2018 Fall Semiannual Report

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Executive Director – Kelly Glasscock, CJE

Journalism Education Association
105 Kedzie Hall
828 Mid-Campus Dr. S.
Manhattan, KS 66506-1500
Contact

Membership: I’m thrilled to report increased membership numbers. JEA now boasts 3040 total members. That is the largest number of members in JEA’s history. It has been a goal of the association to breach the 3,000 mark for many years, and you have helped reach that lofty objective. The increase was almost entirely from voting memberships with an 11 percent overall increase from the same time last fall.

Happenings:

May 9-12:  Business Professionals of America National Leadership Conference, Dallas, Texas

June 4-6: Strategic Council meeting for Partnership for 21st Century Learning, Washington D.C.

July 10-12: JEA Advisers Institute, Las Vegas

July 29-31: Site visit for potential future convention, Portland.

August 8-10: Site visit for potential future convention, Philadelphia.

August 11: Planning meeting for 2019 Fall National JEA/NSPA Convention, Washington D.C.

August 24-25: Planning meeting for 2018 Fall National JEA/NSPA Convention, Chicago

September 18: Kansas Scholastic Press Association Fall Conference, Manhattan, Kansas

For the board: The summer and fall have been productive as headquarters continues to develop a new Write-off system and polish the updated JEA.org website. Several new convention initiatives have been planned and implemented in Chicago. JEA will offer on-site certification testing in a new computer lab. The lab will also provide an opportunity for students to experience hands-on session programing at the convention. There is a new student pizza party as well as a new grant opportunity for first-time attendees.

As of Sept. 26 — about a quarter of the way through the fiscal year — JEA has a net operating loss of $75,263.75. That loss is worse when factoring in our investments, which have lost $9,731.78 so far this fiscal year, giving the organization a total net loss of $84,995.53. However, none of these figures factor in any revenue from the Chicago convention. JEA’s net assets still remain strong at $1,608,886.24.

President – Sarah Nichols, MJE

Whitney High School
701 Wildcat Blvd.
Rocklin, CA 95765
Contact

Preparing the fall report is a welcome opportunity to pause and reflect. With so many cool things in motion, our team hasn’t slowed down. I’m grateful for their efforts and for the many roles our leaders juggle as teachers and advisers in addition to their targeted approach to board goals and initiatives. It continues to be an honor to serve this organization. We can agree that our work matters more than ever as journalism educators.

A particularly bright spot you’ll likely hear more than once in this report cycle is the milestone that JEA membership hit 3,000 for the first time in years. I have no doubt that increase is the combination of outreach efforts and member benefits. Our state directors in particular do a fantastic job connecting teachers with the many services and programs JEA provides. If you had a personal conversation with even one prospective member, you helped strengthen our community — thank you!

Over the past six months, some of my efforts have included:

• Working with Executive Director Kelly Glasscock, CJE, and Vice President Val Kibler, MJE, during a strategic planning session June 1 at K-State
• Appointing Kelly Furnas, MJE, to serve as global engagement director
• Conducting a search to fill a vacancy on the board of directors and appointing Laura Negri, CJE, to the director-at-large position
• Coordinating the Team Storytelling workshop and presenting sessions at JEA Advisers Institute in Las Vegas July 9-12
• Coordinating the development of training videos and materials for publications judges and student media evaluators
• Coordinating free NYT subscriptions for up to 1,500 teacher/adviser members
• Developing partnerships with Quill & Scroll, such as free Q&S membership to student Journalist of the Year state winners who enter the national competition, co-sponsorship of the Student Journalist Impact Award and plans to collaborate on an update to the Principal’s Guide to Scholastic Journalism
• Serving on the Society of Professional Journalists Journalism Ed Committee and working on its #Press4Education initiative
• Attending Excellence in Journalism Sept. 27-28 in Baltimore and serving on a panel about the needs of scholastic journalism educators and their students

I also have been able to help in some ways near and dear to my heart, such as proctoring certification exams to JEANC members in Northern California, posting on the digital media site and contributing to the SPRC blog. One of the day-to-day highlights is working to empower all of our appointed leaders. They do incredible work for our members, and I am continually impressed by their efforts.

Equally impressive is the work by our headquarters staff. Kelly continues to juggle a million responsibilities with patience and grace while moving us forward. I am grateful to Connie, Pam, Lisa and Kate for the ways they support our members and our team. We have so much more we want and need to do to further JEA’s mission — and together we will!

Vice President – Valerie Kibler, MJE

Harrisonburg High School
1001 Garbers Church Rd.
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Contact

Halfway through my term on the board, I still continue to be overwhelmed by the number of volunteers who give so freely of their time, energy and talents to further JEA’s mission.

In the time since last spring’s semiannual report, I’ve been involved in a variety of ways, which include:

• Working with Executive Director Kelly Glasscock, CJE, and President Sarah Nichols, MJE, during a strategic planning session June 1 at K-State
• Helping as a leader for the Team Storytelling workshop and presenting sessions at JEA Advisers Institute in Las Vegas July 9-12.
• Participating in monthly Google Hangouts with the board to communicate progress on reaching our goals.
• Appointing new state directors in Alaska, Pennsylvania, Washington, Arkansas, Oregon, South Dakota, Wisconsin and New York. We are lucky to have Chad Eichenlaub, Beth Ann Brown, CJE, Anne Hastings, Justin Turner, Brian Eriksen, CJE, Marina Hendricks, CJE, Katina Paron, MJE, and Matthew Smith, CJE on our team. We now have active state directors in every state.
• Selecting participants for this year’s JEA/NSPA Partner Project with Michelle Balmeo, MJE, and leading the on-site visit and Saturday workshop in St. Cloud, Florida Sept. 5-9.
• Organizing six virtual workshops to be held in the next few months.
• Participating in a virtual workshop with Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kentucky.
• Participating in a virtual workshop with Souhegan High School in New Hampshire.

Scholastic Press Rights Director – Lori Keekley, MJE

St. Louis Park High School
6425 W 33rd St.
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
Cell Phone: 612-636-3103
Work Phone: 952-928-6251

Since the last report, I have worked on several items for the Scholastic Press Rights Committee. It truly is an honor to serve this group and organization. I’m humbled by the great work done by people working on SPRC.

SPRC functions by teams with multiple people helping in a variety of areas. Members are Jane Blystone, MJE, Candace Bowen, MJE, John Bowen, MJE, Lindsay Coppens, Vince DeMiero, Hilary Devoss, Chris Evans, Janet Ewell, MJE, Megan Fromm, MJE, Tom Gayda, MJE, Mark Goodman, Marina Hendricks, CJE, Emilee Hussack, Cyndi Hyatt, CJE, Val Kibler, MJE, Jeff Kocur, CJE. Michael Malcom-Bjorklund, CJE, Jackie Mink, Glenn Morehouse Olson, CJE, Tripp Robbins, CJE, Kathy Schrier, MJE, Amy Sorrel, CJE, Mike Simons, MJE, Matt Smith, CJE, Kristin Taylor, CJE, John Tagliareni, Sarah Nichols, MJE, Audrey Wagstaff, MJE, Stan Zoller, MJE.

In addition to the specific items listed below, all SPRC members work with students and advisers who contact us with questions concerning press law and ethics.

Blogs: The blog team posts content weekly 11 months of the year. (We take mid June to mid July off.) Contributors are John Bowen (4 blogs since last report), Candace Perkins Bowen (3), Lindsay Coppens (1), Cyndi Hyatt (1), Lori Keekley (2), Sarah Nichols (2) and Stan Zoller (3).

Constitution Day (led by Jeff Kocur and Matt Smith) contributors include John Bowen, Lori Keekley, Susan McNulty: Jeff Kocur and Matt Smith oversaw these plans and resources including seven new lessons and activities — and links to still relevant past topics.

Write-offs: Michael Malcolm Bjorkland and Jeff Kocur wrote the spring and fall tests (respectively) and judges include Candace Bowen, John Bowen, Vince DeMiero, Megan Fromm, Marina Hendricks, Lori Keekley and Kathy Schrier.

Podcasts (led by Mike Simons): The first installment of a series of podcasts titled “Conversations at the schoolhouse gate: The New Voices podcast” was just released in late September. These podcasts will center on issues of importance to the First Amendment and the New Voices movement. We will continue to work on and produce these.

Social media (John Bowen, Vince DeMiero, Marina Hendricks, Jane Blystone, Glenn Morehouse Olson): This group posts to social media daily promoting information and SPRC offerings. If you don’t already, follow us @jeapressrights and like us on Facebook.

Website transition (John Bowen, Marina Hendricks, Lori Keekley): If you’ve visited jeasprc.org during the past month, you probably noticed a change. We switched the look and some of the organization of the site. Most of this work was done during a retreat (John Bowen, Marina Hendricks, Lori Keekley) this summer in Minneapolis. Please know this is a work in progress. We are still working to create easy ways to find the wealth of information on the site.

Panic Button responders (Vince DeMiero, John Bowen, Lori Keekley, Mark Goodman, Jane Blystone, Matt Smith, Val Kibler): We developed a protocol for handling SPRC Panic Buttons which outlines the steps to take after someone requests help. Also, those working on the buttons are no longer separated based on type of student media. Additionally, I reach out to those (individually) on the listserv when they post about censorship or prior review issues. We have worked with three schools so far this year on Panic Buttons.

FAPFA Award: I worked with NSPA and Quill & Scroll on the questions for this award. Together we decided to change some portions and include a separate administrator application for round two, which should help streamline the application. First round applications are due by Dec. 15. Applications can be found either on the JEA page or here.

New Voices (Mark Goodman, John Bowen, Hilary Devoss, Chris Evans, Lori Keekley, Val Kibler, Kathy Schrier, Mike Simons, Sarah Nichols, John Tagliareni, Stan Zoller): I worked to find the state leaders for those working on legislation. The SPRC New Voices team contacted those working on legislation in states. We are working to be a resource for those working on legislation — especially in helping coordinate the grassroots efforts. Group members have signed up for states, reached out and notified the contacts of the upcoming JEA New Voices Summit at the Chicago convention.

• Las Vegas: I taught a four-hour workshop with two goals. The first goal was to educate participants whose states had already passed student free expression legislation.  The second goal was to help those working on legislation in whatever stage they were.
• Chicago: The purpose is for state organizers and activists to share strategies, plan for the 2018-19 legislative sessions and generate creative ideas to build national momentum. We have three main components: if needed a small educational piece on New Voices, a panel (New Voices team and Hadar Harris from SPLC), and some time to talk and brainstorm about problems and issues people have in small groups. The hope is for all of us to learn from each other collaboratively. I sent out a reminder email to those who have been identified as leaders of the New Voices movement by JEA state directors.

Website: John Bowen, Marina Hendricks and I met to update and reorganize jeasprc.org. The site went through several conceptual iterations. We will continue to progress through work on the site.

As always, please let me know if you have any suggestions or questions. I’m always happy to help.

Director, Educational Initiatives – Megan Fromm, MJE

Grand Junction High School
1400 N. 5th St.
Grand Junction, CO 81501
Contact

This fall, I transitioned back into the high school journalism classroom after teaching at the university level for the last 10 years. I’m thrilled to be back with young student journalists and advising a student newspaper. I’m happy to report that the learning curve is both exciting and humbling! Since my last report, my work has been entirely focused on the curriculum as I switch gears professionally. This work includes:

• Working with curriculum coordinators Shari Adwers, MJE, and Abri Nelson, CJE, as we have moved into the phase of implementing the revisions and corrections our leaders are working on. This means fixing broken links, gradually rearranging lessons into meaningful units, and implementing our goals for increased usability and differentiation by identifying and tagging lessons appropriate for all levels. By the time this goes to print, our first official round of those curriculum updates should be well underway.
• On the back end of the site, we are continuing to seek ways to make the curriculum more user-friendly and engaging for our members.
• Responding to member requests or questions about the curriculum on social media and via email, including navigating lessons and putting resources to use.
• Checking in with our grantees for the the JEA/NSPA research grant.
• Aiding in revising the Write-off text for law and ethics.

Director-at-large – Laura Negri, CJE

Alief Kerr High School
8150 Howell Sugar Land Rd.
Houston, TX 77083
Work Phone: 281-983-8484 x 27818
Cell Phone: 832-465-9150

Since August I have:

• Emailed 154 new members with 83 percent click rate.
• Exchanged follow-up emails with 16 and had phone calls with three, primarily answering questions about curriculum and resources.
• Contacted Nina Quintana to assist with the CTE certification project. We decided working with the website should be top priority right now.
• Completed CTE/ELA Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills comparison for journalism courses.
• Conducted a regional workshop in Houston and distributed information about JEA.
• Sent out messages on JEA Remind for the opening of convention registration and scheduled others for upcoming deadlines.

Director-at-large – Michael Malcom-Bjorklund, CJE

Columbia High School
469 SW Fighting Tiger Dr.
Lake City, FL 32025
Cell Phone: 904-382-3876
Contact

Since the last report, I have initiated, launched, and maintained JEA’s latest initiative Link.

Link statistics: There are currently 53 veteran JEA volunteers and 21 new members who have registered to receive a Link.

Some of my other efforts since my last report have included:

• Contacting and welcoming 67 new JEA members by phone and email since April.
• Attending the JEA board meeting at the San Francisco convention in April.
• Attending monthly Google Hangout meetings with JEA Board of Directors.

Director-at-large – Julia Satterthwaite, CJE

Monta Vista High School
21840 McClellan Road
Cupertino, CA 95014
Contact

With each passing JEA Board in-person meeting and monthly Google Hangout, I come away humbled to work alongside some of the most dedicated folks in the country. You all make me want to be better. Thank you.  

In the time since the last report, I’ve been involved in a variety of ways, which include:

• Reaching out to new members and helping them get connected with the resources they need. Our new member contact log is nearing 400 since we created the form in the spring.
• Participating in monthly Google Hangouts with the board to communicate progress on reaching our goals.
• Taking the MJE Certification test and working on a project to contribute to digital media resources for advisers and their students.
• Attending the mentor training at Advisers Institute in Las Vegas and thinking about ways to build the curriculum into digital modules in Participate to expand the program’s reach.
• Facilitating a team storytelling experience about Container Park at Advisers Institute.
• Sharing a TED-Talk style spiel at the closing of Advisers Institute.
• Writing about JEA’s One Book, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas.
• Formally mentoring two local California advisers this school year.
• Serving as a Link to a JEA member to help them navigate the resources available.
• Sharing about the benefits of JEA at summer workshops and at local journalism events.

Awards Committee – Karen Slusher

Eaglecrest High School
5100 S Picadilly St.
Centennial, CO 80015
Work Phone: 720-886-1149
Home Phone:303-817-9221

Now that we have had four years following a shift in awards to digital submission, we are able to begin looking at more information from those who are submitting nominations and applications. With the changes to the JEA website, the committee is again looking at potential language issues that might pose problems/confusion when we meet here in Chicago on Saturday. Connie and Kate have been very good about communication regarding the awards section of the website. Per usual, the awards committee is great about having a lens on things we need to revisit, and there will be several of those conversations this fall.

Since the last report, the following has taken place:

• Jeff Browne of Quill and Scroll has signed on to partner with JEA for the Student Journalism Impact Award. Jeff is eager to have his organization on board, and will begin advertising the award this fall. The committee will be working to ensure there is recognition for the team that had been organizing and selecting this award under the direction of Ken Siver.
• This summer, Adam Dawkins, CJE, Michelle Coro,CJE, former Broadcast Adviser of the Year Alyssa Boehringer, CJE, Robby Gabrielli (a professional in the broadcast world), and Karen Slusher were the judges for the Broadcast Adviser of the year.
• We saw a surge of applications from several new people for BAOY, but it is clear this award still needs to grow more within our organization.
• We again announced the fall awards in a timed series (10 a.m. Central) at the end of August, but we postponed the announcement of BAOY because of complications with judges initially and then the school’s request for a date in early October. BAOY was announced on Oct. 2 in the afternoon during a full faculty meeting. Again the chair called all recipients a day ahead of the formal announcement of awards. Kelly Glasscock has helped step in to coordinate luncheon attendance and Evelyn Lauer coordinated the release of winners on social media.
• The committee has also been faced with several recent questions regarding the requirement for membership when it comes to the awards. This conversation has been taking place online among the committee members but will continue this Saturday. This conversation mostly impacts the Rising Star award. We will present finalized language to JEA in order for the website to be updated in time for the 2019 fall awards nominations.
• This will be the third year of the Future Administrator Scholarship. We saw an increase in applications last year, but we would like to see more people with an advising background see this as a possible option. Again, as part of this award, a $5,000 award will be shared among recipients or awarded in full to one recipient. The deadline for this award application is Dec. 15.

Awards Committee members: Martha Akers, Sara-Beth Badalamente, CJE, Brian Baron, MJE, Leslie Dennis, Linda Drake, MJE, Charla Harris, CJE, Thomas Kaup, MJE, Leslie Thompson, CJE, Cindy Todd, Ann Visser, MJE, Carmen Wendt, MJE, Andrew Young, Mitch Ziegler, CJE.

Career and Technical Education Committee – Nina Quintana, CJE

Bernalillo High School
148 Spartan Aly
Bernalillo, NM 87004
Contact

It is truly an exciting time for the CTE committee as we begin preparations for the Chicago conference to launch the opportunity for students and teacher’s additional options to receive certifications through Precision and Certiport exam platforms. JEA will offer testing times on Saturday morning. Options provided by both exam companies have been narrowed down to digital photography and broadcast certifications through Precision exams and Adobe Photoshop or InDesign through Certiport. The option to sign up for the exams is listed when an adviser registers students for the convention.

If a communications program is recognized under the CTE umbrella, participating in certification opportunities will assist in demonstrating that the program is highly qualified in the pathway of study. Remember, having opportunities for students to receive industry certification is an important component for CTE recognition. It is important to remember that if programs are currently classified as a CTE program or are trying to work into this pathway of study under the CTE umbrella, certifications for both the adviser and students add to meeting full compliance for the program receiving funds under the Carl D. Perkins grant.

My main goal is to continue to move the needle forward for journalism programs to be viewed as CTE pathways of study to assist with funding issues and additional resources for the classroom.  

Next steps include working on a CTE tab for the JEA website. I have reached out to the CCRB in New Mexico to assist me in building the opening copy to discuss why journalism educators should consider building CTE programs. They have also pulled together additional resources for research consideration for instructors who are trying to pull together a pathway of study. The challenge that I am running into is figuring out a logical order to move through information and resources. Additional challenges include gathering information by state as CTE programs are not consistent in states, but rather programs vary from school district to school district and sometimes will vary in schools within the same school districts.

Certification Committee – Kim Green, MJE

Ball State University
Department of Journalism
AJ 300 Muncie, IN 47306
Work Phone: 765-285-8900
Cell Phone: 812-525-8502

This biannual report starts with a salute to outgoing Certification Committee member Liz Walsh, MJE, who resigned her position over the summer. For over a decade, Liz’s impact on JEA Certification has been wide-ranging and critical to our mission. From updating the CJE exam to encouraging CJEs to continue to grow and to contribute their expertise, Liz has advanced Certification through her extensive knowledge, creativity and excellence-centered focus. A true educator, Liz will continue to teach and encourage advisers for the benefit of their students in her new role with Jostens Yearbooks. On behalf of the Certification Committee, I thank her for her exceptional service and wish her well in her new career!

