2015-03-08

JEA’s semiannual report contains updates from staff, board members, committee chairs, state directors and liaisons.

Kelly Furnas, CJE

Executive Director

JEA Headquarters

Kansas State University

105 Kedzie Hall

Manhattan, KS 66506-1501

C: 540-200-8665 | W: 785-532-7822

furnas@ksu.edu

Membership: Voting membership stands at 2,271, up 209 members from a comparable time last spring and 33 from last fall. That’s about a 10 percent gain in voting members, and our highest membership total since fall 2012. We stand at the highest level of paid membership in the organization’s history.

Unfortunately, we have seen pockets of decline. Thirteen states saw drops in membership since last spring, although none of them was a double-digit decline. By comparison, California, our largest state, saw a 10 percent increase from last spring to 277 members. Texas, our second largest state, increased by the largest number of members — 35 — to stand at 257 members.

It’s also worth noting that for the first time since Spring 2013, we have at least one member in every state.

Happenings:

Jan. 4-7: Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Scholastic Division Meeting, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Jan. 16-18: Joint JEA/NSPA Board of Directors Meeting, Chicago

Feb. 13-15: Convention Planning Meeting, Denver

Feb. 20-22: JEA Board of Directors Budget Planning Session, Manhattan, Kan.

March 13-15: Convention Planning Meeting, Los Angeles

For the board: We are about two-thirds of the way through the fiscal year, and our financial position remains solid. We have earned $667,299 in gross profit (about 72 percent of our budget), and spent $586,265 for a net operating revenue of $81,034.

Financially, we’re about halfway through the second quarter of the fiscal year and JEA has brought in $101,263 in gross profit (11 percent of our budget) and $125,490 in expenditures (14 percent of our budget). The organization stands with about $1.56 million in total current assets.

Mark Newton, MJE

President

Mountain Vista High School

10585 Mountain Vista Ridge

Highlands Ranch, CO 80126

303-387-1500

themarknewton@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Sarah Nichols, MJE

Vice President

Whitney High School

701 Wildcat Blvd.

Rocklin, CA 95765

916-705-3684

sarahjnichols.sjn@gmail.com

For the past few months I have given careful consideration to each of the five goals JEA board members developed during our retreat in May 2014. Much of my work has been reading, research and outreach toward administrator groups, Career and Technical Education and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. At the time time, it has been rewarding to take part in so many virtual JEA activities such as the One Book Twitter discussion, online curriculum chats and Scholastic Journalism Week festivities via social media. I am really proud of the programming happening in our organization and grateful to the dedicated volunteers who are making it happen.

During the past few months I have been involved in a variety of ways, which include:

• Attending a joint meeting in Chicago with JEA/NSPA board members in January 2015 to review the spring convention model and explore opportunities for additional collaboration.

• Attending a budget planning meeting in February 2015 at JEA Headquarters.

• Working with a team of Scholastic Press Rights Committee members to produce sample staff manual materials for an ethics and responsibility package, as well as attending the SPRC retreat at Kent State in March 2015.

• Working with Kelly Furnas on the JEA Curriculum Initiative to support our 11 curriculum leaders, as well as coordinating with Kim Green and Certification to align the CJE test to the skill areas of the curriculum modules.

• Maintaining JEA’s social media presence through our Facebook page (including a special series to recognize JEA’s 90th birthday) and Instagram account.

• Posting articles as a contributor to the JEA Digital Media site.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve on this team as part of the largest — and best — organization for journalism educators in the world.  I am grateful for our headquarters staff, board members, committee chairs, state directors and other volunteers. I look forward to continued collaboration toward our goals.

Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE

Past President/SPA Liaison/Nominations Chair

Kent State University

School of Journalism & Mass Communications

201B Franklin Hall Kent, OH 44242-0001

330-672-8297

cbowen@kent.edu

Since our last meeting in November, I’ve been busy bolstering communication between JEA and the scholastic press associations and serving on the Scholastic Press Rights and the Certification Committees. Through those venues, I’ve worked to support JEA’s five goals in the following ways:

• Served on the committee of JEA, NSPA and Quill & Scroll representatives who selected first- and then second-round winners for the First Amendment Press Freedom Award for 2015. Sent letters to congratulate winners and ones to those who didn’t win to explain what their problems were with their applications and to encourage them to apply for 2016.

• Participated in a joint JEA/NSPA board member meeting in Chicago in January 2015 to rethink the spring convention model and find additional ways to collaborate.

• Was named to the JEA/NSPA joint task force to brainstorm and move forward on projects that are valuable for both group’s members.

• Attended the Board’s budget planning meeting at JEA Headquarters in February 2015 .

• Hosted Scholastic Press Rights Committee members on Kent State’s campus for a retreat in March 2015 to produce an ethics and responsibility package for staff manuals.

• Posted two blogs to the JEASPRC.org site — “Contest can help promote students making decisions” (Feb. 2) and “Set a good example: Credit others’ work” (Dec. 3)

• Wrote a Dow Jones News Fund Adviser Upate article to announce FAPFA winners and highlight the program. Issue to come out in April.

• Set up a listserv — SPA-L — for the scholastic press association directors and interested officers. To date we have 35 members who have shared concerns and tips on topics ranging from JOY contests to posting the Press Rights Panic Button on state association websites, from critique books to collaborative research projects, from affiliate status to digital contest submission. In addition, I’ve worked with vice president Sarah Nichols to share all state director information with the SPA directors and have promoted other JEA news on the Scholastic Press Association Roundtable Facebook page.

• Scored tests from Washington, D.C. and one other site for the Certification Committee.

• Worked with my curriculum leader counterpart, Lori Keekley, to better align Certification test questions with the curriculum she has developed for law and ethics.

It’s been a busy few months with more planned for the future, including gearing up for the next nominations and elections. Thanks for your support and continued interest in helping all of us grow an even better JEA.

John Bowen, MJE

Director, Scholastic Press Rights

Kent State University

School of Journalism & Mass Communications

201 Franklin Hall

Kent, OH 44242-0001

330-672-3666

jabowen@kent.edu | jbowen1007@aol.com

Spring 2015 SPRC Report
The censorship beast continues to raise its ugly head across the country, and across adviser experience. SPRC members continue to assist whenever they receive notification, either by personal contact or by use of the Panic Button.

The commission spent a significant amount of its time working on what we call The Ethics in Student Media and Policies in student media projects. These projects are a two-fold effort to combine policy, ethics and staff manual procedure into an integrated approach where strong policy sets the stage for an ethical guideline and staff manual combination.

SPRC members Jane Blystone, Candace Perkins Bowen, Marina Hendricks, Megan Fromm, Sarah Nichols, Lori Keekley and Mark Goodman work to finish the Ethics in Student Media and Policies in Student Media projects the weekend of March 5-8 at Kent State University.

To spur this development, SPRC members working with students and advisers facing censorship found instances where schools tried to enforce ethics statements because police, ethics and staff manual points were all listed in a common document without being distinguished.

Ethical principles should not be used as “will” or “must” expectations and should not be intermixed with editorial policy statements at the board or publication levels. Administrators should not be able to claim they can punish student journalists for ethical lapses. Policy should be seldom changed but when intertwined with staff manual procedure becomes more easily changeable.

Hence, work on these two projects urges a package that clearly separates policy from ethics guidelines and staff manuals .

The idea of the projects also was not to dictate policy, ethics or staff manual models but to provide a menu of items from which schools could select.

For example, we have four model board-level policies and one for publication level. All parts can be woven into a new document, but all stress student media should be “designated public forums for student expression where students make all final content decisions.”

