindset.”
Carrie Rapp, CJE, worked alongside Kuchno when he took on the maternity leave for her colleague during his first year of retirement. The following year, he served as Rapp’s maternity leave, and he will soon take on another maternity leave job for a third journalism teacher.
“It is a true tribute to his commitment that Jeff has not yet had a year classroom-free even in his third year of retirement,” Rapp said.
Kathy Schrier, MJE
Kathy Schrier, MJE, is the executive director of the Washington Journalism Education Association.
“It is not an understatement to say that WJEA would struggle to exist if Kathy wasn’t the executive director,” nominator Sandra Coyer, MJE, said. “She was also a pivotal force during our quest to pass New Voices legislation in Washington.”
Vincent DeMiero, CJE, describes Schrier as “the absolute heart and soul of our state’s association.”
“Kathy officially retired a long time ago from teaching and advising in the Seattle School District, but both in her role as executive director and as a volunteer substitute teacher- adviser, she has resurrected, sustained, improved and even helped create journalism programs throughout the Puget Sound region as well as across the state of Washington,” DeMiero said. “Retired? Well, officially yes, but there is nobody I know who cares more for the profession of journalism education or the educators who serve our state so well. Trust me, she’s still going strong.”
As chair of Washington’s Journalist of the Year committee, Annie Green, MJE, said she looks forward to the day each spring when the winner is announced because of Schrier’s often buys flowers and always makes a big deal of the winner.
“Kathy always goes the extra mile to make people feel appreciated and taken care of,” Green said. “Please consider Kathy Shrier for the Lifetime Achievement Award as she has dedicated her life in her first career as a journalism adviser and her second taking care of all of the rest of her fellow advisers.”
Nancy Smith, MJE
Nancy Smith, MJE, has been a journalism adviser for over 30 years and currently advises the entire journalism program at Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Missouri. She has served as the National Student Media Contests chair for many years.
Priscilla Frost has worked closely with Smith for many years organizing the National Student Media Contests.
“Nancy loves serving the organization that has supported her and her students for 30-plus years,” Frost said. “She is selfless in her giving of time, expertise and support to the organization and is essential to the success of the National Student Media Contests.”
Emily Jorgensen is another adviser in the same district, and she said Smith had an idea to collaborate on a journalism speaker series during the 2020 lockdown.
“Many of the speakers were Nancy’s former students and I saw firsthand the impact she had on their lives,” Jorgensen said. “They are now using the skills Nancy taught them in their careers as digital media editors, video journalists, graphics reporters, art directors and print reporters.”
Current Lafayette Legend Editor-in-chief Morgan Mae Stoermer said Smith has formed a lasting impression on her and her peers.
“I believe that her engagement and impact should be honored, and I am grateful to support her, as I know that she values her time spent at Lafayette and in all the high school journalism community, locally and nationally,” Stoermer said. “Mrs. Smith does not create greatness, but rather finds it within her students and nurtures it as it grows.”