We have opened the application process to replace Liz through a Listserv post. The deadline to complete the application is Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. EDT. We hope to have a new member named prior to the convention in Chicago.

Here is what we’ve done since the last report:

• Spring and summer were busy test times! In April and May, we tested 15 CJE candidates and 4 MJE candidates at three sites in the spring — San Francisco, Florida Scholastic Press Association’s spring conference in Orlando, and Palo Alto High School. This summer, we tested 28 CJEs and 3 MJEs at five sites – Ball State University, Walsworth Camp Orlando, Josten’s Adviser University, JEA Advisers Institute, and Walsworth Adviser Academy in Kansas City.
• We will be testing 30 CJE candidates and six MJE candidates in Virginia in October and Chicago in November.
• We will recognize 46 new CJEs, 24 CJE renewals, five new MJEs and five MJE renewals in Chicago at Saturday’s luncheon.
• As I mentioned in my spring biannual report, our Certification Committee retreat in Indianapolis in May 2019 is a go. During this long weekend, we will analyze data from both versions of the CJE exam and look at areas for improvement, update our “Get Certified!” PowerPoints to align with the JEA Curriculum and examine MJE exam updates.
• Once again, I want to publicly thank Pam Boller, our JEA Headquarters Certification partner who supports us, our CJEs and MJEs and our candidates. I could not do this without her!

Contest Committee – Nancy Smith

Lafayette High School
17050 Clayton Road
Wildwood, MO 63011
Contact

Membership:

Nancy Y. Smith, MJE, nysmithjea@gmail.com – National Contest Chair

Priscilla Frost  pfrost@lindberghschools.ws – Asst. Chair

April van Buren, CJE, msryanpchs@yahoo.com – Broadcast Contest Coordinator

Joel Garver, CJE,  joelmgarver@gmail.com – Broadcast Contest Coordinator

Bradley Wilson, MJE,  bradleywilson08@gmail.com – Photo Contest Coordinator

Allie Staub, CJE, stauba@wws.k12.in.us  – Nat’l Quiz Bowl Coordinator and Jr. High/Middle School National Media Contest Coordinator

Mark Murray, mmurray@atpi.org – Technology

Events:

1) National Journalism Quiz Bowl We had 31 teams compete in Dallas in the Fall 2017 and had 24 teams in San Francisco last spring. Allie is looking for ways to increase numbers and has created flyers for each convention.

2) Jr. High/Middle School Contest There were 394 entries in the Spring 2018 contest, up from 330 entries in Spring 2017.  This contest continues to grow each spring as word gets out to our jr. high and middle school members. Upcoming contest dates are as follows:

Registration opens April 1

Materials due April 17 @ 7 p.m. ET

Judging finished and winners announced early May

3) Upcoming Deadlines–Spring 2019 Anaheim (April 25-28)

Write-off registration opens / prompts available: Tuesday, Feb. 19

Write-off registration closes/online submissions due: March 27

Critiques due from judges: April 17

4) Contest Numbers We had 1,581 contestants for the Dallas Fall 2017 (32 percent of convention attendance) and for San Francisco we had 1,568 contestents (35 percent of convention attendance) which was a big jump for a spring convention. Perhaps having the awards on Saturday will help to increase numbers in the spring. We will look at contest numbers this summer and determine if we need to eliminate/replace any individual contests due to consistently low entry numbers. Our participation is steady, averaging 34 percent each convention, but we have set a goal to increase that number as we do have many contests that do not max out each time.

5) Partnering with SJW The Graphic Design Logo and Advertising contests are now partnering with the Scholastic Journalism Week team and incorporating their SJW logo/ad contest with those Write-offs in the fall. Their contest will still run independently and other students who are not at the convention could still enter, but this will give that team many more entries to select from each year.

Digital Media Committee – Aaron Manfull, MJE

2549 Hackman Rd.
Saint Charles, MO 63303
Contact

JEA Digital Media Committee Report – Fall 2018

Membership: Aaron Manfull, MJE,(chair), Travis Armknecht, CJE, Michelle Balmeo, MJE, Travis Bodell, Amanda Bright, Christina Geabhart, MJE, Don Goble, Michelle Harmon, MJE, Kathryn Campbell, CJE, Matthew LaPorte, CJE, Sarah Nichols, MJE, Kyle Phillips, CJE, Carrie Rapp, CJE, Tripp Robbins, Jonathan Rogers, MJE, Kristy Roschke, MJE, Matthew Schott, CJE, Michael Simons, MJE, Jim Streisel, MJE, Chris Slaton, Michelle Turner, Jack Weaver, Jerred Zegelis.

For the board: JEADigitalMedia.org has continued to grow our content and we have continually worked to reassess the most pressing needs of students and advisers. We have been tracking data so we can get a gauge of how we are doing with this. I will only touch on part of it here, please let me know if you’d like to have any other data and I will make sure to get it to you.

I have decided to compare six-month periods of the site (from March 13-Sept. 13 and Sept. 14-March 12) each year that I do this. They are even six-month periods and will allow us to get an annual report together in time for each convention.

In our nine years of existence, we had more than 1,167 posts published (roughly 3 per week), 676,827 visits, and 1,195,371 page views. Thirteen different people contributed posts to the site during the past six months. Members were notified in the fall of 2016 to remain on the committee, they would need to contribute at least one thing to the site during the 12-month period ending Sept. 13. Five committee members are considered contributors for posting at least three times over the past 6 months or because they work with other parts of the site. They are:

Contributors:

• Aaron Manfull – 36
• Michelle Turner – 3
• Sarah Nichols – 3
• Michelle Harmon – 3
• Kyle Phillips – Maintaining maps

Also contributing to the site during the time period was Matthew Schott, Jim Streisel, Michael Simons, Amanda Bright, Matthew LaPorte, Jonathan Rogers, Kathryn Campbell, Don Goble and Tripp Robbins.  

While some of the wording is cut off on the following charts, the graphs move from the least recent 6-month period on top to the most recent 6-month period, on the bottom.

Below are the most clicked posts/pages from the last 6 months:

We also have a presence on Twitter and Facebook (links below). With the efforts focused on creating posts and content for the site, those social accounts have not been as socially active as we would like.

The team is still working to update guides, expand guide offerings and maintain weekly posting schedules.

As a reminder, Aaron Manfull worked to create an advertising structure for JEADigitalMedia.org. Information on advertising on the site can be found here. School Newspapers Online has purchased the main widget area for another year. We also have a rotating ad area within posts and pages where we will work to push to summer journalism workshops and other advertisers as well. We currently have one that has purchased space and others that have inquired.

We will discuss our goals at our committee meeting in Chicago, but I have a feeling we will work to continue some of our current areas of focus:

1. Continue to build a deeper broadcast presence on the site as it remains one of our biggest draws
2. Continue to post relevant articles for those wanting help with their online journey
3. Work to publicize the site more on the Listserv and other places to try to counteract some of the visitor trends.

As always, if there is anything anyone would like to see on the site, please email us at info@jeadigitalmedia.org.

Here are the links I said I would make available:

Visitor data for JEADigitalMedia.org

Twitter

Facebook

Guide to Moving Online

Guide to Video and Broadcast

Guide to Multimedia Tools

Guide to Live Video Streaming of Sports Events

Journalist of the Year – Rebecca Pollard, MJE

Lovejoy High School
2350 Estates Parkway
Lucas, TX 75002
Home Phone: 972-523-0384

We had another great year for the Journalist of the Year contest. In April we awarded one national winner and six runners-up for this contest. After receiving 36 state-winning entries, a judging panel of 38 combed over each one and invested in these candidates as if they were their own student journalists. I appreciate each one of them for their dedication and talents to this tedious process. My hope each year is that this contest is given the proper attention to detail and is fair to all candidates. These judges did just that, as each portfolio had multiple rounds of judges looking, reading and evaluating each one.

The following students were recognized at the Saturday awards ceremony at the spring convention in San Francisco:

2018 National High School Journalist of the Year: Christine Zhao of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia (Erinn Harris, CJE, adviser)

Runners-up:

• Haley Keizur, Puyallup (Washington) High School (Sandra Coyer, MJE, adviser).
• Kobe Roseman, St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas (Ray Westbrook, adviser).
• Natalie White, Downers Grove (Illinois) North High School (Elizabeth Levin, MJE, adviser).
• Ian Ong, Conestoga High School, Berwyn, Pennsylvania (Susan Gregory, MJE and Cyndi Crothers-Hyatt, CJE, advisers).
• Arabella Saunders, First Flight High School, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina (Steve Hanf, adviser).
• Sarah Elbeshbishi, Watkins Mill High School, Gaithersburg, Maryland (Sara Confino, adviser).

Please see a list of all the state winners and links to all the portfolios here.

2018 Aspiring Young Journalist: Ariel Asher of Red Oak (Texas) Middle School (Myia Griffith, adviser)

Runner-up: Sydney Wilfong of Altoona (Pennsylvania) Area Junior High School (Wanda Vanish, CJE, adviser)

In San Francisco, we hosted our second meet-and-greet for those who participated in the 2018 national journalist of the year contest. After the first meet-and-greet, room and time accommodations changed for this year. A round-table format allowed attendees a more comfortable space to network. They also had two hours versus the 50-minute traditional session format. Candidates and judges attended. This was a chance for the candidates to talk with each other and ask questions about the contest. JEA President Sarah Nichols, MJE, and Executive Director Kelly Glasscock, CJE, also extended their congratulations in person. Attendees exchanged contact information with each other.

In San Francisco, the 2017 Journalist of the Year, Megan Bobrowsky, and I presented a session to JOY hopefuls about applying for the contest and how to build a portfolio. We gave advice from student experiences to help those who attended. Megan also spoke to the convention at the opening ceremony. I would like to thank Megan for her time and talents to help future candidates.

Moving forward, the requirements and guidelines for the contest are similar to last year. Refining behind the scenes will continue to take place. At the board meeting in San Francisco, I presented some facts and stats regarding this contest. You may access the presentation used here, as well as the meeting minutes speaking of the presentation here.

Shortly after the 2018 contest concluded, JEA Executive Director Kelly Glasscock, CJE, and I started working on plans for the 2019 meet-and-greet in Anaheim. After brainstorming with the board, we felt it necessary to keep tweaking this event to honor and celebrate the accomplishments of our state winners. We will have more details in the spring of how we are growing this event for its third year.

The 2018 winner, Christine Zhao, will be at the fall convention in Chicago to present at the opening ceremony, as well as co-present a session about this contest. We are excited she can join us to speak with prospective applicants.

Mentoring Committee – Patrick Johnson, MJE

Antioch Community High School
1133 Main St.
Antioch, IL 60002
Work Phone: 847-395-1421

Membership:

Patrick R. Johnson, MJE (Chair)

Linda Barrington, MJE

Bill Flechtner, MJE

Peggy Gregory, CJE

Sheila Jones, CJE

Gary Lindsay, MJE

Mary Anne McCloud, CJE

Carmen Wendt, MJE

All committee members are also mentors. I was trained as a mentor at the JEA Adviser Institute this past summer.

There are currently 44 active mentors: Bob Bair, MJE, Linda Ballew, MJE, Jane Blystone, MJE, Ron Bonadonna, CJE, Karen Boone, CJE, Candace Brandt, Vicki Brennan, CJE, Jeff Browne, Wayne Dunn, CJE, Carol Eanes, CJE, Megan Fitzgerald, CJE, Brenda Gorsuch, MJE, Karl Grubaugh, CJE, Ray Hopfer, CJE, Ellen Kersey, Shannon Kuehmichel, MJE, Joy Lessard, Kay Locey, CJE, Julie Mancini, CJE, Joy McCaleb, Kim Messadieh, CJE, Susan Newell, MJE, Casey Nichols, MJE, Kelly Nieman, Nancy Olson, CJE, Katherine Patrick, CJE, Mary Patrick, CJE, Julia Satterthwaite, CJE, Carol Smith, Matt Smith, CJE, Carol Strauss, Steve Unruhe, CJE, Ann Visser, MJE, Steve Wahlfeldt, Dave Wallner, Jo Zimmerman, MJE, Stan Zoller, MJE, and
Kathleen Zwiebel, CJE.

Events: We will again host our mentor forum at the upcoming Chicago convention. There, mentors will gather to discuss current issues facing mentoring; learn from sessions about technology, time management, mentee relationships, and more; and develop strategies to improve mentee communication, mentee recruitment, and mentee retention.

Awards and Honors:

• As of Oct. 1, there are currently 140 mentees around the country.
• JEA honored mentor Brenda Gorsuch, MJE, with the Linda Puntney Teacher Inspiration Award at JEA Adviser Institute
• JEA mentor and former Mentor Program chair Linda Barrington, MJE, will be recognized as a Medal of Merit recipient at the Chicago Convention
• Nancy Oben, former JEA mentee, will be recognized as a JEA Rising Star at the Chicago Convention

For the Board: Since the last Mentoring Program semiannual report was submitted, I’ve been working on the following projects:

• Yellow Chair—This summer and the beginning of the school year was dedicated to applying for the upcoming year’s grant funding from Yellow Chair. I also worked on creating the report summarizing and evaluating last year’s successes and growth opportunities.
• End-of-semester and end-of-year reports—Mentors continued digital submission of their end-of-semester reports and also participated in digital submission for their end-of-year reports. While there were a few hiccups with submission, this process is proving to be a successful one. For the fall 2018 semester reports, we are hoping to collect more anecdotal evidence than we received in the previous year’s reports.
• Database development—I created a solid database of records for mentors and mentees using the program and app Airtable. This database is shared with the mentors and with headquarters to consistently be keeping records updated and current. This software also allows us to download records based on defined fields and reports 
• Program visibility and growth—The Mentoring Program is experiencing an exciting time full of new opportunities and experiences. The new cohort system is fully in place, which will allow us to streamline paperwork and programming for entering and exiting mentees to the program. These cohorts will provide unique opportunities for specialized programming, such as guest speakers and convention sessions.
• Recruitment and retention—We worked diligently to find other ways to recruit mentees than what was traditional—either through state conventions or mentees reaching out to the program. Using social media to our advantage, we became a more proactive program and sought out people who needed help and recruited them to the program. Arguably, we were so successful with this wave of recruitment for the fall 2018 cohort that we have 61 mentees alone in that grouping, which is 17 mentees fewer than those currently in the program who are on their second or third year commitments. We are looking for more opportunities to recruit mentees.
• Reporting and requests—I worked to create a stronger tracking system for when mentees request a mentor and how long it takes to fill the request. I also created forms to add to the JEA website for requesting a mentor and becoming a mentor.

Moving Forward

• Increase state membership — three new states are already looking to be added to the mentor program for the 2019-20 school year. Increasing state membership is important as mentees are beginning to come from states without the program and we are doing more long distance mentoring than previously.
• Increase the number of mentors — our mentors are becoming increasingly strapped with the number of mentees that they are working with currently. I would like the mentors to be working with, on average, three mentees at a time; however, a number are working with 5+ mentees at any given time.
• Finding alternative mentoring methods and funding opportunities — Yellow Chair is incredible to JEA and the Mentor Program; however, we cannot continue to work solely off of state association and Yellow Chair funding if we are to increase mentors across the country. This will be a conversation I hope to have both with the committee and the board.
• Reporting strategies and digital filing — there are a number of barriers to organizational success currently, many of which are different means and methods of sending, sharing and evaluating reports. Ideally, we need to streamline how these files are completed so that they are a consistent file type. Additionally, we need to look more closely at how to streamline communication of the mentor program and access to it. I would like to go fully digital with our reporting, but the hurdle will be what we do with administrator agreement forms that must be signed.
• Website updates — as the rest of JEA programming transitions to the website, so are we. Updating the Mentoring Matters website and the JEA website to have the most current information are important for the visibility of the program. We are looking to have a form for requesting a mentor and one for becoming a mentor.
• Training — a continued discussion will be the transition to digital training of mentors and what this looks like. JEA’s use of Participate will become increasingly important for this process.

Scholastic Journalism Week Committee – Adam Dawkins, CJE

Regis Jesuit High School
6400 S Lewiston Way
Aurora, CO 80016
Work Phone: 303-269-8000

2019 Scholastic Journalism Week Theme: Our theme this year will be “Dedicated to Our Communities” and focus on reporting and publication that has revealed there is more to the story, uncovered previously unknown truths, and helped the audience navigate in-depth information.

We will again have daily themes during the week and those will compliment student work focused around more specific areas within the theme, like the work that the JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee New Voices are doing, for example.

One of our daily themes will be “Saving Democracy” (thanks Jeff Browne) and will work well with our newest collaborative partnership with Jeff and his student leaders at Quill and Scroll. We will be working with Quill and Scroll to promote and engage with SJW 2019.

Scholastic Journalism Week Design Contest: We worked with Nancy Smith, MJE, to make the annual SJW design contest the design/logo write off for Chicago. 

Of course, students may enter our contest separate from the Write-off, but this will be a great partnership and increase entries and competition for our SJW branding. The contest will open Monday, Oct. 1 and be promoted through social media and through the listserv.

We would also like to reach out to programs. We need help identifying advisers and students who we can encourage to submit for the design contest.

SJW Design Contest Guidelines for Submission: Using the theme “Dedicated to Our Communities,” create a design for us to use for 2019 Scholastic Journalism Week promotional materials and on social media. The winning logo and designer will be revealed Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Chicago. The winner need not be present to win. Judges will decide on the winning design after all entries, including those from the convention Write-off contest, have been received. This year’s theme, “Dedicated to Our Communities,” focuses on reporting and publication that has revealed there is more to the story, uncovered previously unknown truths, and helped the audience navigate in-depth information.

Create your design package with the theme in mind.

Guidelines for submission:

• Include the event title: Scholastic Journalism Week “Dedicated to Our Communities.”
• Include the event date. Feb. 18-24, 2019
• Include a banner version, full Instagram-style square version, and a thumbnail version of your design.
• Target market: Schools with journalism programs
• Color required: Full color but logo must also work in B&W
• Submit a Vector logo (Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, etc.)
• Also submit your designs in JPEG and PDF format
• Provide a datasheet (specifying fonts and Pantone colors)
• Include a short rationale with the thinking behind your logo
• Include your name, school name, your publication, your grade level, email address and phone number. Also include your personal and your publication Twitter and Instagram handles if you have them so we can promote your entry!
• Deadline: Friday, Oct. 26, 2018
• Submit your entries to: scholasticjournalismweek@gmail.com

Schedule of Events: Scholastic Journalism Week 2019

Scholastic Journalism Week-  Feb. 18-24, 2019

Daily featured schools countdown with daily themes-  Feb. 18-24, 2019*

Society of Professional Journalists and JEA Essay Contest Deadline-  Feb. TBD, 2019

Featured schools application open-  TBD. We are thinking of opening it during JEA Chicago this year.

Design contest winner announcement – Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018 at JEA Chicago

Design Contest Submission Deadline- Friday, Oct. 26, 2018 (Write Off Entries will come in after Write-Off)

Announce and begin promoting design contest- Oct. 1, 2018

Professional Outreach Committee – Jonathan Rogers, MJE

1900 Morningside Dr.
Iowa City, IA 52245
Work Phone: 319-855-2559

OUTREACH OVERVIEW:

Here is JEA’S Annual Report to NCTE.