From there, students and advisers can choose from a long menu of ethical principles and staff manual models for each. For many of the ethical and staff manual models there are also resources to help with educational perspectives

The idea is not to proscribe but to provide intertwined proactive models schools can adapt to their situations

Individual reports
Jane Blystone, MJE

I have posted two Making a Difference blogs and have written an article for CJET on how to cover school boards so as to avoid prior restraint and censorship as a result. I am working on SPRC documents for the retreat.

Candace Bowen, MJE
Since the Washington, D.C. convention in November, I have:

• Written a law column for Dow Jones Adviser Update, highlighting the seven winners of the 2015 First Amendment Press Free Awards. I also collected photos (with cutlines and student photographer credits) so we will have a page and a half in the spring edition, promoting the value of the award and encouraging others to apply for next year.

• Served on the First Amendment Press Freedom Awards selection committee for both rounds. After Round 2, I sent congratulations to the seven winners, sent letters to the losers, explaining what their problems were an encouraging them to apply again next year, and helped write the press release to announce the outcome.

• Worked with JEA curriculum leader Lori Keekley to begin ensuring alignment between the law and ethics curriculum and the CJE tests. This will be an ongoing project, but we have a good start and don’t need to adjust very many questions.

• Contributed to the SPRC.org blog, posting Feb. 2 (“Contests help promote students making decisions”) and Dec. 3 (part 2 of a 2-part series about plagiarism and copyright issues – “Set a good example: Credit others’ work”). I did get comments on the contest post, and I responded to those.

Mary Kay Downes, MJE
For my report I would like to present today’s Washington Post article on Chantilly High School’s Press Freedom award!

In addition, veteran advisers have been asked by FCPS to meet and prepare materials to support new publication advisers to the county. Our meeting is March 9 and we will ensure there will be a great deal of information about press rights for advisers of all of our 26 high schools.

Mitch Eden, MJE
Mitch shared this statement from a student he helped with legal issues.

“I just wanted to formally thank you for all the advice you sent me about communicating with administration, and letting me know that it’s possible to get certain stories published even if it may not seem that way. In our last issue of the first semester, we were able to publish a story about what students at Lindbergh think of sexual education at the high school. In the past, the consequences of this story would have been too feared for it to even be published. Now, we have broken new barriers. It makes me happy to see this publication advance and gain some real respect from students. Hopefully, this will open doors for us in the future to publish stories containing issues that students really care about. Thank you so much for the advice!

-Megan Stringer, Editor-in-Chief of the Pilot Newsmagazine  (+ more)

Karen Flowers
At the SIPA convention in February, we had a symposium for administrators and advisers. We titled it “Why Student Media?”
http://sipa.sc.edu/symposium.html

The Administrator-Principal (titled “Why Student Media) at the SIPA convention was a success.

The timing couldn’t have been better because a staff coming to the SIPA convention had been told they had to begin a review board because of a cartoon. They were able to be in the group and get some wonderful advice and I was able to talk to the adviser later.

We/they plan to continue the symposium next year.

One of the principals said he loved being able to sit and discuss things rather than just sit in sessions. Asked for more cases.

Lori Keekley, MJE
Since the last report I reworked some of the law and ethics portion of JEA’s curriculum initiative. I also have begun helping with a cafeteria-style staff manual and policies document, which will be finalized at the SPRC retreat. When this work is finalized, I will create a new law and ethics curricular plan for staff manuals and policies. I have answered several help requests for news print help whether notified officially through the Panic Button or informally through a listserv post. At national conventions, I’ve judged the either the Write Off law and ethics or news design categories and participated in the SPRC group sessions.

I think the commission could work on:

• Finish the manual/policies

• How to improve the panic button.

• Many administrators are idiotic when it comes to prior review and censorship

• Examine the analytics on what people access and read on the site. This might help us figure out what advisers and students most need. We also could create a quick survey to help us focus our energy in the future.

Jeff Kocur, MJE
Sadly, since the D.C. convention, I have done little outreach.