The NCTE CENSORSHIP BOARD – New Voices Connections – State Tracker

Upcoming sessions at the NCTE National Convention in Houston, Texas that will be presented by JEA include:

• Teaching Media Literacy: Lessons in Research, Fighting Fake News, and Training Truth Seekers Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
• The Best of the Journalism Education Association Friday, Nov. 16, 2018 3:30-4:45 p.m.
• 21st-Century Storytelling through Digital Media Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018 4:15-5:30 p.m.

Please visit JEA Flipboard Magazine

ADOBE SPARK JOURNALISM PROJECT – releasing next week

FOR THE BOARD: This fall has been focused on preparing for the NCTE convention, meeting with the NCTE censorship board, updating the JEA Flipboard Magazine, and helping Adobe get a new journalism project rolling.

I can say with the help of Sarah Nichols, MJE, JEA’s relationship with NCTE is growing and is stronger than ever.  This fall we have plans to connect and grow JEA more within the NCTE organization at the convention in Houston. With the added JEA presence at NCTE, I only see this connection growing even more over the next year.  The theme of the convention is RAISING STUDENT VOICES and last year NCTE included several keynote sessions on the importance of journalism and media literacy. The Censorship Committee also is meeting this month to discuss the revised statement on censorship, banned books, and I will continue to share theNew Voices movement with NCTE regional affiliates for support.  Oct. 1 also begins the NCTE Why I Write Campaign.

The JEA-Flipboard magazine is going strong with 5,095 followers and 186 student stories published.  This showcase is invaluable to me when spreading the word about the great work high school journalists are doing at conferences and on social media.  A push for more submissions will also be coming with awards for the top stories at Chicago.

My new outreach this fall is through Adobe.  At SXSWEdu last year I snuck my way into the Adobe dinner with new connections I made after my media literacy session.  During dinner, we discussed how JEA and Adobe could work together. They were beginning a project on digital storytelling. I have been helping them develop this program over the summer and it is set to come out next week. The Adobe Spark digital stories created by students will be showcased at my presentation at the JEA conference in Chicago and possibly at SXSWEdu and ISTE.  I also applied and was accepted into theAdobe Education Leaders (AEL) community. The community is new to me, but I do have the opportunity to go to two international gatherings and connect in their online space.  

Publications/Public Relations – Evelyn Lauer, MJE

Niles West High School
5701 W. Oakton St.
Skokie, IL 60077
Work Phone: 847-626-2592

Since my last report as the Publications/Public Relations chair, the main change to my role has been the additional responsibility of social media director, which I took over at the beginning of June. This new duty, which I was not anticipating, consumes much of my time, overshadowing many of the other aspects of my position.

Social Media: I update JEA’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram daily to a few times a week, depending on the platform and news cycle.

My goal is increased interactivity of all social accounts. To accomplish this, I am heavily active on Twitter, retweeting and replying. I also am working to get more students involved with our social media. For example, for Constitution Day, I reached out to social media editors from various student publications to tell us what the First Amendment means to them and tag JEA. On Twitter, since I took over, @nationalJEA has gained 350 new followers.

Over the summer, we launched our #TeacherTakeover series on Instagram, which has been widely popular and helped us gain about 200 new followers. The plan is to continue this series every Tuesday via our Instagram Story until the end of the 2018-19 school year. Please contact evelau@d219.org if you are interested in participating.

One Book: The 2018-2019 One Book is “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, which many members seem to be reading. I will be presenting a session at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Chicago called “Fiction as inspiration: ‘The Hate U Give.’” My session will examine how Starr’s story can inspire student journalists to cover challenging topics that spark change in their communities. This session will take place Saturday, Nov. 3 at 9 a.m. in the Toronto, Ballroom Level (West Tower).

Scholastic Journalism Week: Adam Dawkins, CJE, has selected the 2019 theme as “Dedicated to our Communities.” He and I are working with Nancy Smith, MJE, to incorporate this year’s logo contest with JEA Write-offs. Please see his report for further details.

Global Engagement Director – Kelly Furnas, MJE

In the first few months as global engagement director, I have learned a lot about the varying needs and models of international high school journalism programs. At the end of October, JEA had 43 international members.

As it is with state directors, much of the work with global engagement directors is reaching out to new and current international members to provide a point of contact for JEA and to bring any matters specific to those members to the attention of the JEA board of directors. As of yet, there have been no concerns to note.

However, the position is also tasked with global outreach. This has, admittedly, been somewhat ad hoc — searching online and reaching out to high school journalism programs around the world, or responding to a referral from a board or staff member. I have had substantial correspondence with contacts in Australia, Japan, Mexico and South Korea, and as always I would welcome JEA members to refer international teachers to me if I can be of service.

JEA China continues to be a success story, with more teachers, schools and students being represented by our affiliate each year. In previous summers JEA China would conduct summer workshops and competitions for students around the country, and this year those contests have been pushed online. However, because students still needed help with journalistic research and writing, I helped develop 15 online instructional modules with formative assessments that students could learn from.

Results from JEA China’s Youth Observation Contest are available here.

In the next few months JEA China transitions to a broader “communication plan” competition, and efforts are now underway to develop those contests and create similar training modules for students to download.

There’s also momentum at the high school level for journalism in Canada, where Ryerson University recently worked with the Canadian Youth Journalism Project to organize a conference for students in Ontario. The conference attracted more than 120 students from around 16 schools across Ontario, and Ryerson is sending representatives to the JEA convention in Chicago to learn more about growing programming in the future.

Editor, Communication: Journalism Education Today – Bradley Wilson, MJE

3410 Taft Blvd.
Wichita Falls, TX 76308-2099
Contact

Online Component: The biggest change is the long-awaited addition of an online component to supplement the print edition. The online component is a little difficult to find even if you are looking for it, as is information in the magazine itself, but it is there. The online component will make it easier for editors to provide answer keys to quizzes in the magazine, online support materials and links to material mentioned in the magazine. It still drives me up the wall to print URLs. I want to click on them. Everyone knows the value of these words:
Here’s the direct link.

I miss the searchable index of C:JET articles and authors. Maybe next summer, as time permits, I will add that back to the online portion.

Advertising: Our goal was to raise $3,000 for the fall issue and $4,000 for the winter issue. We fell far short of that in the fall. We sold $1,773.50 for the fall issue and $3,826 for the winter issue. With the $5,599.50 total, we achieved 80 percent of the goal.

Fall 2018 $1,773.50

Fall 2017 $3,140.00

Fall 2016 $2,966.50

Fall 2015 $3,819.00

Fall 2014 $2,490.00

Fall 2013 $3,754.75

Fall 2012 $2,758.00

Fall 2011 $3,140.00

Average $2,980.22

Budget Proposals and Goals: As Howard Spanogle said, “JEA needs to invest money to promote a strong case for print journalism, which provides a permanent historical record of high school journalism. JEA should add toC:JET‘s educational contributions by supporting innovations … .” To that end, please anticipate the upcoming proposals.

• Assistant editor travel | I also anticipate including a formal line in the budget for upcoming years travel for the assistant editor to
  conventions to guarantee equal interactive opportunities for advisers at both conventions.  As always, the assistant editor will be available for roundtable sessions and will recruit authors and then summarize activities as part of this report. The goal is to observe new trends and innovative presentations as well as to report on new pressures and patterns of journalism outreach.                        
• Advisory Board meeting | We will develop a formal proposal in the spring for a budget item to include a meeting of all of the C:JET folks, including the advisory board. This group has not met since the year it was formed except electronically. Moving forward, we anticipate meeting every three years.
• AEJMC Scholastic Division | We will include in our spring budget proposal a budget line-item for the C:JET editor (or designee) to attend the AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Division meeting and have the editor take a leadership role in that division pushing for C:JET to, again, become a leader in distribution of research in scholastic journalism. This item used to be included in the budget. I attended the Scholastic Division meeting in Washington, D.C. (at my expense). It is my hope that the Division will have future meetings in conjunction with JEA/NSPA national conventions as I view this as a win-win. I would like to see more scholarly content in the magazine (one article per issue) and this is where to recruit for it.
• Handouts | Develop a repository of handouts derived from past issues available in a secure manner for JEA members either at minimal cost or free after researching the impact the service will have on our EBSCO. The process will link such handouts with curriculum material.

JEA Advisers Institute: This past summer, I presented sessions at the JEA Advisers Institute with the specific intent of recruiting authors and material for the magazine. In the Winter issue, two articles have resulted from this connection, one by Erin Burden and another by Jenann Elias.

I view this service as a win-win-win innovation.

The authors report on sessions and learn new material. They also get published in a national magazine. The success makes them and their school participants in professional training development. I encourage authors to let their administrators know about it, and our JEA executive director could communicate that value to school leaders at the adviser’s school.  JEA publicizes topics/ articles written about timely and cutting edge content from some of our profession’s top folks. Plus, JEA members who could not come to the Institute can learn from it. Finally, JEA receives publicity all year long about the Institute serving as a reminder for people who might be thinking about attending.

I hope we can institutionalize this plan. The reporting the authors do, the editing process C:JET uses and the actual publication benefit everyone involved. The plan multiplies confidence for all involved. It also trains advisers to use an editing process that they may find helpful for their staffs.

Contributors and Content:

Fall 2018

40 pages

• • Where do you stand? | Whether it was the #metoo movement or #neveragin, students took to the streets last year to let their opinions be heard. Attorneys, advisers and photojournalists give advice for covering protests and marches.| By Bradley Wilson, MJE and Blaine Young, editor, Waldron Street Journal
  • The Post | Steven Spielberg wanted to have his film released as quickly as possible, given the parallels between its theme and the burgeoning political “fake news” climate in the U.S. The film process, from script to final cut, lasted only nine months.| By Bradley Wilson, MJE
  • They in the singular | Language evolves. Now the Associated Press Stylebook and many dictionaries recognized the use of “they” as a singular pronoun — under special circumstances.
  • Liberal Arts vs. STEM | The debate about the value of a liberal arts curriculum and the value of a science-based curriculum continue. Research shows that educators in journalism classes teach skills demanded by employers.| By Kristy Dekat, MJE
  • Painting with Light | Use of exceptionally long exposures and a few hand-held lights can help students understand some fundamental concepts of photography. | By Matthew Busch
• Stampede | J.W. Mitchell High School (Trinity, Florida)
• Odyssey | University High School (Orange City, Florida)

Other contributors

• Nathan Hayes, Bellarmine College Preparatory (San Jose, California); Erin Crase, adviser
• Madison Horneber, Harrisonburg High School (Virginia); Valerie Kibler, MJE, adviser
• Jeslyn Liu, Harrisonburg High School (Virginia); Valerie Kibler, MJE, adviser
• Nate Nelson, Idaho Falls High School (Idaho); Ryan Hansen, adviser
• Madeline Provost, Rock Canyon High School (Highlands Ranch, Colorado); Kristi Rathbun, MJE, adviser
• Katie Sachs, Kirkwood High School (Missouri), Mitch Eden, MJE, adviser
• Blaine Young, editor, Waldron Street Journal, Flour Bluff High School (Corpus Christi, Texas); Jeanette Krizak, adviser

Comments

From John Wheeler, retired adviser and Carl Towley Award recipient,  jwwheeler99@att.net  | Mag
arrived Saturday (sent about 2 to 3 weeks ago) and while I’ve given it only a cursory examination, it strikes me as one of the strongest issues produced because of its range of topics and especially the sophistication of the guidance provided, whether intelligently “watching” a recent film or reporting on student involvement in important political developments.  And discussing the use of he/she/they goes beyond simply choosing a pronoun. [Wouldn’t it have simplified commenting on the NYTimes anonymous opinion piece if the writer(s) could have been referred to as “they”?

Advertisers

ArchiveInABox, BetterBNC, Boston University New England Center for Investigative Reporting, Journalism Education Association, Newseum Institute / Freedom Forum, School Paper Express, SNO Sites

Winter 2017

44 pages

• Suicide coverage a dilemma for media | Some student media operations have policy to guide leaders when a student dies, a policy that guides the staff when publishing a news brief or maybe a memorial page. But suicides still present unique challenges, not only with what to cover but how to cover it and when. | By Bradley Wilson, MJE
• Font choices | There are literally tens of thousands of fonts available for print and online media. Choosing one can change the look and feel of a yearbook, a newsmagazine or a website. | By Bernadette Cranmer, MJE
• Steller | Steller allows the user to bring photos, videos and text together to tell a story. | By Jacqueline Rogers
• Timeline.js | TimelineJS is an open-source tool that enables anyone to build visually rich, interactive timelines online. | By Nicole Smith
• Redesign | Keeping the emphasis on content and coverage, not bells and whistles, Ron Johnson gave tips for going through a publication’s redesign process. | By Erin Burden
• Fact checking | Aaron Sharockman, the executive director of PolitiFact, talked about the importance of fact checking in an era of “fake news.” | By Jenann Elias
• Roars and Whispers | Providence Senior High School (Charlotte, North Carolina)
• rubiconline.com | St. Paul Academy and Summit School (Minnesota)

Other contributors

• Samie Bednarz, Horizon High School (Scottsdale, Arizona); Lisa Baker, adviser
• Nate Nelson, Idaho Falls High School (Idaho Falls, Idaho); Ryan Hansen, adviser
• Declan Palmer, Arapahoe High School (Centennial, Colorado); Greg Anderson,  adviser
• Zachary Schultz, Mountain Home High School (Idaho); Erin Burden, adviser

Advertisers

ArchiveInABox, BetterBNC, Boston University New England Center for Investigative Reporting, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, InsideClimate News Institute for Environmental Journalism, Jostens Yearbooks, Journalism Education Association, Kent State University, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Media Now STL, Missouri School of Journalism, Newseum Institute / Freedom Forum, School Paper Express, SNO Sites

The Team: I cannot emphasize enough how great this team is. When Connie was going to be out of the office for an extended period, we adapted and got stuff in early. We developed plan B. Then we were elated when Connie got back well and early. Personally, I appreciate Howard’s willingness to step up and help identify other people who might serve as another set of eyes should Connie be unavailable. Howard does more than anyone outside JEA realizes. Howard and Connie have so much institutional knowledge and knowledge of the people and the profession. Howard won the NSPA Pioneer Award, JEA’s Carl Towley Award (1993) and the JEA’s Medal of Merit a decade earlier. Their knowledge and experience — undoubtedly — is part of what makes the magazine a continued success. Please tell them thanks when you see them.

• Bradley Wilson, editor
• Howard Spanogle, assistant editor
• Connie Fulkerson, copy editor
• Pam Boller, advertising sales

Advisory Board

• Ellen Austin, MJE, director of journalism, The Harker School (San Jose, Calif.)
• Amy DeVault, MJE, assistant professor, Wichita State University (Wichita, Kan.)
• Tyler Dukes, public affairs reporter, WRAL (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Kyle Ellis, senior product manager, American City Business Journals (Charlotte, N.C.)
• Mark Grabowski, associate professor Communications, Adelphi University (New York City)
• Scott Winter, associate professor, Bethel University (St. Paul, Minn.)

STATE DIRECTORS

Alabama – Susan Newell, MJE

1150 Valley Forge Road
Tuscaloosa, AL 35406
Contact

Membership: Alabama has 27 JEA members. JEA membership is encouraged at Alabama Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) workshops and conferences, at Troy University’s J Day, in emails, on Facebook and by word of mouth. JEA membership has tremendous benefits. When I began advising publications over 30 years ago, I became active in scholastic press associations. Almost everything I learned about advising came from attending their events. Advisers become active in your state (ASPA), regional (SIPA) and national organizations (JEA/NSPA & CSPA). In this way your students can best be prepared for college, a profession and for publishing quality publications. JEA provides members access to curriculum and lesson plans. Also JEA members can be a part of an email listserv where specific questions can be asked. Twice a year JEA partners with National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) to offer conventions that provide extensive training to advisers and students. JEA has certification for teachers and awards for teachers and students.

Happenings: Alabama Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA) coordinate their conferences.

Check out ASPA events on their redesigned website

ASPA is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Find SIPA events online.

Alabama provides mentoring for new advisers.

Recent Past events:

ASPA held workshops in Mobile on Sept. 24, Tuscaloosa on Sept. 26 with over 200 attendees and Huntsville on Sept. 28. University of Alabama faculty members, professional journalists, like WVUA TV anchors Andrea Matei, Mike Royer and Brandon Kamerman, and yearbook great John Cutsinger were featured speakers.

Troy University in Troy, Alabama hosted over 550 students for J Day on Sept. 27, their largest J Day.

The SIPA Convention in March 2018 had over 600 students.

Upcoming ASPA events & SIPA convention:

Contest and senior awards deadline: Dec. 14

ASPA State Convention: Feb. 18-19

SIPA Convention March: 1-3

Multicultural Journalism Workshop application deadline: April 1

The University of Alabama’s annual Multicultural Journalism Workshop: June 7-15

The Long Weekend summer camp on the University of Alabama campus: June 7-9

Fall Regional Workshops will be held in Mobile, Tuscaloosa, & Huntsville in September.

Awards, contests and honors:

ASPA awards are listed here

Alaska – Chad Eichenlaub

Unalaska City High School
PO Box 570
Unalaska, AK 99685
Work Phone: 907-581-1222
Cell Phone: 907-359-1340

Membership: Alaska currently has three JEA members.  I am continuing efforts to reach out to journalism teachers and CTE teachers throughout the state.

Arizona – Christine Brandell Melendez

Paradise Valley High School
3950 E Bell Road
Phoenix, AZ 85032
Contact

Membership: Arizona currently has 58 members. In reviewing the membership report, not all members and/or board members of Arizona Interscholastic Press Association (AIPA) are members of JEA. As the state organization, AIPA recommends and supports new advisers becoming members of JEA and AIPA. Having two JEA mentors in our state allows for one-to-one communication with advisers who have a tendency to become more active at the state level as well as at the national level. The membership goal for the 2018-19 academic year would be to not only increase membership in JEA, but to encourage membership in both AIPA and JEA.

Events: The Summer Workshop was held in July at ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The Spring Reception that was originally scheduled for April 26, 2018 was cancelled due to the Arizona Red for Ed Teacher walk out. It was held Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018 at The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Phoenix. The Freeman Hover new adviser and Forest Martin seasoned adviser were revealed and honored at this event. AIPA also added a new person to the Hall of Fame. The reception was a time to recognize all advisers for their continued work and dedication to the field.  

The Fall Convention will be help Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The contest winners will be announced after the keynote address by Steve Irvin of ABC 15.

Recognition: I would like to personally thank Carmen Wendt for her years of service as the JEA State Director as well as her many years of service to AIPA. She continues to serve as a JEA Mentor in Arizona. It is an honor to be able to continue to work with Carmen at the local level.

Congratulations are in order for AIPA’s winners Laura Hardy of Highland High School in Gilbert, Arizona who was recognized as the Freeman Hover Adviser of the Year and Karen Crane of McClintock High School in Tempe, Arizona who was recognized at the Forest Martin Adviser of the year.

Peggy Gregory, JEA Mentor and long-time AIPA board member was recognized by being inducted into AIPA’s Hall of Fame for her work as an adviser, board member, and mentoring many new advisers even prior to an official role as JEA Mentor.