I am really excited about the policy-ethics-staff manual. I attended your session in D.C. with my editors, and we developed a new draft document of the editorial policy.

I like the constitution day assignment. That is probably the area I have been contributing most to, as I work so closely with Lori.

I was wondering about going in a different direction with that next year, such as a national contest for students (essay or most creative/engaging/impactful way a class recognizes c-day, short videos with professional journalists (national or regional) about how their most important application of their constitutional rights.  I had a couple other ideas that lori and I had discussed, but sadly, Those are failing me right now.

Sarah Nichols, MJE
In the time since our last report

• I have supported the committee’s goals and projects by promoting #PictureFreedom and First Amendment Press Freedom Award opportunities

• working on the ethics staff manual project with a team of contributors

• corresponding with advisers regarding censorship questions as needed

Glenn Morehouse Olson, CJE
October 7 at the MN High School Press Association Convention I presented a session on censorship and working with administration using the JEA Think First handouts. I spent time after the session talking with kids from several schools who had issues of censorship.

At the MHSPA convention I also made contact with several newer journalism teachers and shared my staff manual with them, encouraging them to get set forum policies and also shared some of my grading methods.

I wrote a blog for SPRC – but I know I’m behind in these.

I reached out to Diane Lynch, who is President of Stephens College. She received a McKnight grant to do a report on the future of journalism. I read the article about her grant in my alumni magazine, so I called her to find out if she was including scholastic journalism (specifically at the High School and Middle School levels) in her research. She hadn’t even thought about that – and thanked me for the suggestion. She ended up interviewing me and the results of her research have just been published.

Frankly, I’m disappointed she didn’t do more on the scholastic journalism front, but our interview made it into the appendix of the report. Are there more opportunities for us to get our voices heard at this level? Here’s a link to the report: http://www.knightfoundation.org/features/journalism-education/
http://www.knightfoundation.org/features/journalism-education/
• Here’s a link to my interview: http://www.knightfoundation.org/features/je-append-glenn-morehouse-olson-qa/
http://www.knightfoundation.org/features/je-append-glenn-morehouse-olson-qa/

I’ve been working on an opportunity to get student journalist’s voices heard on the topic of education through another organization I’m working with – VIVA Teachers. They are looking for students to write for their blog. This is an organization that tries to link teacher voice to political action by helping them connect with policy makers. I have some more work to do here, but am looking to send a call out to the listserv to see what types of news and opinion articles/broadcast/web stories students have been writing about education in their own schools. VIVA is interested in re-publishing or publishing new work to get student voice involved in the conversation. (This is the group that gave me a sit-down meeting with Governor Dayton and Education Commissioner Casselius – and who connected me with the researcher who got me on Education Nation with Brian Williams – and yes, I’m extremely sad about his recent fall from grace.)

I attended the MN Thespian Conference in February, and while this may see disconnected, I spent time speaking about the issues of censorship in the arts. I think there is a huge connection here…I know the last time our paper wrote about school censorship in the arts, our paper got censored. I spoke with students from a number of schools who have experienced censorship – and are self-censoring because of the chilling effect.

Finally – I just had this experience in my own school – and I thought I’d share…just some thoughts about how can we get our message out – not only to administration – but also to our colleagues. It’s really an uphill battle when even other TEACHERS don’t understand or believe in the importance of a free press. I just had a volley of e-mails with some coaches who were upset about our choice of athlete for our athlete of the week segment. They were upset they we featured a student athlete who had chosen to quit the high school team and play for an outside league team (the fact that he did that meant he earned a scholarship to play at the collegiate level of a small school – but he would otherwise not have gotten the opportunity to play in college). They basically think the coaches or the athletic office should determine those and that our featured athletes should ONLY be on our high school teams. I explained our process and the elements of newsworthiness – the fact that we’d gotten a press release from the college, etc.