Check out our website: Arizona Interscholastic Press Association (AIPA)

Arkansas – Justin Turner

1013 Shobe Road
Bryant, AR 72022
Contact

Membership: Arkansas currently has 71 JEA members. I do not know the exact number we are up because I have been in this position for less than a year, but I do know we are up several members.

Major Developments: Over the summer, the Arkansas Department of Education motioned a rule change that removed journalism as a required course offering for all schools in Arkansas. In response, I emailed all Arkansas JEA members, informed them of the change and requested they contact their legislators. Unfortunately, that movement did not prevent a vote to remove the journalism requirement.    

The Arkansas Legislative Panel then held a vote to determine if they would endorse the Department of Education’s motion.  Again I contacted all Arkansas JEA members and requested they contact their legislators. I also contacted our state band and choral organizations as their subjects were also nominated for removal. Despite these efforts, the legislative panel voted to endorse the removal of journalism as a required class offering in Arkansas public schools.

Since then, I’ve emailed legislators and appeared on a local NPR affiliate to discuss these changes. You can hear that interview here.

One legislator is discussing passing a law to put journalism back in its rightful place. I intend to work with him during the next legislative session. I also will begin working with our state-level journalism organization, Arkansas Scholastic Press Association (ASPA), to come up with a game plan.

ASPA News: Our state level journalism organization has seen drastic changes over the previous five months. Our executive director, Allen Loibner-Waitkus, retired and has been replaced by Kristy Cates. We also saw a major change in the executive board with only one executive board member returning.

I attended the board’s first meeting this summer and will also attend the fall meeting in October. So far, we have reviewed board positions, the organization’s financial footing and began the process of housing ASPA at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

Our annual conference will be April 18-19, 2019 at the NWA Convention Center in Springdale, Arkansas.

One item of concern is that ASPA will no longer allow members to enroll in JEA through their ASPA membership. I’ve contacted the new executive director and expressed my preference of continuing the previous arrangement. She is currently trying to get a solid foothold in running ASPA and is open to restarting next year.

Outreach: I’ve compiled a list of all Arkansas JEA members’ email addresses. I’ve sent a monthly email in May, August and September. That email has highlighted services JEA offers as well as other journalism information. I currently have a student aide compiling a list of journalism teachers that are not JEA members. The process is slow going as many schools are less than forthcoming with the information; however, I will begin emailing them once that list is complete.

I taught two Arkansas workshops this summer. At both workshops, I recommended JEA membership and discussed the benefits of membership. We have several new members based on those discussions.

Board Items: Recently, my school has decided my students can only attend the national JEA/NSPA conference once every three years. They allow students to attend the national FBLA conference every year. The difference is that FBLA students must qualify at the state level before being able to compete at the national level, so the district views the FBLA conference as a greater honor.

My district is not alone in this logic. I would like to recommend ONE competition be held at each convention in which only schools that have won their state’s respective top award can compete. While I understand the benefits and honor of ANY award won at JEA/NSPA, not all school district administrations do. I believe it’s a small change that could benefit a lot of students.

California – Danielle Ryan, MJE

Carlsbad High School
3557 Lancer Way
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Contact

Membership: California currently has 330 JEA members. There are two major regional branches- JEANC (Northern California) and SCJEA (Southern California). Orange County, San Diego County and the Inland Empire have smaller sub groups for the SCJEA regional branch. Since April, 84 people from Calif. have joined JEA.

Events:

JEANC:

Nor Cal Media Day JEANC Hosted over 450 advisers and students from approximately 40 school at Palo Alto HIgh School on Sept. 29.  The day offered 50 breakout sessions, critiques and a keynote address fromFirst Amendment attorney Paul Boylan. In the afternoon, students had the opportunity to participate in on site write-off contests and the Best of the West competition which included entries from 13 schools in five categories.

Adviser Teach-in: JEANC will offer a one-day professional development Dec. 8 at the Four Points by Sheraton, Pleasanton offering a variety of sessions led by JEANC advisers. This event will also offer the opportunity to take JEA certification tests.

SCJEA:

Wake Up Call: Approximately 100 students and advisers representing 12 local schools attended a half- day workshop at Long Beach City College Sept. 15 to improve publications for the start of the year. The workshop offered breakout sessions and opportunities for newspaper and yearbook critique.

Journalism Day: SCJEA, Los Angeles Times High School Insider and CSUN hosted J-Day Oct. 20, an event with write-offs and break-out sessions at Cal State Northridge.

JEA/NSPA Spring Convention 2019: SCJEA local convention team, lead by chair Lacey Hatfield, has held three committee meetings since the spring convention and has confirmed a keynote speaker. They are looking forward to welcoming students and advisers to Southern California in April.

Awards and honors:

The Accolade, the newspaper at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton was named Best High School Newspaper by the Los Angeles Press Club. SCJEA member Tommy Li advises the publication.

Administrator of the Year This year’s award will be presented in Chicago to Rachel Simpson, Head of Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco, for her continued support of her student journalists and adviser Tracy Anne Sena.

Pacemaker Awards 16 California schools are Pacemaker finalists in the broadcast and newspaper categories that will be presented in Chicago in Nov.: two in broadcast and 14 in newspaper.

For the Board Hopefully you have received the letter from SCJEA president Adriana Chavira regarding planned conventions in Southern California. As a former convention co-chair, I would like to reiterate and support her feelings expressed in that letter. In the years spanning 2011-2027, Southern California will host a total of six conventions from Los Angeles to San Diego.  While these locations are geographically separate, the same committee of advisers organizes every convention. On a busy Saturday, that could mean up to six hours of driving to attend planning meetings. While we love hosting students and advisers from across the nation in California, we are concerned about the strain on our local professional resources and journalism advisers to have conventions so frequently in the Southern California area. I would respectfully ask you to consider her requests as we move closer to these upcoming conventions and as you schedule future conventions in the Southern California region.

Colorado – Kristi Rathbun, MJE

Rock Canyon High School
5810 McArthur Ranch Road
Highlands Ranch, CO 80124
Work Phone: 303-387-3000

Membership: Colorado has 100 current members. Membership often sees a boost in the fall as schools register for JDay conference and Best in Show competitions.  

Events: CSMA kicked off the school year hosting a SNO back to school workshop Aug. 25 at Castle View High School for student media programs wanting to build and refine their websites and including those considering building a new one for their school. Students from 11 schools attended in addition to Travis Lambert, an adviser starting a new journalism program and JEA mentor Shelia Jones, CJE.

CSMA JDay kicked off with celebrations for Adviser of the Year, Jessica Hunziker, MJE, and Administrator of the year, Kevin Taulman of Steamboat Springs High School. A record-breaking 1700 students and advisers filled the Lory Student Center on the Colorado State University campus in Ft. Collins Sept. 27 to attend sessions, compete in Best of Show and hear from keynote speaker Mary Beth Tinker, one of the students whose landmark 1969 Supreme Court Case (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District) helped pave the way for student freedom of expression. JDay ended with All-Colorado awards and announcing Best of Show winners. Ponderosa High School’s yearbook, Eques, was inducted into the All-Colorado Hall of Fame.

The link to winners and details of the event – including a video of Tinker’s keynote speech – can be found here.

Upcoming events include CSMA’s winter professional development opportunity for advisers Feb. 2, 2019 and the Capitol Hill Press Conference in February (date and location TBD).

Initiatives/Visions/Concerns: CSMA initiatives included adding live stream video and podcast categories for JDay Best of Show and expanding the definition of ‘online’ to include social media as well as website news. The board continues to address increasing the number of applications for scholarships and ideas to boost offerings for students at CSMA member schools.

Former Holy Family adviser Traci Mumm came forward in the Denver Post with an account of censorship of her students on the newspaper staff and her subsequent resignation from the private Catholic school in Broomfield, Colorado. The censored article tackled the school’s decision to no longer allow female altar servers. Unfortunately, Colorado’s student freedom of expression law does not apply to private schools, however, CSMA Executive Director Jack Kennedy, MJE did weigh in on the issue in the article.

Contests/Awards:

Rising Stars: Zeb Carabello, Rangeview High School, Gina Claus, Castle Rock Middle School and Hannah Shapiro, Eagle Valley High School

Friend of Scholastic Journalism: Greg Luft, Colorado State University

NSPA Pioneer: Carrie Faust MJE, Smoky Hill High School

Pacemaker Finalist: The Herald, Arapahoe High School, Centennial, Colorado. Adviser: Greg Anderson and editors: Maddie Egerton, Becca Schwisow

Connecticut – David Fortier

Rocky Hill High School
50 Chapin Ave
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
Contact

Membership: Connecticut JEA membership has increased from nine to 12.

Events: No events are planned at the moment, but discussions with members show interest in a statewide conference.

Awards and honors: The goal is to get a Connecticut Journalist of the Year competition up and running for the spring.

For the board: Members are looking to JEA for resources, advice and support, including models for collaborating on a statewide basis.

Delaware – Dennis Leizear, CJE

Padua Academy
905 N. Broom St.
Wilmington, DE 19806
Contact

Membership: Delaware has two members. Outreach has continued throughout the year to increase membership.

Events: Padua Academy held a Convergence Media day for 5th-8th grade girls. The half-day included sessions on photography, feature writing, design and broadcast. Over 50 girls attended the event. Plans are in the works to continue this event every year.

District of Columbia – Clare Berke

Benjamin Banneker Academic High School
800 Euclid St.
NW Washington, D.C. 20001
Contact

The D.C. JEA chapter remains the same. Some student groups may attend J-Day at the University of Maryland in the fall. JEA member Mary Stapp is volunteering at Roosevelt High School.

Florida – Renee Burke, MJE

William R. Boone High School
1000 E. Kaley St.
Orlando, FL 32806
Contact

Membership: We currently have 150 members.  We have promoted membership through email blasts, at our state convention, summer and regional workshops.

FSPA will, again, offer the JEA Certification Exams at our state convention in April 2019.

Events: The state convention is April 11-13, 2019, at the Wyndham Resort Orlando.

Awards/Honors: We are excited for Courtney Hanks and Nancy “Joanie” Oben to be named Rising Stars at the JEA/NSPA fall convention in Chicago, Illinois.

At the spring convention, FSPA named Kevin Patterson, Oviedo High School, Oviedo, FL, the 2018 Morty Schaap Journalism Teacher
of the Year

This FSPA fall digital contests received 464 entries – a record number.

Congratulations to NSPA Newspaper Finalists:

Jr/Middle School: The Portfolio – Bak Middle School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida

High School: The Panther – Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Miami, Florida; The Eagle Eye – Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida; The Muse – Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida

Click here for full list of nominees.

For the Board: Special thank you for choosing St. Cloud High School as a JEA/NSPA Partner Project school. Seventy-five students and advisers from schools throughout the state attended a free one-day workshop Sept. 8 to learn writing, design, photography, leadership, fundraising and compelling storytelling. It was a unique opportunity with an all-star teaching staff: Kyle Carter, CJE, Val Kibler, MJE, Margie Raper, MJE, and Brian Wilson, MJE.

Georgia – Karen Collier, CJE

Veterans High School
340 Piney Grove Rd
Kathleen, GA 31047
Contact

Membership: Georgia has 40 active members. I communicate with them monthly via email. We also have a Facebook group to further connect.

Events: Georgia has implemented new journalism performance standards for the 2018-2019 school year. They may be viewed here. Committee members who drafted the documents included JEA members Nora Neff, CJE, (Mill Creek High School- Hoschton) and Karen Collier, CJE (Veterans High School-Kathleen).

Georgia Scholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony was held April 17, 2018 at the University of Georgia in Athens. There were 170 attendees. 105 individual awards were presented.

Georgia Scholastic Press Association hosted the Media & Leadership Academy June 3-8 at UGA Grady College. There were 49 participants who came from around the countrincluding Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Georgia Scholastic Press Association summer evaluations were mailed out in September, and the fall awards ceremony is planned for October 22, 2018 at the University of Georgia campus.

Awards and honors: The 2018 Georgia Champion Journalist is Lucia Bermudez (Clarke Central High School- Athens); the 2018 Georgia Junior Champion Journalist is Ana Aldridge (Clarke Central High School- Athens). Clarke Central High School garnered the following national awards: ODYSSEY Media Group (website) – NSPA Online Pacemaker; ODYSSEY Newsmagazine – NSPA Pacemaker finalist; Iliad Literary-Art Magazine – NSPA First Class; Iliad Literary-Art Magazine – CSPA Gold Medalist

Hawaii – Jenny Howe

President Theodore Roosevelt High School
1120 Nehoa St.
Honolulu, HI 96822
Work Phone: 808-307-0515
Cell Phone: 808-489-4425

Membership: Hawaii has 13 members. I continue to network with advisers to increase membership.

Events: The Hawaii Scholastic Journalism Association (HSJA) continues to meet monthly, along with state JEA members, to discuss the benefits of scholastic journalism, how to improve statewide events for our students, education board policies that affect our students’ work and New Voices legislation in Hawaii. In the last two years, we shared a drafted Hawaii New Voices bill with a representative’s office staff, but they directed us to the back to the Hawaii DOE to focus on Board of Education Policy 101-9, School-Sponsored Media. We sent a proposed policy to the superintendent who sent it to the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design. Since, educational specialists have been meeting with principals and curriculum coordinators to get their opinion of the proposal.  We have yet to hear back about the
status of the policy proposal.

So far advisers have not indicated that they will attend the Fall convention.

The University of Hawaii held their annual Journalism Day Sept. 8, 2018. One of the press conference topics included high school press freedom. Find student stories from the workshop here.

Awards and honors: The Hawaii High School Journalism Association Awards took place April 24, 2018. Find the results and Star Advertiser here.

For the board: From a recent advisers round table, we present these two questions:

• In articles with anonymous sources who admit to breaking school rules or even laws, advisers wonder if school administration can force students or the adviser, or if advisers would be required, to reveal sources if asked by school administration?
• Is parental permission required, for example, if a named student talks to a reporter about gender issues that the student’s parents either are not aware of or do not approve of?

Idaho – Michelle Harmon, MJE

Retired from: Borah High School
6001 W. Cassia St.
Boise, ID 83709
Cell Phone: 208-371-4431

Membership: Idaho currently has 23 members.

This has been a year of ups and not-so-ups.

Ups:

• Membership is steady.
• Idaho submitted a state JOY winner to the national competition.
• Idaho had two judges participate in the SPJ/JEA essay contest.
• Member Nichole Stanford attended a PBS Partnership training in Washington, D.C. PBS especially wanted a rural school to participate.
• Member Leslie Nichols spearheaded a move to create a state convention in Idaho Falls to attract those who might not be able to travel to Boise.
• Although the Idaho Falls event was cancelled, University of Idaho took up the gauntlet to hold a state conference on the same date in Moscow, Idaho.
• University of Idaho Associate Professor Rebecca Tallent submitted a White Paper on New Voices in Idaho

Not-so-ups:

• The state convention in Moscow will attract far less attendance because of Idaho’s particular geography among North, Central, and Southern sections, which limits the feasibility of student travel.
• The momentum for the state convention in Boise has been disrupted (I’ve received several emails wondering when it will be, and not the same amount of interest in it being in Moscow).
• Some members have commented on the liaison with University of Idaho; for example, rather than it expanding the annual conference with financial contributions (and expectations), it has limited who may present and where the conference might be held.
• Other funding and locations have presented themselves, and I have basically stayed in reflection mode until the Moscow event is over (the liaison is retiring this year, and it might be a cleaner break for the partnership).

Illinois – Brenda Field, MJE

Glenbrook South High School
4000 W. Lake Ave.
Glenview, IL 60026
Contact

Membership: Illinois current membership is 183.

Events: Eastern Illinois University hosted the Illinois Journalism Education Association Fall Conference Friday, Sept. 14. IJEA, the Illinois JEA affiliate, has a website that can be found here. IJEA also has an active social media presence on Facebook (Illinois Journalism Education Association) and Twitter (@IllinoisJEA).

Initiatives: Since the last report, we have been:

• Continuing work on the Chicago 2018 JEA/NSPA convention.
• Continuing to educate stakeholders about their rights and responsibilities under our New Voices law and making sure students and advisers feel supported when challenges arise. IJEA recently developed a free curriculum for advisers so they can teach press law with the 2016 Speech Rights of Journalists Act in mind. It is available for download from the IJEA website.
• Enhancing membership by attracting new members, especially by informing them about the JEA curriculum and about the opportunities provided at the upcoming JEA/NSPA convention in Chicago.
• Promoting student and adviser success as reflected in awards and honors from JEA and other organizations.

Awards:Two Illinois newspapers are Pacemaker finalists for 2018. Sally Renaud, IJEA executive director, is a 2018 NSPA Pioneer. The Illinois Press Foundation, a longtime supporter of scholastic journalism in Illinois, has been named a JEA Friend of Scholastic Journalism. All of these awards will be presented at the fall convention in Chicago.

Indiana – Nancy Hastings, MJE

9234 Prairie Ave.
Highland, IN 46322-2339
Contact

Membership: Membership is up since last spring, with 86 current members.

Events: The Indiana High School Press Association’s 95th fall state convention took place Oct.19 in Franklin, IN., Students and advisers from around the state listened to keynote speaker Kristina Smekens discuss Everything I Need to Know, I Learned in Journalism. Along with celebrating publication successes with the Hoosier Star honors and individual achievements in the Harvey awards, they also attended sessions in writing, design, photography, and leadership.

State journalists also kicked off their New Voices campaign at the convention, as they hope to prove that the third time is a charm when it comes to getting our New Voices legislation passed. Indiana will add to it’s campaign with a newspaper initiative under MJE Tom Gayda’s guidance. Better than just talking about the importance of the bill, Gayda hopes to show the state leaders the power of the student media through a special New Voices newspaper that will be sent to legislators and other stakeholders. Written by students and advisers from across the state, Gayda believes this is a great opportunity for students to be part of the process that gives them the protections they deserve.

In an effort to gather supporting evidence for the New Voices campaign, IHSPA put together a survey last spring to gain evidence. When their efforts failed last spring, they discovered that many who opposed the New Voices legislation repeatedly said there just isn’t proof that Indiana student journalists and their advisers need protection. IHSPA is attempting to combat that talking point. 

A committee under the direction IHSPA President-Elect April Moss and Department of Education Secondary Literacy Specialist Jordan Pridemore have been busy working to rewrite the State Standards for journalism, student media & mass media. The goal of this committee is to align and restructure the current journalism standards to align with the English 11-12 standards so that the INDOE will recognize journalism as an English credit. These changes should benefit all programs and hopefully help create new ones. The rewritten standards would be shared this fall in preparation for the 2019-2020 school year.

Indiana High School Press Association is continuing to work on expanding the reach of IHSPA to all corners of the state through Mentoring and Outreach. One way they hope to do this is by reaching out to new advisers in an attempt to connect them with the resources of IHSPA and JEA. The IHSPA board approved a new adviser membership incentive for Fall 2018: to pay for a JEA single-year membership fees for up to 10 new IHSPA member advisers.

Awards and Honors: Congratulations to Lake Central’s Sarah Verpooten and Carrie Wadycki for being inducted into Ball State’s J Day Hall of Fame.