This is what I heard back: As I understand it there is a stipend attached to that position, and its shown to SFHS students, in SFHS classes. Your audience I do believe should matter when considering appropriate journalism.

Appropriate journalism. The fact that this teacher teaches Social Studies and GOVERNMENT – scares the heck out of me.

I continue to teach curriculum that encompasses the First Amendment and student press rights and responsibilities. I continue to attend workshops and professional learning opportunities to inform my own practice.

Kathy Schrier, MJE
Buoyed by the passage of the non-partisan John Wall New Voices Act in North Dakota, we are re-grouping here in Washington state to make a new concerted effort to reintroduce our own Student Press Rights bill. Our goal is to pull in lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and to avoid the partisan posturing that occurred during the previous attempt to pass a bill.

We are crafting our conference offerings to build a more solid understanding of why legislation is necessary. Our upcoming Spring State Conference will feature a presentation by Mike Hiestand outlining why he took a year out of his life to travel the country to promote the First Amendment. Brian Schraum will present a session on Open Records laws.

Since D.C. my SPRC-related work included a minor involvement in crafting the introduction for the Model Student Ethics Manual project.

John Tagliareni
Since my last report, I presented sessions at the following conferences in 2014:  GSSPA  Press Day Conference,  Rutgers  University,  October 27; CSPA Fall Conference, New York,  November 3. I will present  sessions at the following conferences for Spring, 2015:  CSPA Spring Convention, New York, March 18-20; and the GSSPA Spring Conference at Rutgers on May 3.  I have been invited to return to speak at the Roxbury NJ High School Media Conference, on May 14.  As always, when I present sessions, I represent the SPRC and explain the commission’s purpose, and I stress its importance as a resource.

We had an amazing conference at Rutgers University, featuring a panel which included the two students who prevailed in their censorship battles. Frank LoMonte and the professional journalist who supported the Pemberton staff, were also on the panel.  I served as the moderator. We made a point of giving citations to the students who fought for their rights, as well as to the professionals who supported them. We hope that recognizing those individuals, who displayed courage and determination, will encourage others to follow their example.

Bonnie Blackman took videos of our conference keynote panel, and Tom McHale posted them on our GSSPA website. Our “On The Spot ” Writing Contest, co-sponsored by The Record, gave students a chance to write an article about the keynote presentation. The students wrote the article in an hour, and their entries were judged by professionals that day. The winning article is also posted on our website. This annual contest, was more important this year because it gave great coverage to our event and to the censorship concerns that were presented by the panel members.

We have started a student chapter of the GSSPA, which has been mostly an online presence at this point.  After an introductory session and kickoff at Rutgers, Tom McHale started a Facebook page for those who signed up and agreed to be active. They had an online chat with some of our board members, and then they were left to continue chatting on their own. A few talked about the help they received from us, and they expressed their enthusiasm for the group and the fact that they could network. We are continuing to develop this group for their benefit, as well as a resource for us. They will give input to us and suggest sessions for our future conferences, as well as become advocates as First Amendment Freedom Fighters.

We have begun working to pass the legislation again, and we are working with Frank LoMonte for advice. I contacted one of my former students who is the director of a political science institute at Kean University in NJ. He has many contacts, and we discussed the pros and cons of having certain legislators sponsor our bill. He felt that it could be introduced, and that he could assist in setting up our meetings with a few legislators, but that they may not push for it afterwards due to other priorities.

At the same time, Tom McHale contacted the New Jersey Education Association to see if they would support the bill. We agreed that forming a coalition first, and having momentum, is crucial. However, he has not had return contacts yet. The difference from our first attempt, was that I had the support of my friend, who was a powerful assemblyman, and he made the contacts and could get me in touch with the right people. Now we are more like salesmen “cold calling” on the phone.