Student media honors: One Indiana newspaper is among 67 middle school and high school student newspapers and newsmagazines named as a finalist in the NSPA Pacemaker competition to be recognized in Chicago in early November.

Congratulations to the Carmel HS Hilite and adviser Jim Streisel, MJE for being named a Pacemaker Finalist.

Congratulations also to the winners of the 2018 JEA Junior High/Middle School National Media Contest. Special shout out to the Fishers Junior High students and adviser Kheira Adda and Westfield Middle School students and adviser Allie Staub for their many awards.

Iowa – Leslie Shipp, MJE

Johnston High School
6501 N.W. 62nd Ave.
PO Box 10
Johnston, IA 50131
Contact

Membership: JEA members in Iowa number 50, slightly more than last year with six new people joining since July. Emails and contact by phone have been utilized to reach out to newer members.

Happenings: The Iowa High School Press Association’s state conference will be held at the University of Iowa Oct. 25. Brian Ross formerly of ABC News is the scheduled speaker. The conference will feature a modular schedule. In previous years, most sessions were the same length of time. Now sessions will be different lengths depending on topics being presented.

The All-Iowa News Teams earned banners in lieu of plaques last year, the thinking being the banners are contemporary and would be easier to hang. Positive feedback was given about the banners. The banner awards will now be extended to top yearbook staffs.

The On-the-Spot photography contest will be replaced with a social media contest. No lab was available for photography. Posting photos and writing to social media seemed better logistically and a logical fit for teenagers.

It was decided to add the following categories for the 2019 Spring contest: Video News Program, Video and Print Ads, Entertainment and Review.

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners has created an English All endorsement that will allow English teachers to teach drama, debate and journalism. The journalism endorsement can still be earned after taking 15 hours of credit. The English All endorsement will require 40 hours in a variety of areas. The implications of this change are not yet known.

Awards and Honors: Mina Takahashi of Iowa City High School was named Iowa High School Journalist of the Year.

Kansas – Susan Massy

Shawnee Mission Northwest H.S.
2701 W. 67th St.
Shawnee, KS 66216
Contact

Membership: JEA membership is up by almost 12 percent in Kansas with 128 members.

Events: The biggest news coming out of Kansas scholastic journalism right now is not a happy story. The ACLU has filed suit against the Shawnee Mission School District for allegedly violating students’ free speech rights. Students complained in April after administrators in several schools allegedly censored students during the nationwide walkouts protesting gun violence. Among other incidents, students said a Hocker Grove Middle School principal pushed a student for mentioning school shootings in a speech and an administrator at Shawnee Mission North High School confiscated a student journalist’s camera.In a statement to the Kansas City Star, Lauren Bonds, ACLU legal director said, “Instead of simply acknowledging their violation of student First Amendment rights, the district appears to be doubling down on the mistakes they’ve made.” She said the ACLU “wouldn’t have even filed the lawsuit had the district simply acknowledged what they’d done wrong and changed its policy.”KSPA will be working with JEA, NSPA, SPLC and other journalistic organizations to file an amicus brief to the court.

The annual fall conference was expanded from three to four sites in the hope of better serving our membership. Instead, attendance dropped significantly and we are working to determine the cause. At the Wichita State, K-State and Fort Hays State conferences, Jamie Squire, Getty Images photographer, delivered the keynote. At the University of Kansas, Keith O’Brien, author and reporter, inspired students with his keynote.

The KSPA board is beginning work on a new strategic plan. Our plan is to dream big so that we can do big things. We have an energetic board that is ready to get things done, to ignore old procedures and to seek new answers to old questions. Obviously, we don’t know what exactly what the strategic plan will be but we are working to find ways to increase membership through outreach and through taking a hard look at our current programming.

The first round of monthly contests offered by KSPA has already been submitted and is awaiting judging.

We are proud to announce that Kansas has added a new JEA mentor, Kelly Neiman, retired adviser from Topeka Seaman High School. With a total of three mentors in the state, we are looking forward to an increase in the number of young teachers who can be helped and encouraged.

Awards and Honors: We are particularly proud of our Kansas student journalists and their advisers and offer a virtual high five to each of the following:

• J.D. Garber of Salina Central H.S. was named the winner of the 2018 Jackie Engel Award by the Kansas Collegiate Media. This is the equivalent of the Kansas Journalism Teacher of the Year.
• Mrs. Marla Hayden, CTE Coordinator, Wichita Public Schools, was named the Kansas Administrator of the Year. This award recognizes secondary school administrators who have stood up for the First Amendment and his/her students.
• John Walter of Junction City H.S. received the Sunflower Award which recognizes a new adviser who shows enthusiasm and dedication to building a strong journalism program.
• Daisy Bolin of Shawnee Mission East. was named the State Student Journalist of the Year and represented Kansas in the national competition. She was the head copy editor for both the Harbinger and the Harbinger Online. Rock Creek Jr/Sr High School student Natalie Lindsey was named 3A/4A Student Journalist of the Year, while Lincoln Jr/Sr High School student Dylan Babcock earned the 1A/2A honor. Bolin received a cash prize of $1,250 while Lindsey and Babcock each received $850.
• Aiden Werner, Maize Middle School, was named the winner of the Mary Patrick Aspiring Young Journalist Award which recognized the work of middle school journalism students.
• Yearbook Pacemaker Finalists: Kansas had four finalists last spring and two winners.

Kentucky – Larry Steinmetz, CJE

Bullitt East High School
11450 Highway 44 E
Mount Washington, KY 40047
Contact

Membership: Kentucky has 23 active members. That’s up from 15 in the spring.

Honors: Zach Combest was named the Kentucky Journalist of the Year.

Happenings: We held our first Kentucky Journalism Teacher’s Association retreat in the summer. We had nine attendees at Paul Dunbar High School and covered a lot of ground in ascertaining what teachers need going forward and some great ideas in how to grow our project. One key item we covered was attendance at JEA conventions. We have worked with schools to try to get them to Chicago and to Anaheim. We are also working on a variety of accompanying awards at the state level to bolster the number of Journalist of the Year entries.

Louisiana – Albert Dupont

Loyola University
School of Mass Communication
6363 St. Charles Ave. Box 201
New Orleans, LA 70118
Contact

Membership: We have 20 members as of Sept. 30, 2018 which is no change from the Spring 2018 report.

Events: The Fall 2018 Louisiana State JEA Conference was held Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 on the campus of Loyola University of New Orleans. We had 175 students and advisers in attendance for the one-day conference.

After a welcome by Dean Kern Maas and the new President of Loyola University New Orleans, we were honored to have Michael Smith of ESPN as our keynote speaker and do a question and answer session for the attendees. We also had many members of the New Orleans Press Club as presenters on topics such as writing, portfolios, online, social media, broadcast, print, crisis communication, design, yearbook, etc. Special sessions for yearbook were presented by Kathy Beers of Timber Creek High School in Fort Worth, TX. A complete list of speakers is available here.

Members of the Loyola University Social Media Strategies Class ran the social media for the event using the hashtag #LoynoJEA and the @JEALouisiana accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.

Awards and honors: As part of the Spring 2018 JEA Louisiana Conference, we presented yearbook awards for books produced in the 2017-18 school year. Here is a link to the winners in publication and individual student awards.

New JEA Louisiana Website: Thanks to SNO Sites, JEA Louisiana has a brand new website.

For the board: Keep up the great work!

Maine – Marcie Young

Presque Isle High School
16 Griffin St
Presque Isle, ME 04769
Contact

Membership: Maine currently has five members.

Maryland – Jessica Nassau, CJE

Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School
11710 Hunters Lane
Rockville, MD 20852
Contact

Membership: Maryland currently has 19 members.

State Events: The Maryland DC Scholastic Press association will be hosting Journalism Day at the University of Maryland Nov. 16. Each year, students get to attend three of the roughly 25 sessions offered on various topics. It’s the largest scholastic journalism event in Maryland, and we hope you’ll attend. This year’s keynote speaker will be Diana Sugg, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting at the Baltimore Sun. Register here.

Scholastic News: Nine Maryland school publications received CSPA Crown awards, up from five last year. Congratulations to all!

Future Plans:  Last year marked the reinstitution of our state Journalist of the Year Competition. The Maryland winner, Sarah Elbeshbishi from Watkins Mill High School, was named one of six runner ups at the national level! We will hold the competition again this year. Information will be sent out to JEA members in December, and the deadline to enter will be in February. Contact jnassau@cesjds.org for more information.

Massachusetts – Bretton Zinger, MJE

238 Austin St
West Newton, MA 02465
Contact

Membership: There are 34 members in Massachusetts, up from 33 in the spring.

Events: I attended the spring convention in San Francisco.

I attended and presented at the spring conference for the New England Scholastic Press Association (NESPA), as well as represented JEA at the adviser luncheon. I also served as a judge for the annual Special Achievement Contests, which honor individual student work.

I attended the June meeting of the Massachusetts Scholastic Press Association (MASPA), where we discussed, among other things, the perennial topic of how to increase participation in Massachusetts scholastic journalism, where there has been an ongoing difficulty in increasing engagement. Two MASPA events that came from this meeting were back-to-school workshops, one for yearbook advisers and one for newspaper advisers. MASPA (and Brian Baron, MJE, is the one who does the lion’s share of the work here) is also going to continue the process of having “All-State” honors in journalism, one goal of which is to identify early which students would be good candidates for the Journalist of the Year competition, as well as “Best of the Massachusetts High School Press” awards.

As I serve on the boards of both NESPA and MASPA, as well as JEA state director, I continue to try to use that position to spread the word on scholastic journalism and increase participation for publications, students and advisers in all of the organizations.

Outreach continues to try to bring new members into JEA, including directly contacting teachers/advisers.

Awards and honors: Cassidy Wang of Algonquin Regional High School was named Massachusetts Student Journalist of the Year.

Michigan – C.E. Sikkenga

1010 Franklin Ave.
Grand Haven, MI 49417
Cell Phone: 616-405-6712

Membership: We are currently at 82 members in Michigan.  That’s a net gain of 15 members since the 2017 fall report.

New Voices Legislation:  MIPA is closely monitoring the political situation/fall elections to see if the climate changes to become conducive to reintroducing the New Voices Legislation.

MIPA FALL WORKSHOP:  MIPA will host its annual fall conference Oct. 22 at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Mi.  We expect 1800 or so attendees and our usual menu of four blocks of hour-long sessions taught by a mixture of professionals, college journalists, high school teachers and other experts. Casey Nichols, MJE, will be our featured speaker.

MIPA MIDDLE SCHOOL CONFERENCE:  Our 2018 Middle School Conference is scheduled for Nov. 15 on campus at the MSU student union.

MIPA  SUMMER  WORKSHOP: From July 30-Aug. 3 MIPA hosted 306 students at Michigan State University for the annual summer workshop. Numbers were basically steady from 2017. MIPA is looking into ways to increase attendance for 2018.

• New workshop director Sara-Beth Badalamente, CJE, served as Assistant Director and outgoing Workshop Director Chad Sanders took his final turn in the director’s chair.
• MIPA members met for the annual think tank Sept. 15 to plan the 2019 Workshop.  The 2019 Theme is tentatively set as “MIPA makes…”
  • MIPA will have special preview T-shirts available for students attending the JEA/NSPA fall conference.

Awards:  CONGRATULATIONS to Jayna Salk of Troy High School for being named a “Rising Star.”

The following Michigan publications won awards at the 2018 Spring Conference in San Francisco.

• NEWSPAPER BEST OF SHOW: Special Edition – FIRST PLACE: The North Pointe:  Grosse Pointe North High School, Gross Pointe Woods, Michigan. Shari Adwers, MJE, adviser.
• NEWSPAPER BROADSHEET BEST OF SHOW  – 8th Place: The North Pointe:  Grosse Pointe North High School,
  Gross Pointe Woods, Michigan. Shari Adwers, MJE, adviser.

Minnesota – Laurie Hansen, MJE

5701 Stillwater Blvd. N.
Stillwater, MN 55082
Work Phone: 651-351-8128

Membership: Minnesota has 34 members (up 6 from 28 members last fall)

Key Projects: Minnesota is currently in a holding pattern with our New Voices Act. We will work to get the bill into committee hearings this upcoming session. Sandra Erickson, a Republican on the education committee, (one of the committees that needs to approve the bill) is not supportive of the group’s purpose. One difficult aspect of Minnesota is that we have so many separate groups to gain support from—the principals’ association, the superintendents’ association, the school board association, etc. We need to work on getting more testimony from students. We also need to rally parents of our publications students as they are the constituents who vote. Our difficulty is in the outlying area of the state where newspaper programs have been cut. It is difficult to make those legislators realize the importance of the bill. We have not had a recent flashpoint to make everyone rally behind the bill. All of our current sponsors are Democrats, so we continue to work on securing a Republican sponsor. While our legislature remains a Republican majority, we foresee continued slow progress.

My projects: In addition to my work on JEA membership, I continue to serve on the NSPA board. As part of a committee to generate increased membership in Minnesota High School Press Association and increase attendance to our state convention, we met to discuss an outstate convention–a smaller convention model in the northern area of the state. That way, schools from the outlying areas can take part in the state convention activities. We had a volunteer area, but the plans fell through when the site volunteers needed to know exactly how many people were coming. This was not possible, so at the end of summer, we shifted gears, and committee members met again to discuss an outreach plan to outlying advisers. MHSPA provided postcards inviting outstate advisers to come to the state convention on their own, and MHSPA/JEM would provide a night in a hotel prior to the state convention, a dinner and free registration to the convention. Our goal is to encourage these advisers that the convention events and networking is valuable, and, hopefully, they will bring their students next year. After the postcards were sent out by MHSPA, I also sent out note cards introducing myself and
offering my help in any journalistic area. I also hand wrote a personal invitation to come to the state convention. So far, two outstate advisers have accepted the invitation. To kick off this new idea, we added an additional event on the Monday evening before our convention. Laura Widmer and the staff at the NSPA/MHSPA offices will host a pizza/salad night to welcome these outstate advisers.  

Awards/Events, MHSPA Convention, Oct. 9: The Minnesota State High School Press Convention is on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the University of Minnesota. Local reporter Lindsey Seavert and photojournalist Ben Garvin will keynote the event. Seavert and Garvin recently completed a documentary project for KARE 11 news called “Lessons from Lucy Laney.” The work focuses on people who made a difference in the lives of grade school children. Ninety percent of the students at Lucy Laney School live in poverty. Seavert and Garvin will discuss how they found the stories in this series and the impact the project had on their storytelling. The current number of registered attendees is 431 students and advisers. Awards announced at the state convention include Gold Medallions (individual awards sponsored by MHSPA), Best of Show (in yearbook, newspaper, online newspaper and literary magazine, also sponsored by MHSPA) and All-State (a JEM-sponsored competition that awards gold, silver or bronze recognition and provides a mini-critique.)

Upcoming Events: Minnesota’s annual Arts Journalism Day at the Guthrie is in the planning stages. Students will tour the theater, discuss review writing with an arts critic from the Star Tribune and then view a matinee of a play (TBA). This event was cancelled due to lack of interest last spring, but I plan to offer it again to see what happens.

Shout-Outs: The Minnesota journalism community is proud of Rachel Steil, CJE, who is the Minnesota Journalism Educator of the Year. Rachel advises the Pony Express print and online newspapers at Stillwater Area High School in Stillwater, MN. Reid Westrum was also honored this year in the Minnesota Journalism Educator contest. Westrum advises the print and online newspapers and the yearbook for Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis.  

A shout out also goes to Lori Keekley, MJE, Scholastic Press Rights Director, for her work over the summer on a New Voices legislation website that will serve as a resource for those states working to pass anti-Hazelwood legislation.  

Visit our website.

Mississippi – R.J. Morgan, CJE

The University of Mississippi
102 Farley Hall PO Box 1848
University, MS 38677
Contact

Membership: There are 14 JEA members in Mississippi, 3 of which are new members. Membership is encouraged at all Mississippi Scholastic Press Association (MSPA) events and a link to future JEA conventions is posted on the MSPA website. JEA Membership is one of the first planks we talk about with new advisers at our Adviser Institute each June.

Events: MSPA will host its second annual statewide fall convention Oct. 25 at the University of Southern Mississippi (a new partner in crime). At our first event last year, we had 440 students from 28 schools! Many were already members, but several were new schools who would never have traveled to our other events at Ole Miss. This is an exciting new system for us, and I look forward to seeing how things play out this fall. Our traditional Spring Convention (formerly our only statewide event) will be April 1 at Ole Miss.

Awards and honors:Schools submitted entries for our yearbook and literary magazine contests back in September, and we saw an increase in our lit mag entries from 7 to 10 schools. After hearing about the successes of our friends at MIPA in Michigan, this spring MSPA will eliminate its Editor of the Year & other top individual awards and replace them with one pool of students recognized as “All-Mississippi.” Students will be required to submit a portfolio of work instead of just letters of recommendation, and from this one pool we will also name our JOY. Winners will be announced at the MSPA spring convention on April 1, where our Newspaper and Broadcast division awards will be presented.

First Amendment-related concerns:Though no major issues are pressing, Mississippi continues to struggle, as many states do, with heavy-handed administrators, prior review and de facto censorship. It has occurred to me that school administrators most likely have differing ideas about what the First Amendment even means, and I am currently developing a qualitative study instrument in order to research this theory at high schools across the South.

For the board: I am excited to see the JEA Adviser Institute relocate to our backyard. Engaging, educating and empowering journalism advisers in a region plagued by poverty and underfunding is a wise strategic positioning, and I hope Mississippi can be of help moving forward.

Missouri – Erin Sucher-O’Grady, CJE

Clayton High School
1 Mark Twain Circle
Clayton, MO 63105
Contact

State Organization Websites:

http://www.missourijea.org/

http://mipajournalism.com/

http://journalismstl.com/

http://jemkc.org/

Membership: Missouri has a total of 151 members as of Sept. 25. Voting members include Teacher/Adviser, Emeritus Teacher/Adviser, Lifetime Teacher/Adviser members, Affiliates (with director as voting member).

Happenings:

• MJEA (Missouri Journalism Education Association) Partner Events
  • Hosted J-Day Sept. 18 at SEMO sponsored by Jostens
  • Hosted Student Newspapers Online days at Kirkwood High School Sept. 12-13
  • Hosted a FREE Adviser Teach-In and Retreat at Kirkwood High School Sept. 14-15.
  • Again offered an opportunity to send a NEW adviser to this convention for their first time (the adviser is in their first or second year of advising) by taking care of the cost of the hotel and registration.
  • This year, MJEA we will be starting a critique program. We will offer one critique each semester open to any publication. More details will be sent about that in early September.
    
  • MJEA will again provide the opportunity to have your students and program recognized in our state contests including the All-State Journalism Honors, Student Journalist of the Year, Teacher of the Year, Administrator of the Year, Rising Star, Friend of Journalism, Journalism Honor Roll and more than 20 individual student contests.
  • Mizzou Leadership Day and our MJEA Day at Webster will both happen in the Spring this year.
  • MJEA is planning to grow their mentoring program.
  • We are excited about the tours, educational working opportunities and combined learning that we are planning for this school year, including adviser socials in multiple areas of the state and meet ups at the JEA/NSPA National Conventions.
  • We are looking forward to a couple of equipment giveaways this year to help your programs. Look for us at local conventions or keep an eye out in your email for those chances.
• Journalism STL

Events

• The journalismSTL executive board is pleased to announce that Chris Canipe is the keynote speaker for the 2018 fall conference. Chris Canipe is a senior visual journalist at Axios, a startup news organization based in Washington, D.C., which means he tells stories with charts and data. He spent six years on the graphics team at The Wall Street Journal (where his work earned him a Pulitzer Prize) and has taught data visualization at Columbia University and the Missouri School of Journalism (his alma mater). He works remotely from his home in Kansas City.
• The conference is Tuesday, Oct. 23 at Saint Louis University. Watch journalismSTL.com for registration information.

Scholarships and Grants

• The Bruce Schneider Memorial Leadership Scholarship is given to one student to reward and encourage publications editors and school leaders to continue their leadership talents into college. Students do not have to pursue journalism in college to qualify. It is $2,000.
• The Curtis Kenner Grant provides money toward summer journalism workshops for high school students. Their advisers must be active participants in jSTL. Grants up to $300 will be paid directly to the camps. This grant is only for camp registration fees and cannot be used for travel and lodging. The number of grants depends on the money available each year.
• The H.L. Hall Advisers Grant is awarded in the spring, this $300 scholarship goes to journalism advisers who are seeking to further their knowledge of journalism by attending a summer
  workshop or a journalism class.
• MIPA (Missouri Interscholastic Press Association)
  • MIPA will host its annual Journalism Day Wednesday, March 25 at MU in Columbia. The event draws more than 1,000 high school journalism students and their advisers. Students attend sessions taught by MU Journalism faculty, MIPA high school journalism teachers and professional journalists. MIPA’s Student Journalist of the Year, Teacher of the Year and Emerging Journalism Educator will be honored as well as hundreds of students who entered MIPA’s annual journalism contest.
  • MIPA will offer monthly photo contests, challenges, and regional workshops again this year.
  • MIPA hosted their third annual Journalism Summit Sept. 29 at East Central College.
  • Membership continues to be at an all-time high.
  • MIPA sends out opportunities through their listserv for upcoming contests and journalism workshops, such as those hosted by the University of Missouri-Columbia.
  • SchoolJournalism.org, supported by MIPA, reaches hundreds of online readers each week, and over 9,000 subscribers with its email newsletter. If you have an amazing lesson or an article you’d like to share nationally, or know a pro who would make a good feature in the new “Q and A with the Pros” series, drop them a line atmipajourno@gmail.com. SchoolJournalism.org welcomes new contributors!
• JEMKC (Journalism Educators of Metropolitan Kansas City)
  • Hosted their Fall Social — Wednesday, Sept. 19 from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
  • Will host their Winter Brunch  — Jan. 19 at 10 a.m.

• Join members for brunch as we listen to a featured speaker and discuss current issues

• • Will again host contests for individual categories for yearbook, newspaper, broadcast, web and new member scholarships for juniors and seniors in March

• Events To Be Determined:

• SNO Event – Hands-on training with experts from School Newspapers Online
• College Board Panel – Join us as former students enrolled in journalism programs in the surrounding areas discuss preparations, expectations for college-level classes.

Montana – Linda Ballew, MJE

2212 4th St. S.
Great Falls, MT 59405
Contact

Membership: Although Montana has always reported a small but relatively stable membership, interest in attending and participating in fall/spring meetings/contests has once again diminished. The number of returning members has diminished. This is due in part to retiring advisers and cuts in co-curricular programs. However, the number of new advisers has started to encourage the MJEA board. Currently, MJEA has 21 members, which is an increase from last fall, and although we have recently had an addition of two new JEA members, these advisers have not joined MJEA. Our membership also includes two of Linda Ballew’s new mentees who have been given honorary two-year memberships.

• MJEA’s highly motivated and action-orientated president. Beth Britton, CJE, the CMR adviser of the Stampede and Russellog from Great Falls, MT, continues to diligently work to assist the state’s journalism advisers through the dissemination of information and resources, working closely with the University of Montana School of Journalism and JEA’s state director Linda Ballew, MJE. She is beginning her sixth year as MJEA president.
• Both Beth and Linda continue to request input on how to reorganize the association as well as what kind of resources would assist Montana advisers more effectively. Advisers are willing to use the resources Beth and Linda provide; however, they are not willing to engage in working within the framework of the organization.
• To gain a better understanding of this issue, we have reached out to former members and high school journalism programs throughout the state with surveys, emails, letters and requests to submit and participate in adding content and providing suggestions for updating mjeajournalism.com
• The gap left in MJEA’s executive board continues to not be filled. We hope to encourage younger members to become engaged in MJEA. Montana journalism programs have undergone dramatic turnover with new advisers taking the helm of journalism programs in many of the small, rural as well as larger high schools. It is obvious that younger advisers need to find reasons to be professionally involved with our organization to revitalize what MJEA can offer to a diverse state membership.
• Maintaining and expanding MJEA and JEA membership continues as always to be a top priority.
• Britton and Ballew continue to email advisers encouraging them to communicate with us, retain membership in MJEA and JEA and participate in adding content and discussion to mjeajournalism.com
• Britton and Ballew have continued to send resource materials and membership forms in the mail encouraging communication and membership in MJEA and JEA.
• Ballew has an outreach to new advisers through JEA’s Mentor Program. She currently has two Montana mentees in Lewistown and Billings, and one in Las Vegas. These advisers have been given access to MJEA and JEA membership.
• Yearbook advisers comprise a majority of MJEA’s membership. Britton and Ballew have decided to take on more responsibility for the state journalism contest to ensure that yearbook programs as well as social media programs will continue to have critique and contest services as well as the current newspaper and online publications. These have begun this fall of with an emphasis on broadcast workshops as this is how our advisers will be able to apply for CTE in Montana.
• Information regarding the fall convention in Chicago, resources from the New York Times, various articles and a look at an amazing multimedia project are only a few of the posts on our website. This site continues to provide resources and information. Britton has also requested the following from our members and state advisers encouraging them to post to the site:
• 1. Photos of their students in action, their classrooms, guest speakers, etc.
• 2. Short opinion pieces written by advisers. Britton would like to have their voices on the site.
• 3. Ideas for other advisers – lessons, celebrations, classroom set-up…
• There will be no MJEA presence at this year’s MFPE convention in Billings, MT. MJEA with PBS will offer a two-day broadcast workshop for students and advisers instead.
• We are hoping for a larger presence at next year’s teachers’ convention and in the future – The 2020 teachers’ conference will be in Great Falls. We will be there!
• Developing interest in JEA membership has also been encouraged by pointing to the value of JEA’s dynamic journalism curriculum. This continues to perk interest in JEA. Advisers express their appreciation for the thorough and in-depth lessons, rubrics, Common Core Standards’ alignment and assessments that they can access for both in their classrooms as well as with administrators who want advisers to demonstrate curricular accountability.
• We appreciate JEA’s interest in their outreach to our advisers as two of Montana’s advisers from Garfield High School were chosen for the JEA/NSPA Partner Project. MJEA had wished for more contact and an ability to participate with these two young advisers, one of whom is not an MJEA member. Neither of these advisers have contacted MJEA even though multiple attempts to reach out to them have been made.
• We had hoped for more input into the date of the workshop as we made efforts to have other Montana advisers participate, but the date did not work for many of them, and they were unable to participate in this workshop.
• Importantly. MJEA would very much like to say, Thank You to Michelle Balmeo, MJE, Ellen Austin, MJE and JEA/NSPA for traveling to Montana and providing such an extraordinary experience for these two advisers and their students. This was a remarkable opportunity. Read about the Partner Project experience in Jordan here.

Awards: JEA/NSPA Partner Project was awarded to Garfield High School in Jordan, Montana.

Happenings:

• 2018 Student Reporting Labs at PBS NewsHour: Montana PBS, based out of Bozeman, Montana, is offering a free two-day workshop for Montana’s high school journalism students and educators Oct. 18-19. This has been in the works for several months, and teachers who attend will earn OPI credit. The workshop is designed for both beginner and more advanced broadcast programs. One of PBS’s goals is to make connections with young journalists throughout Montana, and eventually feature much of their work on the station. As more and more journalism programs move online, the video component of reporting is increasingly important and relevant to young readers/viewers. The workshop will be led by PBS producers Chris Seifert and Beth Saboe — along with several people from the Student Reporting Labs at PBS NewsHour.
• The first day of the workshop will focus on ethics, lighting, audio and shooting. Each school will bring its own equipment so the professionals at PBS can help everyone learn to make the best use of what they already have without the need to purchase expensive equipment. The second day will find the young journalists and their teachers out capturing footage in Bozeman. They will return and learn the basics of editing, logging and storing that footage. The workshop will end when each group shares its project.
• The JEA office has been an essential asset because of the wonderful people in the office. They continue to help us by sending support materials as we try to enlist new members. The staff has also been essential in helping with materials that reinforce classroom issues and support Linda’s mentees. Thank you so much!

For the Board:

From MJEA president, Beth Britton: “Funding and support for scholastic journalism in the state of Montana is on shaky ground. Few schools offer journalism classes, and even many of the largest AA schools offer little more than a yearbook class or club. There are a few programs that continue to publish newspapers, offer introductory journalism classes and produce broadcast options. We at MJEA continue to stress the importance of journalism in the overall curriculum and aim to grow our numbers. Developing a support system for the few of us who teach journalism in the massive Big Sky Country is key – we need to bridge the hundreds of miles that separate our schools.”

Please visit our website.

Nebraska – Marsha Kalkowski, MJE

Marian High School
7400 Military Ave.
Omaha, NE 68134-3398
Contact

Membership: Current records show Nebraska membership at 63 members. This is up four members since Spring 2018!

Events: Nebraska will continue working toward New Voices legislation. Leading the statewide effort to get the bill passed is Michael Kennedy, a professor of journalism at Chadron State College. His email is michaeldkennedy1954@yahoo.com and phone, 308-432-6047. Professor Kennedy has enlisted the support of a number of state organizations, including the Nebraska High School Press Association.

A number of Omaha Public School advisers attended the JEA Advisers Institute again this past summer.

NHSPA will held a Fall Convention at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Monday, Oct. 15, kicking off with keynote speaker, Boyd Huppert, an award-winning reporter with KARE in Minneapolis. We expect more than 500 students to attend. For a full program, see NHSPAonline.org.

NHSPA held a Summer Journalism Workshop July 16-18, 2018. More than 100 students attended this workshop, themed “Varsity Journalism” at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Speakers included Scott Winter, Emily Arnold, CJE, Jim Streisel, MJE, Bruce Thorson, Rod Satterthwaite, MJE, and Taylor Siebert. Contact workshop director Diane Schieffer at dschieffer@epsne.org for more information for summer 2019. We welcome students and advisers from other states!

Nebraska will have a strong showing of participants at the fall JEA/NSPA Fall Convention in Chicago. Thanks to the local committee for all their work in making it happen.  We hope to have a few schools in attendance in Anaheim. We congratulate Lori Larson who will be recognized as a Rising Star in Chicago and all advisers who will be recognized at the adviser luncheon.

Awards and honors: Nebraska JEA will sponsor a Winter Contest.  More than 30 member schools are expected to participate. Thanks in advance to our JEA friends from around the country who will help volunteer judge for us!

North Platte Adviser Lori Larson will be named the Nebraska Distinguished Adviser for 2018.  

We congratulate Millard West High School for having a Newspaper Pacemaker Finalist this fall. The adviser of The Catalyst is Mark Hilburn, MJE.

For the board: Continued thanks for all you do for us!  Thanks for motivating and encouraging. Thanks for providing resources and inspiration!

Nevada – Matt LaPorte, CJE

Southwest Career and Technical Academy
7050 W. Shelbourne Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89113
Contact

Membership: Membership for Nevada continues to remain consistent with an uptick of +1 in membership. Important announcements and communication with members and non-members alike continue to be forwarded as needed.

Events: Tara Verderosa of Spring Valley High School is sponsoring an overnight trip to the University of Nevada-Reno as part of the Upward Bound program to give student journalists a chance to interact with the professors and current college students of the Reynolds School of Journalism. It is the hope of Verderosa to make this a yearly tradition to support those interested in pursuing a career in journalism.

Awards and honors: Tara Verderosa and the staff of The Grizzly Growler were named NSPA Pacemaker Finalists for their print publication.

For the board: As numbers for scholastic journalism programs across the state of Nevada continue to fluctuate, with more fluctuating in a downward fashion, it would be great to have a current, research-supported tool to help articulate the benefits of being a member of a scholastic journalism program. The NAA Research report“High School Journalism Matters” celebrates it’s 10-year anniversary this year and has been a great way to show students and parents alike why it’s worth being a journalist. Unfortunately, some of the data is starting to show its age and it would be great if JEA could find a way to partner or encourage an updated study to help out those that need a resource such as this.

New Hampshire – Adam Theriault

Souhegan High School
412 Boston Post Rd
Amherst, NH 03031
Contact

Membership: New Hampshire has five members throughout the state.

Events: Oct. 15 marks the first virtual training session sponsored by the JEA Partner Project.  Students from Souhegan High School and The Derryfield School will take part in this full-day training focusing on leadership, social media, broadcasting and sports writing.  

Awards and Honors:  The New Hampshire chapter of JEA is in the process of establishing the JOY state competition and will be actively collecting and judging portfolios by next year.

New Jersey – Greg Gagliardi, CJE

Cherry Hill High School East
1750 Kresson Road
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
Contact

Membership: Our membership has grown to 65 members, which is a more than 10 percent growth since the spring.  Our monthly GSSPA meetings typically have 10 to 20 members present, so we would love to not only increase our membership, but to also increase the number of people we see on a monthly basis.  If you are interested, please email me atgreggagliardi@gmail.com.  We have monthly meetings in Clark, NJ, and dinner is always provided.

Events: We are currently planning our annual fall conference, which takes place at Rutgers University in New Brunswick Monday, Oct. 29, two days before some of us will take off for Chicago.  There will be two on-site competitions — one for writing and another for social media — as well as four different time slots of sessions. Schools will find out who won individual awards for online, print, broadcast and yearbook.  Our biggest awards — the Distinguished Journalism Award and Overall Excellence — will be presented at the start of the day.

Awards and honors: The GSSPA website will soon include the finalists for each of the awards referred to above. Our Twitter account  has them in the meantime.  Last year NJ had more teams as finalists in the Quiz Bowl than any other state and is hoping to make waves in this competition once again. Most schools in New Jersey did not start until September, so for most advisers, the year is still young and plans are still underway for publishing a first issue.

New Mexico – Nina Quintana, CJE

Bernalillo High School
148 Spartan Alley
Bernalillo, NM 87004
Contact

Membership: Current membership is 21. We are up five more new members from my spring semi-annual report. After speaking with several journalism educators, it looks like the work I will be doing with the New Mexico Public Education Department will continue to increase our numbers. There has been more inquiry and interest in how JEA can assist in professional development. Based on the meeting scheduled with the College and Career Readiness Bureau March 15, 2018 to discuss the journalism/communications pathway of study for our state, a committee has been formed to work on this pathway and to promote the importance of journalism education to high school administrators. Based on changes in graduation requirements for the class of 2022, the communication pathway could count as an alternative assessment in writing. The request needs to be sent to NMPED by January and we are hard at work to meet this deadline.

I will continue to reach out to New Mexico journalism advisers to increase NM membership. However, I believe that this initiative will be a positive catalyst to increasing these numbers.

Events/Happenings: The NMSPA State Leadership Conference will be hosted in January in Las Cruces, NM at Centennial High School. This will be the first year that the conference will be hosted outside of the Albuquerque area and planning for the event started Aug. 22, 2018 hosted by NMSPA President, Rebeca Zimmermann. The increasing involvement of students and schools has begun to take some of the pressure from previous concerns on the lack of schools competing which may negatively affect our current NMAA standing. With the new venue, we are hoping to see an increase of participation from those schools located in the southern region of the state. Last year we saw an increase in attendance, which was exciting. Based on the growth of broadcast programs, there will be a need to develop more on-site competitions. The summer journalism workshop hosted by Rory McClanahan, NMPA President, was rejuvenated and plans are in place to continue the event.

First Amendment Issues: I have been asked to speak at the New Mexico Council for Teachers of English Oct. 27, 2018. The theme for this year’s Fall conference is Nuestras Voices-Speaking out for Equity and Justice. This conference is a good fit to engage attendees in dialogue around the New Voices movement and spark interest in the movement here in New Mexico. I have reached out to Lori Keekley, MJE, who is assisting me with resources.  

Our state concerns continue; however, I am actively meeting with representatives from the NM Public Education Department to address the concerns expressed from the members of JEA and continue to meet NMPED throughout the year. I have copied these concerns form my last report:

• As I have been meeting with advisers two major concerns have come up. First, there has been a trend in schools cutting yearbook programs and journalism programs, moving them to a club activity and/or after school program. The number of students enrolling in student newspaper has decreased since the state took away the communications credit and changed to an elective credit. Additionally, programs are not receiving funding to support printing and/or to revamp their programs to meet a more modern newsroom.
• The second area of concern is the lack of publications policies in school districts and the challenges of trying to get publications policies adopted by school districts. For example, I tried to submit a policy from the NSPA to be read by our school board for adoption. I was not put on the agenda and received an email from the superintendent with a document from the school’s lawyer stating that what I proposed was not necessary and sent a policy that spoke more about student council than student publications. After speaking with individuals from other school districts, we noticed the same trend with journalism advisers appealing to school districts to adopt publications policies and receiving similar policies that do not truly address student publications.  

Conversation is in the works to add our state to the New Voices movement to change the mindset about student journalism and the positive impact these programs have on developing students into active, free thinking and well informed members of society that should have a voice.  

For the Board: I am excited to report that in January 2018, Yearbook and Newspaper were added to section ‘W’ of the NM STARS reporting which now qualifies these programs to not only be considered as English electives, but they can also qualify as CTE programs. Currently, the state is changing qualifications for alternative graduation requirements for the class of 2022 with CTE students under this umbrella of change. Because of this update, NM JEA members are working on further developing the communications pathway of study in under to be added to section ‘E’ of the NM STARS reporting system in order to qualify as one of the pathway options that would assist students with the updated graduation requirements. As I continue to meet with representatives of NMPED/CCRB, the focus of these conversations is the continuous development of the communications pathway of study. It is important to continue promoting the resources and opportunities for professional development considering JEA as the vehicle for training and further development for future journalism educators will be a key as these conversations move forward.

New York – Patrick Bernal, CJE

Marble Hill High School for International Studies
John F. Kennedy Campus
99 Terrace View Ave Rm 822
Bronx, NY 10463
Cell Phone: 646-675-2332

Membership: We currently have 33 members, up from 22 since the last report.

Events: JEA members Michael Simons, MJE, and Katina Paron, MJE, with the help of other supporters, continue to advocate for New Voices legislation in the New York state legislature. Both New Voices bills remain in committee. The next legislative session begins in January.

Additionally, Paron’s graphic novel journalism textbook, “A NewsHound’s Guide to Student Journalism,” will be published this month by McFarland Books.