We have gotten more support than ever from the press, including three of New Jersey’s leading newspapers. I have given interviews with SPLC reporters about the issues and controversies in NJ. As a result, we may have to switch tactics to get the newspapers to throw their support behind the model legislation before it is introduced. We could go with another option and have the legislator who we know will support us,  introduce our bill first.  Then we would push to get editorials from the leading newspapers to support it. That could encourage organizations, such as the NJEA and professional press associations, to get behind it.  We could also get the principals and  supervisors association to support it again, as we did the first time around, when we removed the liability component, based on Mark Goodman’s suggestion.

I have been working very hard this past year, especially as a student and teacher rights advocate. I have spent an enormous amount of time helping advisers and students in New Jersey with censorship or prior review issues.  I have documented that in previous reports and emails as new developments occurred, and I sent updates to you and the commission during the year. I have urged the students and advisers to promote parental involvement, media converge, letters to the editor in their local papers, and the use of social media, in order to keep the pressure on the board of education and central administration.

As you know, I have worked with Tom McHale to give him ideas and support, and I will continue to assist him with his Kent State Masters Project. I will continue to work with Candace and Mark as a member of the committee.

I would like the SPRC to continue to be strong in responding to individual censorship cases. Letters, emails, the use of social media and other direct means of supporting advisers and students, seems to be the best way to keep battling with the most impact. The administrators who censor must feel the sting of negative publicity and know that the cost is high. We may get those administrators to reconsider their decisions when pressure is brought to bear. Hopefully, this will prevent other administrators from censoring in the first place. I have used the term, “Anti-American” when referring to censorship. I think it is accurate, but I also think it is one that could be powerful in moving public opinion in our favor.

Megan Fromm, CJE
Professional Support Director
Boise State University

1910 University Drive

Boise, ID 83725-1920

208-426-3532

megfromm@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Carrie Faust, MJE

Director, West Region

Smoky Hill High School

16100 E. Smoky Hill Road

Aurora, CO 80015

720-886-5469

faust.carrie@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Stan Zoller, MJE

Director, East Region

1448 Camden Court

Buffalo Grove, IL 60089

847-421-5278

sezoller@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Casey Nichols, CJE

Awards Committee Chair

2215 Solitude Way

Rocklin, CA 95765

916-792-6699

caseyenichols@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Kim Green, MJE

Certification Committee Chair

9081 W. Country Road 100 S.

Greensburg, IN 47240-9013

W: 812-376-4260 | C: 812-525-8502

kgreenmje@gmail.com

The time between Washington, D. C. and Denver was filled with personal challenges for me. I am truly blessed with the dedicated and supportive people on my committee, and I am so grateful for the love and support of the Pam and Connie at JEA Headquarters, Kelly Furnas, Mark Newton and Sarah Nichols, as well as JEA friends across the country. Your words of condolence, love and support continue to lift me.

The following Certification Committee work has occurred since the fall convention in Washington D. C.

• We welcomed Rod Satterthwaite, MJE, as our new committee member.

• Our committee met with curriculum folks during a conference call in early January to discuss aligning the CJE exam to the curriculum modules. During this very productive meeting, both groups came to the conclusion that the exam would and should look completely different from its current format. As a result, we are requesting funding for a retreat in Indianapolis April 30-May 3 to work on several initiatives:

– the new CJE test (moving its debut to Orlando) with the possibility of digitizing it

– creating all-digital CJE and MJE applications, as well as updating how we process them

– other committee business as needed

• More testing:

– Sarah Nichols proctored CJE testing at the Jostens winter sales meeting.

–Jane Blystone proctored CJE testing at SIPA at the end of February.

–Linda Barrington proctored CJE testing at KEMPA the first of March.

–Kim Green proctored CJE testing at WJEA in late March.

–Joe Humphrey will proctor a CJE retest at FSPA later this month.

–We will test at various locations this summer: JEAAI in Las Vegas in July, Walsworth (reps and advisers) in July, Balfour in July

• We will honor 30 new CJEs, 17 CJE renewals, four new MJEs and seven MJE renewals in Denver.