Awards and honors: The winners of the 2018 Newsies will be announced at the 15th Annual High School Journalism Conference at Baruch College Nov. 9, 2018. The awards showcase the best in journalism from students at public high schools in New York. The event and awards are hosted by the NYC High School Journalism Collaborative at Baruch College and receive support from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism and the New York City Scholastic Press Association. Click here for more information.

For the board: This will be my final report as state director. Thank you for all your support for student journalism and best of luck in the 2018-2019 school year.

North Carolina – Marva Hutchinson

Providence Senior High School
1800 Pineville-Matthews Road
Charlotte, NC 28270
Contact

Membership: Current JEA membership total for North Carolina is 63—up 12 since spring 2018. Advisers currently may join/renew JEA through a joint membership opportunity with North Carolina Scholastic Media Advisers Association.

Events: North Carolina Scholastic Media Association continues to partner with Kettering Foundation’s National Forums Institute on a pilot program for North Carolina, exploring how scholastic journalism programs can make use of NIFI resource guides and deliberation forums. Kettering representatives have met with the North Carolina Scholastic Media Advisers Association board and have traveled to Chapel Hill to teach student leadership sessions. And now NCSMA Director Monica Hill, CJE, and outgoing NIFI board member Dr. Jerry Brown will bring the NIFI resources to the National High School Journalism Convention in Chicago. North Carolina adviser Bryan Christopher, who has taught NIFI sessions at NCSMA events, will also offer two sessions in Chicago, one for students and one for teachers.

Our Mountains to Coast fall regional workshops will conclude Nov. 8 with the South-central Piedmont Regional Workshop sponsored by The Charlotte Observer.  Our four workshops are co-hosted with news outlets and universities across our state. They offer low-cost workshops for students who may not otherwise attend a scholastic journalism event. Registration fee of $15 includes lunch. We begin Oct. 9 at Appalachian State University, then travel to UNC-Chapel Hill, then across the state to East Carolina University in Greenville.

Former Sports Illustrated writer Tim Crothers continues to offer top-notch sports journalism instruction to students who participate in the Carolina Sports Journalism Camp. Forty students from across the country take a behind-the-scenes sports media tour, interview a Tar Heel athlete, attend a UNC-CH sports writing class and learn sports play-by-play. The 2019 dates are June 26-29. Registration is open here.

The 2018 summer North Carolina Scholastic Media Institute provided four days of intense instruction in yearbook, news, broadcast news, online news, literary magazine, design, advising and photojournalism for students and teachers from across the state.  The 2019 dates are June 17-20. In the last three years, we have added a Leadership Boot Camp and a Creativity Boot Camp as part of the institute.

Each summer NCSMA offers graduate-level courses in the School of Media and Journalism specifically for high school journalism teachers. Funding for tuition and lodging is available to North Carolina high school journalism teachers through NCSMA’s Journalism Education Fellowship Program. The summer 2018 course, “Teaching Journalism in the Secondary School,” was offered this July. The summer 2019 course will be “Teaching Broadcast Journalism in the Secondary School.”

North Carolina’s High School Journalist of the Year now receives a $3,000 scholarship, the Rachel Rivers-Coffey Scholarship, funded by the North Carolina Press Foundation. The tradition of providing funds to each winner’s journalism program continues. The statewide winner’s journalism program receives $500. The scholarship program now awards three scholarships to three alternates. Each will receive $1,000. Each student’s journalism program will receive $250.

North Carolina continues to participate in the JEA Mentor Program. Candace Brandt, Steve Unruhue, CJE, Carol Eanes, CJE, and Brenda Gorsuch, MJE, now serve as mentors.

Awards: Click here for a complete list of North Carolina Scholastic Media statewide contest results. During the N.C. Scholastic Media Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill, NCSMA awarded 13 Tar Heels, the highest student media recognition.

NCSMA also awarded its annual Kay Phillips Distinguished Service Awards to longtime board members Disa Stephenson and Janet Cooke.

NCSMA’s endowed workshop scholarship program allowed the organization to recognized four top-performing students at the annual North Carolina Scholastic Media Institute. The Daily Tar Heel cash awards went to Isaac Naylor of East Mecklenburg High and to Katelyn Vargas of Cardinal Gibbons High. The Don Curtis cash awards went to the two top broadcasting students at the event, Drew Dacey of Arendell Parrott Academy and Brahman Batsuli of Providence High. Each of the four students received $625 cash scholarships.

Congratulations to Kelly Furnas, MJE, of Elon University, for being named an NSPA Pioneer Award winner.

North Dakota – Jeremy Murphy, CJE

West Fargo High School
801 9th St. E.
West Fargo, ND 58078
Work Phone: 701-499-1864

Membership: We currently have eight members.

Happenings: The North Dakota student media organizations are in the second year of a transition to the North Dakota Student Media Association. Check out our website. This organization is a collaborative relationship with the North Dakota Newspaper Association and the North Dakota Professional Communicators (a college journalism organization) where high school members are able to interact with college media students, teachers and professors from colleges and universities. The NDSMA fall conference will take place Nov. 9 at Bismarck State College. The speakers are here.

Awards and honors:The North Dakota Student Media Association is taking the place of the previous state journalism organization, the Northern Interscholastic Press Association, which was in existence since 1922. The first annual spring competition for NDSMA was last May in conjunction with the North Dakota Newspaper Association annual convention in Bismarck, ND. The awards from the NDSMA spring competition can be found here.

Ohio – Maggie Cogar, CJE

401 College Ave.
138 Center for the Arts
Ashland, OH 44805
Contact

Membership: The Ohio JEA membership is at 78 members, up from 58 members since the spring report. Efforts are being made to recruit JEA members in Ohio. The Ohio Scholastic Media Association (OSMA) currently offers JEA membership through the state registration forms and Maggie Cogar, CJE, Ohio JEA state director, and Candace Bowen, MJE, use state press association events to inform Ohio advisers on the benefits of joining JEA. Also, email marketing using Constant Contact newsletters are being sent to all JEA and OSMA members, as well as to a database of over 800 administrators across the state, in an attempt to increase membership for both JEA and OSMA.

Events: Ohio JEA and OSMA continue to offer events for scholastic media advisers and student journalists throughout the school year. This fall, the OSMA executive board will host three regional workshops in October. The region 1 workshop at Kent State was Oct. 4, the region 5 workshop at Otterbein University was Oct. 8 and the region 4 workshop at Bowling Green State University was Oct. 15. While region 1 and region 5 in the state continue to show growth, the OSMA executive board is struggling to keep a fall workshop going in region 4, or the northwest part of the state, where numbers remain low. The board also struggles to reach advisers in the southwest and southeast regions of the state, an issue that is actively discussed at every meeting. Audrey Wagstaff, MJE, is currently working to get a region 3 fall workshop going at Wilmington College for Fall 2019.

The annual state convention will be held April 12-13, 2019 at Kent State University, where the board anticipates over 500 students and advisers in attendance. This event is where the state will also award over 1,000 individual awards to student journalists in pre-entered categories in writing, design, photography, broadcast, yearbook and online.

Awards and honors: Julieanne Ford, Lakota East High School, was the state winner in the 2018 Ohio Journalist of the Year competition (Dean Hume, adviser).

For the board: One of the largest accomplishments and highlights of OSMA in recent years is the addition of an active OSMA student board. This student board, advised by JEA members Karen Allen and Dean Hume, is comprised of 11 students from regions across the state. Student representatives attend two meetings a year and organize sessions for both the fall workshops and spring state convention. They also offer feedback after each workshop or convention and that feedback has led OSMA to offer different types of sessions and change the schedule of workshops to better meet student and adviser needs. Most importantly, it has allowed students to have a voice within the organization.

The OSMA executive board is also in the process of updating the rubrics used to judge the state competition. The rubric committee (led by JEA members Juli McClain, CJE, Angela Spano, CJE, and John Bowen, MJE) is in the process of updating the judging rubrics to address adviser concerns. Also in Ohio, JEA member Mark Goodman is leading the process of gathering evidence to support New Voices Legislation. He is currently seeking testimony from advisers and student journalists in Ohio to support legislative efforts. I am currently working on my dissertation proposal titled “Censorship in High School Journalism: Examining administrative censorship practices and other factors in relation to the degree of student self-censorship.” This research, funded by the 2017 JEA national research grant, will focus on factors that correlate to student self-censorship rates, including examining the correlation rate of self-censorship to the rate of perceived administrative censorship. My goal is to have my dissertation proposal approved in time to conduct student survey research at the JEA/NSPA national convention in April 2019.

Oklahoma – Darla Tresner, MJE

3512 Harvey Road
Bartlesville, OK 74006
Contact

Membership: Oklahoma has 22 JEA members. JEA membership is promoted through workshops and conferences held at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, University of Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State University. It is also encouraged through emails, a dedicated Facebook page and by word of mouth.

Events and happenings: Oklahoma Scholastic Press Association conducts both fall and spring scholastic journalism conferences. They have a presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Fall scheduled workshops include Oct. 29 at the University of Oklahoma, Nov. 2 at Oklahoma State University and Nov. 14 at the University of Central Oklahoma. Upcoming projects include a member newsletter, regional adviser dinners and a possible adviser retreat.

Oregon – Brian Eriksen, CJE

South Salem High School
Contact

Membership: State membership in JEA and our state association are both above 50.

Events: Member schools will enjoy the Fall Media Day Program Oct. 24 hosted by our sister organization, Northwest Scholastic Press and School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon.

Awards and honors: Glenn Krake, CJE, from West Linn High School was our 2018 Mary Hartman Oregon Journalism Teacher of the Year.

Mentoring: There are three Oregon mentors this year: Ray Hopfer, CJE, Ellen Kersey, and Bill Flechtner, MJE. We are mentoring 10 new advisers in Oregon and other states. Thanks to Northwest Scholastic Press and Oregon Newspaper Publishers, the mentor program in Oregon is fully funded for the year.

Pennsylvania – Beth Ann Brown, CJE

Northeastern High School
300 High St.
Manchester, PA 17345
Contact

Membership: Pennsylvania has 67 members, an increase of 12 members from last year.

Events: The Pennsylvania School Press Association (PSPA) will host Student Journalism Competitions (SJCs) at six regional venues across the state throughout fall 2018. We have added a new site at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. We have also made changes to the photo competition (three photos representing assigned content) and the broadcast competition (up to three students can enter the broadcast carry-in as a team). Student winners in each category will compete at the statewide event hosted at the main campus of Penn State University in March. Further details about this event will be decided later in the year. Sample prompts were also made available to advisers this year to assist their students’ preparation for the regional competitions.

During our PSPA board meeting in July, Hadar Harris from SPLC shared information with us about New Voices, so each SJC location will have the option of including a similar presentation in the agenda for their event.

We are consistently looking for ways to increase opportunities for students to showcase their skills. The board welcomed two new PSPA members at the July meeting. In the spring, board members revised the newspaper rubric for summer critiques, and developed a new rubric and contest for web submissions. One school received a Gold rating for this new competition, The Friar’s Lantern from Malvern Preparatory School in Malvern, PA. Summer critiques are complete. Schools that earned a Gold rating will move onto the Keystone Award selection to be announced at the SJC finals in March.

Awards and honors: Teacher of the Year was awarded to Aaron Fitzpatrick, CJE, from Freedom Area High School. Rick Brooks, CJE, was announced as one of the five 2018 National Scholastic Press Association Pioneer Award Winners. Click here to see a list of the Pennsylvania Press Club 2018 High School Communications Contest Awards.

Rhode Island – Doreen Picozzi, MJE

Lincoln High School
135 Old River Road
Lincoln, RI 02865
Contact

Membership: Rhode Island currently has three members.

Awards and Recognition: Adam Zangari (‘19) of Lincoln High School (a NSPA/JEA school) represented the state as a Free Spirit Award and scholarship winner in July. Adam also attended a week at George Mason University as a scholar at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference (WJMC) which welcomes high school student leaders from all over the country as National Youth Correspondents.

Julia Lombardi (’18) was the first place scholarship winner in the Katie DeCubellis Foundation’s Distracted Driving Contest for her public service announcement. The 30-second spot aired on local television this past spring and summer.

Doreen Picozzi, MJE, was recognized as Lincoln District Teacher of the Year, largely for her work toward the establishment and success of her school’s CTE accredited Journalism & Broadcast Academy. Doreen will be one of the Rhode Island teachers considered for the 2020 state teacher of the year title in a process that begins this month.

Happenings: LHS Journalism Academy travels back to Gillette Stadium in November to participate in another highly effective Patriots-hosted visit to the stadium press box. About 50 students will be participating. Gillette officials provide journalism students with press kits and assign small groups to media outlets. Each group must produce coverage that reflects their medium as well as their point of view.

South Carolina – Leslie Dennis

South Carolina Scholastic Press Association and SIPA
800 Sumter St.
School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Columbia, SC 29208
Contact

Membership: The JEA directory shows 23 members in JEA, up five members from this time last year.

Happenings:

SCSPA

Fall Conference: SCSPA will hold its fall conference Thursday, Oct. 18, at the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Over 500 advisers and students are expected to attend the fall conference.  Literary magazine and yearbook evaluation and individual awards, as well as Bruce E. Konkle Rising Star Award, are presented during the spring conference.

Adviser Overnight: In August, we held a free-to-members 24-hour adviser retreat. Advisers that attended received 10 hours of continuing education credit and an option to stay on campus. Workshops ranged from creative content to social media to using Google to organize your classroom to worst case scenarios. It was our first year holding this event and we had 12 advisers attend.

Awards:

SCSPA Fall (2018) awards: These awards have yet to be determined and handed out.

Spring 2018 (handed out April 23) –

Find a full list of winners online

• Reid H. Montgomery Adviser of the Year: Stella McCombs, MJE, Stratford High School, “Real TV” broadcast adviser (Goose Creek, S.C.)
• Journalist of the Year: Vy Mai, South Pointe HS (Rock Hill, S.C.)
• SCSPA Scholarship: Kinsley Thurston, South Pointe HS (Rock Hill, S.C.)
• Best Broadcast: “The Buzz TV,” Fort Mill HS (Fort Mill, S.C.)
• Best Newspaper: The Cavalier, Richland Northeast HS (Columbia, S.C.)
• Best Online Media: The Wave Breaker, Summerville HS (Summerville, S.C.).

NSPA Newspaper Pacemaker finalist –Tribal Tribune, Wando HS (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.)

NSPA Broadcast Pacemaker finalists – “The Buzz TV,” Fort Mill HS (Fort Mill, S.C.); “RNE-TV,” Richland Northeast HS (Columbia, S.C.)

South Dakota – Marina Hendricks, CJE

South Dakota State University
School of Communication and Journalism
Box 2235
Yeager Hall 224
Brookings, SD 57007
Contact

Membership: South Dakota has seven members, up from three since the spring report. Members received an introductory email from the new state director that included information about the grant for First-time convention attendees. We plan to discuss JEA membership during the advisers’ meeting that will take place in conjunction with our fall convention.  

Events: The South Dakota High School Press Convention is shifting from spring to fall in 2018, so we are preparing to host our second one of the year Oct. 15 at South Dakota State University. We expect more than 225 students from throughout the state to attend, along with their advisers. Lori Keekley, MJE, director of the JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee, is the keynote speaker. Our summer high school journalism camp was cancelled, but we are optimistic about offering one in 2019.

South Dakota joined the New Voices campaign, thanks to an effort led by Gage Gramlick, editor-in-chief of the Statesman at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls. Gage gave a brief presentation at the spring convention and has been invited to do so again at the fall event.

Awards and honors: We held a high school journalist of the year competition in the spring for the first time in several years. The contest was not aligned with the national JOY program; we are looking at doing that in 2019. In addition, the South Dakota High School Activities Association conducts an annual contest to recognize excellence in newswriting, photography, newspaper and yearbook. The contest is being held twice this year in order to keep it aligned with the state convention.

Tennessee – Heather Nagel, CJE

Christ Presbyterian Academy
2323 Old Hickory Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37215
Contact

Membership: We have 49 members, which is up by three.

Events: Jimmy McCollum, the director of Tennessee High School Press Association, organized Tennessee High School Press Association’s annual Fall Workshop Sept. 24 at Lipscomb University, where 300+ students attended from all across the state of Tennessee. The Keynote speaker was Frank Daniels, who is the president of FW Publishing LLC. He spoke about his career and the importance of journalism. The list of the many sessions offered at the Sept. 24 workshop by 25 presenters can be found here.

For the first time, Tennessee High School Press Association is offering a Fall Workshop in West Tennessee! It will take place on the campus of Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson on Monday, Oct. 15.

The North Carolina Scholastic Media Association invites East Tennessee schools to one of its western-state workshops.

Mentor News: Joy McCaleb is our state’s JEA Mentor. She is a mentor to the following advisers and schools this year:

Kaela Sweeney is a return mentee. She started as online newspaper but also produced a literary magazine while Joy was working with her at Mt. Juliet. She later transferred to East Nashville Magnet High School where she has rejoined with Joy as a mentee. She is starting a brand new journalism program at this school.

James Peach is a new mentee. He runs an outstanding broadcast program at Mt. Juliet, but was faced with dealing with new curriculum and new set up. Joy is helping him with some basic contest guidelines and developing curriculum to fit state standards.

Brittany Lawton is also at Mt. Juliet and this is her second year as a mentee. She is working on an online program as well as teaching English. Joy and she are working on content development for her program.

Renee Craig, yearbook adviser at Upperman High School, is working with Joy to make her yearbook more up-to-date and contest ready.

Allison Mahan, a former mentee of Joy’s, was last year’s Journalism Teacher of the Year with THSPA.

Awards:

• At the Tennessee High School Press Association’s annual Fall Workshop Sept. 24, there were three competitions: Feature Writing Write-Off, Sports Writing Write-Off and a Photography Shoot-Off. All attendees were welcomed to compete.
• Tennessee is proud to announce that there were two Pacemaker Finalists (winners announced this Fall at Chicago) and 1 Pacemaker winner from our state announced at last spring’s JEA/NSPA convention in San Francisco.
• Tennessee is proud to announce that two Tennessee students won Honorable Mention for Individual Awards from National Scholastic Press Association.
• 32 Tennessee student journalists were honored as an NSPA 2018 Honor Roll of Student Journalist. Students were from St. George’s Independent School, Chattanooga Central High School and Christ Presbyterian Academy.
• There were two Tennessee schools who won a Crown from Columbia Scholastic Press Association last spring.
• Three Students were recognized by Quill and Scroll for their journalism work.

See a complete list of Tennessee award winners here.

Future Events: The JEA/NSPA Spring Convention is coming to Nashville, April 16-18, 2020, and we can’t wait to welcome all of y’all.

Texas – Leah Waters, CJE

Heritage High School
14040 Eldorado Pkwy
Frisco, TX 75035
Contact

Membership: Texas JEA membership has grown to 369, an increase of several dozen from the fall convention a year ago.

Events: TAJE hosted a Greater Houston Area regional workshop Sept. 8 that drew more than 80 people.

The TAJE executive board will meet again Friday, Oct. 19 prior to its Fall Fiesta convention in San Antonio that will run through Oct. 22. Three Trailblazers, a Pathfinder and a Friend of Scholastic Journalism will be honored at the luncheon.TAJE maintains Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to disseminate information from JEA and TAJE.

The Interscholastic League Press Conference State Convention will be May 4-5 at the University of Texas in Austin. The Association of Texas Photography Instructors will host its Winter Conference Feb. 22-24, 2019 at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Projects:

• New Voices Texas will be presenting a session at the Fall Fiesta convention to gather support for the bill’s reintroduction during the 2019 legislative session.
• TAJE is overhauling its efforts on mentoring scholastic media advisers in the state. We’ll be launching a website.
• Texas Educators Association is potentially forming committees to explore CTE courses. TAJE president Margie Raper, MJE, reached out to Laura Torres, the TEA CTE coordinator for career clusters Arts, AV Tech and Communications Information Technology. Torres said the Industry Advisory Committee is already closed, but she can report they have several committee members who are pro-journalism in CTE. She will be adding Raper to their proactive outreach communication. This will be helpful as they take their research and develop a final report/recommendations for TEA and SBOE regarding courses, curriculum and descriptions for college and career readiness clusters.

Awards and Honors:

• Alyssa Boehringer, CJE, of McKinney (Texas) High School will receive a Medal of Merit at JEA’s fall convention in Chicago for her significant contributions to scholastic journalism.
• NSPA announced four Texas schools as Broadcast Pacemaker Finalists and 14 Newspaper Pacemaker Finalists in September. CSPA also announced its Crown Finalists including 29 Texas high school publications among them.
• For a complete list of Texas award winners, click here.

Utah – Morgan Olsen

Rockwell Charter High School
3435 E Stonebridge Lane
Eagle Mountain, UT 84005
Contact

Membership: Utah has 11 JEA Members.

Events: The Utah College Media Alliance is hosting a free annual symposium at Utah Valley University to provide basic media and journalism training to high school students and advisors Friday, Nov. 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Utah College Media Alliance (UCMA) introduced information for the Coverage Cup competition. In its second year, this category for the Futures Awards is exclusively available to schools who participated in a Utah College Media Alliance program in 2018 (Futures Awards in May, Bootcamp in June, or are registered for the Symposium in November). There is no entry fee for this category and all schools are entered to compete after completing the Initial Entry Form.

Schools compete against each other by covering a special-interest topic of their choosing all year long and submitting their work in late April as part of the Futures Awards. More information can be found here.

Awards and honors: As I have just become the new state director, we did not have a Student Journalist of the Year for Utah this year, but plan to hit it hard next year.

For the board: The student-led New Voices movement is still well underway in Utah, aiming to get the issue of free speech for student journalists discussed in the 2019 legislative session. More information can be found on the New Voices of Utah Facebook page.

Vermont – Nancy Olson, CJE

45 Pratt Road
Putney, VT 05346
Contact

Membership: Vermont currently has five members.

Events:  News outlets in Vermont reported Sept. 11, 2018 that the principal of Burlington (Vermont) High School had censored the student newspaper, “The Register,” in violation of Vermont’s New Voices law, signed by Vermont’s governor in May 2017. Using public records, the students were the first to report that the Vermont Agency of Education had filed a series of licensing violations against the school’s guidance director. The account of the censorship was also posted on the JEA Listserv. I read that the newspaper staff had already contacted the Student Press Law Center. I emailed both the adviser to ask how I could help and the VTDigger reporter to comment on his reporting. I suggested he say “student newspaper” instead of “school newspaper.” He called, and I spoke with him a couple of times. The adviser and I exchanged several emails over the next several days. I express-mailed her a copy of Quill and Scroll’s “Principal’s Guide to Scholastic Journalism,” and I suggested she contact John Bowen, MJE, who put her in touch with Lori Keekley, MJE, the new SPRC director. After other news outlets reported the story, the principal allowed the students to repost the story and required The Register’s staff to submit all articles to him 48 hours before posting. Because of the subsequent uproar with the Vermont Press Association and others speaking out about these violations of Vermont law, the school board decided that the student journalists, the adviser, and others would develop a publications policy in line with Vermont law.

Virginia – Erinn Harris, MJE

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
6560 Braddock Road
Alexandria, VA 22312
Contact

Membership: Virginia currently has 101 members, an increase of 13 from the previous report.

Events: We are excited to renew our relationship with the Virginia High School League (VHSL), and co-sponsor the VHSL Media Championship Oct. 20 at Harrisonburg High School, in Harrisonburg, Va. Previously a series of championships held at various locations across the state, this year’s event will be a one-day workshop with strands for advisers, yearbook, newspaper, web, photography, broadcast, literary magazine and general topics. Shari Adwers, MJE, now a resident of the Commonwealth and teaching at Loudoun Valley High School, will be our keynote speaker. Other featured speakers include Kelly Furnas, MJE, from Elon University, previous advisers of the year Martha Akers, Mary Kay Downes, MJE, Alan Weintraut and Chris Waugaman,MJE, and JEA Curriculum Leader Abri Nelson, CJE.

One of these sessions will be a discussion of JEA’s One Book, “The Hate U Give,” which is timely, considering the movie comes out in theaters Oct. 5.

As we move forward with our New Voices initiative, one of sessions, led by James Madison University’s Roger Soenksen, will address issues on general student press rights, defamation, privacy rights and take-down requests.

In addition, we will also be administering the Certified Journalism Educator exam to five Virginia JEA members in the afternoon.

The VHSL Awards Ceremony will take place during the last block of the day, where VHSL will award Individual Multimedia Awards, critique awards and the Savedge Award for Sustained Excellence in Scholastic Journalism.

Planning for the 2019 JEA/NSPA in Washington, D.C., has already begun under the leadership of local committee chair, Meghan Percival, MJE. We have a logo, a slogan, a t-shirt design and many, many ideas to help attendees remember that journalism matters now more than ever.

Awards: It was an extremely exciting spring for Virginia Journalism – and for me. Christine Zhao, the Virginia Journalist of the Year, was named the National High School Journalist of the Year, a first for Virginia. Unfortunately, Christine was not in San Francisco for the convention, but I was speechless on her behalf for a solid 24 hours after the announcement. Christine will be joining us in Chicago as a speaker at the Thursday keynote.

Washington – Anne Hayman, MJE

Arlington High School
18821 Crown Ridge Blvd.
Arlington, WA 98223
Contact

Membership: Our organization currently has 97 state members, with 49 individuals also members of JEA. We are still early in the renewal of advisers and the registration of student members.

Board: A new board was voted into office May 5, 2018. Anne Hayman is the President. Teresa Scribner the Vice-President. Dave Riggs is continuing as Secretary. Dana Smith is the new Treasurer.

Events: Since the spring report, WJEA has hosted our annual Summer Workshop at Western Washington University. The theme of the camp was “It’s All Connected.” We hosted expert-in-residence Michelle Coro, CJE, from Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, AZ. We had 13 advisers and 60 students in attendance. We changed the format a bit and incorporated a simulation for our students.

Journalism Day-West was held Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 at the University of Washington. We had 481 students and 31 advisers in attendance. The day involved 24 journalism professionals and presenters as well. Visual Journalism Joshua Trujillo keynoted the event. He shared his experiences as a photographer but also as a visual journalist with Starbucks. His newest project is one called “Upstanders” that highlights individuals and charities that are doing extraordinary things.

Our Journalism Day-East will be held Oct. 29, 2018 at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA.  We anticipate 150-250 attendees. Photographer Jeff Cable will be our keynote speaker for the event.

Education: Our New Voices Legislation took effect June 7, 2018, so our board has been focusing on education of our members and their administration. We are in contact with the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) to see how we can help them share the new law with the school boards in the state.

Awards and Honors: As part of our state critiques, schools can choose to be considered for our Emerald Awards–formerly known as the Best of Washington. We recognized seven publications at our J Day West for their excellence.

Yearbooks: Glacier Peak High School, Cleveland High School (Seattle), and Inglemoor High School.

Website: Mountlake Terrace High School

Print Newspaper: Mountlake Terrace High School and Puyallup High School

Broadcast: Cleveland High School (Seattle).

West Virginia – Jessica Bramer, CJE

No report at this time
Contact

Wisconsin – Rachel Rauch, MJE

Homestead High School
5000 W. Mequon Road
Mequon, WI 53092
Work Phone: 262-238-5632

Membership: Wisconsin currently has 68 members.

Events: KEMPA’s annual Summer Journalism Workshop took place at Marquette University July 15-18 and was the most successful summer workshop to date.

KEMPA’s Fall Journalism Conference will take place at UW-Whitewater Oct. 1, 2018

KEMPA’s Winter Adviser Seminar will take place at Lake Lawn Lodge in Delavan, Wisconsin March 1-2, 2019 with Logan Aimone, adviser at University High School in Chicago, as our featured speaker. He will present the four main sessions and one breakout session.More information is available here.

NEWSPA’s deadline for Fall yearbook entries was Sept. 30, 2018. NEWSPA is hosting the Department of Journalism’s 50th anniversary professional development day featuring 40+ local and national speakers (it’s free). Learn more here.  NEWSPA’s spring conference program will be released online in January of 2019 and will take place at UW-Oshkosh April 10, 2019. For more information, click here.

Update on New Voices legislation: New Voices is a student-powered project of the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit advocate for the rights of student journalists. Organizations across Wisconsin are pushing for new laws that protect the rights of student journalists from censorship by school administration. This past August, KEMPA, NEWSPA and the Wisconsin College Media Association formed a coalition to write drafts of anti-censorship legislation and gather support. As of today, the campaign is still persisting in raising awareness and pushing for protection from censorship. As of now, there are campaigns in 20 of 50 states for protection from administration censorship, including Wisconsin; three states have guaranteed protection for high school and college students from censorship (North Dakota, Oregon, California); and six states (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, and Arkansas) and the District of Columbia have added protection for high school students only. In the remaining 21 states, no laws or campaigns exist. Follow New Voices of Wisconsin on Facebook for more information and updates on the campaign. There are no new recent updates on the Wisconsin New Voices front since this past report.

Wyoming – Dawn Knudsvig

Arvada-Clearmont High School
1601 Meade Ave.
P.O. Box 125
Clearmont, WY 82835
Work Phone: 307-758-4444

Membership: Wyoming’s JEA membership consists of 12 members.

Happenings: Board members have been meeting regularly to plan for the fall conference. Our fall conference will be held at Central Wyoming College in Riverton Wyoming on Nov. 5. This is a new venue for us and we are excited to have access to a journalism program and facilities for the students. This should provide some great hands-on learning opportunities and better exposure to journalism at the college level.

The organization has developed a new website and a new domain name was chosen. The site manager is Jill Miller, other board members for WHSSPA are: Lisa Gray President; Greg Rohrer, Treasurer: Dan Morris, Communications; Kelly Fulmer and Terri Brantz at large members, Anita Wertz, MJE, welcome contributor.

LIAISONS

National Scholastic Press Association – Laura Widmer

2829 University Ave. S.E., Suite 720
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Contact

Thank you for the opportunity to tell you about what’s going on at National Scholastic Press Association. We value our partnership with JEA and look forward to future conventions and projects for the betterment of scholastic journalism.

We had a busy summer with individual awards judging and Pacemaker judging. The NSPA Advisory Committee has made recommendations for new categories for the Best of Show competition, and those will be announced in Chicago and first implemented in Anaheim.

The Gloria Shields/NSPA Media Workshop was held June 25-28 at the Addison Marriott Quorum near the Galleria in Dallas. Workshop numbers continue to be solid with 637 attendees. We are thrilled to be a part of this legendary summer workshop.

We have started a new individual award for this academic year, the Climate Matters Story of the Year. NSPA has partnered with Climate Matters to share local climate reporting resources with reporters. There will be three cash prizes to the first, second and third place winners. Details will be provided prior to the Chicago convention.

Kelly Glasscock and I continue to work on fall and spring convention sites. We’ve signed contracts for Los Angeles; and are waiting for board approval for Portland and Philadelphia.

Five educators, who have shared their passion of scholastic journalism to students nationwide, have been recognized as NSPA Pioneers. Rick Brooks, CJE, Carrie Faust, MJE, Kelly Furnas, MJE, Dow Tate and Sally Renaud will be recognized at the Chicago awards luncheon. The Pioneer is the highest honor NSPA awards to journalism educators. Pioneers are individuals who make substantial contributions to high school journalism programs and scholastic journalism education outside their primary employment.

Prior to Chicago, we will be soliciting blogs from advisers and student editors to place on our website. If you have a blog, column, tips and advice you’d like to share, please reach out to us.

As executive director of NSPA, I value your opinion. I want to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out, and you may want to consider joining the NSPA Advisory Committee. You can reach me at laura@studentpress.org or my direct number is 612.200.9265.

Student Press Law Center – Hadar Harris Esq

1608 Rhode Island Ave.
Suite 211
Washington, D.C. 20036
Contact

I hope you had a great summer and are starting the year off well.  We, at the Student Press Law Center, have been gearing up and getting ready to help you fight the good fights for student press freedom.

New School Year, New Battles!

The school year ended last year with a high profile censorship battle at Prosper High School in Prosper, Texas and has started out with an equally contentious fight at Burlington High School in Vermont. Both cases were caused by a principal censoring the important work of student journalists.

In the Texas case, over the course of the school year, the principal censored several different articles in the Eagle News Online which he said did not show the school in a positive light.  He then banned the student editors from publishing any editorials. He also implemented a strict prior review policy. In the midst of these new policies, Prosper High School’s award winning journalism adviser, Lori Oglesbee-Petter, did not have her contract renewed and was forced to retire.

The Student Press Law Center brought together 18 national organizations to send a letter to the Prosper school district superintendent, urging review of this policy and offering to assist the school district in writing a policy which would protect student press freedoms.  The case received local and national news attention with multiple articles in the Dallas Morning News and local television stations, as well as an article in the New York Times. Despite the widespread national condemnation and concern, the issues were largely handled through public pressure and awareness building as Texas does not have New Voices student press freedom legislative protections.

After an intense summer, the principal met with the student editors at the start of the school year and he rescinded the “no editorials” policy as well as the prior review. Students are still waiting to see how things play out and SPLC is monitoring the situation carefully.

In early September in Vermont, an interim principal demanded that the student editors of the BHS Register take down a story that they broke using public records and great journalism, regarding the investigation of the school’s director of guidance by the Vermont Agency for Education.  The story reported on multiple allegations of misconduct and a plan to censure the guidance director.

In addition to widespread news coverage in Vermont publicizing the take down demand, coverage by the Associated Press made the national wire. Along with the students, SPLC was in constant contact with the Vermont Press Association and the New England First Amendment Coalition to coordinate efforts.

After a flurry of attention, the principal allowed the story to be republished (explaining that since the story had been publicized in other news outlets, he would allow it), but the following day, he announced that he was “reinstituting” a strict 48-hour prior review policy that would apply to all student articles.  A similar prior review policy had been abolished after New Voices student press freedom legislation was adopted in Vermont in 2017.

A further outcry ensued.  SPLC and the Vermont Press Association worked with the students to ensure that administrators, students and the media understood Vermont’s New Voices legislation protections.  Within 24 hours of the illegal prior review policy being announced, the Burlington School District issued a press release announcing the reversal of the prior review policy. They wrote,“All previously practiced or adopted guidelines regarding publications in the BHS Register are no longer in effect” and student press policy will be consistent with the “provisions of the New Voices law.”

The difference between these cases?

Vermont has a New Voices law and students were able to directly point to the protections in the law to demonstrate that both the take down demand and the prior review policy were illegal. Texas does not. Once the Burlington School District understood what was happening, they overruled the principal and reaffirmed their commitment to student press freedoms and the New Voices law.  

In Texas, there is no such legal protection and the students are left hanging in a wait-and-see situation. The best outcome in Texas so far? A galvanized movement for New Voices legislation.

The New Voices movement is a grassroots, student-driven movement to protect students from censorship and to adopt student free press legislation in all 50 states and U.S. territories. Named after the John Wall New Voices Act adopted by North Dakota in 2015, today 14 states have adopted New Voices protections. The Student Press Law Center provides strategic support and a collaborative space for New Voices groups to organize.  This fall, we have a variety of activities planned to help coordinate among activists, to share strategies, build momentum, and develop a national narrative around the need for New Voices legislation. You can join!

New Voices Summits are Coming!

As we move New Voices work into high gear, this fall SPLC will be holding the first New Voices Summits at the JEA/NSPC and CMA/ACP Fall Conventions.  Organized in partnership with the JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee, the high school New Voices Summit will take place on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 1 in Chicago prior to the official start of the JEA Fall National Convention.  Participants will share experiences, strategies, successes and frustrations and will learn from one another as they develop strategies to move New Voices forward. They will also start making plans for Student Free Press Day in January. The Summit is free but registration through JEA is required. If you are interested in getting involved in New Voices, start following your state’s New Voices Facebook page and post a message so people know you’re there!

We are NOT the Enemy!

In addition to the New Voices Summit, SPLC will be conducting at least eight formal sessions at the JEA/NSPA Fall Convention in Chicago. Among the most interesting sessions will be a session at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3 entitled, “We are NOT the Enemy!” This session is meant to highlight the great work of student journalists who are making a positive difference in the world.  Please come and share your stories and experiences. Just as we focus on fighting censorship and promoting access to information, we also want to elevate and amplify the good work of dedicated student journalists. We will be taping the session to help us illustrate why good student journalism is so important and has such an impact.  Please join us to tell your stories.

Get Ready!  Student Free Press Day is Jan. 30, 2019!

Last year, to note the 30th anniversary of the Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier case which gives public schools broad permission to censor student journalists, the Student Press Law Center sponsored “Hazelwood Day.”  Students, advisers, professional journalists, lawyers and others from across the United States posted photos on social media, created short films, coordinated op-eds, brought speakers to campus and took many other actions to note the day and raise awareness about the incidence of censorship of student journalists.  This year, we are broadening the call and hoping to capture a wider audience by renaming it Student Free Press Day (#FreePress). Our goal is to raise awareness of the need for student free press protections and the insidious impact of censorship (in both public and private schools). It’s not too early to start thinking about what you, your school, your friends and your community can do to mark Student Free Press Day.  Resources and information will be available soon on the SPLC website.  If you would like to join a national planning group or would like to co-sponsor the day, please contact me at hharris@splc.org.

And always remember that if you have questions or need help with any legal issues that arise, you can always contact the SPLC legal hotline here.

Good luck for a productive, uncensored school year!

Higher Education – Kate Klonowski, MJE

6819 Brookside Road
Independence, OH 44131
Home Phone: 216-534-3498

As part of JEA’s new partnership with the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), I’ve been working with the Media Literacy Week Resource and Content Team with my focus on Higher Ed learning materials. There are plenty of options for being engaged during Media Literacy Week from Nov. 5-9.

Please feel free to check out the resources offered at the site which can be used anytime and in a variety of classroom settings.

I’m also reviewing books and resources for the Journal of Media Literacy Education (JMLE) to share useful resources across academic circles.

My dissertation research is delving more intensely into the concept of trust in the media—particularly student journalism—and has provided some interesting insights on how the current perceptions of mainstream media are affecting the way students trust peer voices. I look forward to sharing some of these findings in C:JET in the near future.

The Ohio New Voices legislation team has been moving forward as well, and much will depend on the outcome of the midterm elections.

If the board has specific suggestions for any higher education-related initiatives, please be in touch. Thanks!