• We will test seven MJEs and 11 CJEs including a retest in Denver.

• New MJEs, starting with D.C honorees, have been asked to create a summary of their projects for publication in a C:JET article/column once a year as part of their projects.

Still in the works

• Following our retreat, the percentages of those successfully passing the exam in Boston, San Diego, over the summer, Washington, D. C. and Denver will be posted on the JEA site. In addition, the number of new CJEs through all three Options and the number of new MJEs will be available on the JEA site.

• We plan to implement the following, but again, after we complete realignment this spring: Committee members will contact CJE Renewals from D. C. and Denver, personally inviting them to apply for their MJE, offering to mentor each through the process.

• We plan to create three versions of the MJE exam. Dr. Joe Mirando will once again moderate a panel of new MJEs who will present their projects and answer questions about their MJE process/product experiences.

• We will create a database of all MJE projects.

Action items continue to be:

• Aligning Certification initiatives with other JEA commissions, committees, initiatives

• Identifying more coursework/professional development that will help members complete the three required courses for CJE-Option A (news writing/reporting, media law and advising student media). This is especially crucial now that the ASNE Reynolds Institute workshop will no longer be an option after this summer.

Nancy Y. Smith, MJE

Contests Committee Chair

Lafayette High School

17050 Clayton Road

Wildwood, MO 63011

W: 636-733-4118 | C: 314-704-1242

nysmithjea@gmail.com

National Write-off Team:
Nancy Y. Smith, MJE Write-off Chair

Priscilla Frost, CJE Print/Design Coordinator

Bradley Wilson, CJE Photo Coordinator

Kris Doran, Broadcast Coordinator

April Van Buren, MJE National Journalism Quiz Bowl Coordinator

Laura Zhu, CJE, Junior High/Middle School National Media Contest

Mark Murray, Technology

Denver Local Chairs: Justin Daigle, Adam Dawkins, Carrie Hendrix

Committee Updates:
April Van Buren, LaFollette High School, is the newest member of the Write-off committee. She will coordinate the National Journalism Quiz Bowl offered at each convention.

Contest Updates:
The Junior High/Middle School National Media Contest was  re-introduced this year and entries were due in March. The categories include Yearbook, Newspaper, Photography and Broadcast. Entries were  judged in the late spring and students will receive awards before the end of the school year. Laura Zhu will survey middle school/junior high teachers early this summer for feedback so that we can make any needed changes or improvements before the 2016 contest.

Committee Goals:

Put past prompts and winners on the website for advisers to access.

Revise the contest critique sheets to align with the new JEA Curriculum.

Recent Participation Numbers:

Write-offs:

Spring 2014 San Diego 1,112 in 49 contests

Fall 2014 Washington, D.C.  2,168 in 47

2015 Junior High/Middle School National Media Contest: TBA

Follow us on Twitter @JEAWOFF

Aaron Manfull, MJE

Digital Media Committee Chair

Francis Howell North High School

2549 Hackman Road

Saint Charles, MO 63303

w. 636-851-5107

aaronmanfull@gmail.com

t. @manfull

Report goes here.

Rebecca Pollard, CJE

National High School Journalist of the Year Committee Chair

Heritage High School

14040 Eldorado Parkway

Frisco, TX 75035

W: 469-633-5900 x25914 | H: 972-523-0384

pollardr@friscoisd.org

Report goes here.

Jonathan Rogers, MJE

Professional Outreach Committee Chair / NCTE Liaison

Iowa City High School

1900 Morningside Dr.

Iowa City, IA 52245

319-855-2559

jashmore.rogers@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Linda Barrington, MJE

Mentoring Committee Chair

Mount Mary University

2900 Menomonee River Pkwy.

Milwaukee, WI 53222

lbarring@wi.rr.com

Report goes here.

Evelyn Lauer, CJE

Publications/Public Relations Committee Chair

Niles West High School

5701 W Oakton St.

Skokie, IL 60077

C:512-644-5794 | W: 847-626-2592

evelau@d219.org

Report goes here.

Sarah Verpooten, MJE, and Carrie Wadycki, MJE

Day of Doing Coordinators

Lake Central High School

8400 Wicker Ave

Saint John, IL 46373

219-365-3886

sverpoot@lcscmail.com

cwadycki@lcscmail.com

Report goes here.

Diana Mitsu Klos

National Scholastic Press Association Liaison

2221 University Ave. S.E., Suite 121

Minneapolis, MN 55414

612-635-8335

director@studentpress.org

Report goes here.

Frank D. LoMonte Esq

Student Press Law Center Liaison

1101 Wilson Boulevard

Suite 1100

Arlington, VA 22209-2211

703-807-1904 ext 121

director@splc.org

Report goes here.

Bradley Wilson, MJE
Editor, Communication: Journalism Education Today

Midwestern State University

4919 Trinidad Dr.

Wichita Falls, TX 76310

H: 919-264-6768 | W: 940-397-4797
bradleywilson08@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Susan Newell, MJE

Alabama State Director

Northridge High School

2901 Northridge Rd.

Tuscaloosa, AL 35406

205-759-3590

snewell@tusc.k12.al.us, newellsusan54@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Carmen Wendt, MJE

Arizona State Director

6634 E. 4th St.

Scottsdale, AZ 85251

wendt.carmen@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Stephanie Emerson, MJE

Arkansas State Director

Wynne High School

P.O. Box 69

1300 N. Falls Blvd.

Wynne, AR 72396

870-238-5001

semerson@wynne.k12.ar.us

Report goes here.

Beatrice Motamedi, CJE

California State Director

248 Monte Vista Ave.

Oakland, CA 94611

C: 510-282-7379 | H: 510-652-2005

bymotamedi@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Kristi Rathbun, CJE

Colorado State Director

Rock Canyon High School

5810 McArthur Ranch Road

Highlands Ranch, CO 80124

303-819-6224

kristi.rathbun@dcsdk12.org

Report goes here.

Amie King, CJE

Delaware State Director

Cape Henlopen High School

1250 Kings Highway

Lewes, DE 19958

302-645-7711 ext 2115

amie.king@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Carol Lange, CJE

District of Columbia State Director

2334 Harleyford Court

Reston, VA 20191

703-860-0365

langejour@aol.com

Report goes here.

Renee Burke, MJE

Florida State Director

William R. Boone High School

1000 E. Kaley St.

Orlando, FL 32806

renee.burke@ocps.net

Report goes here.

Jon Reese, CJE

Georgia State Director

Decatur High School

310 N. McDonough St.

Decatur, GA 30030

W: 404.370.4420, ext. 161 | H: 404.786.9646

jreese@csdecatur.net

Report goes here.

Jenny Young

Theodore Roosevelt High School

1120 Nehoa St

Honolulu HI 96822

W: 808-531-9500 x19580 | C: 808-489-4425

Jenny_Young@notes.k12.hi.us

Report goes here.

Michelle Harmon, MJE Idaho State Director

Borah High School

6001 Cassia

Boise, ID 83709

W: 208-854-4427 | C: 208-371-4431

michelle.harmon@boiseschools.org

Spring 2015 JEA Director’s Report: Idaho

Executive Board Named

President / State JEA Rep: Michelle Harmon, Boise

Treasurer: Courtney Morgan, Idaho Falls

University Liaison: William Love, Sandpoint

Secretary: Lisa Cheret, Rigby

Member-at-Large: Megan Fromm, Boise

Goals

Begin regular meetings

Support new advisers (mentoring)

Repeat BSU Learning Day

Increase Membership*

Transfer ISJA website to SNO website

Maintain a healthy budget

*Programs that qualify for Career and Technical Education status affect JEA membership and/or participation in Idaho. I know this from personal experience, as my journalism/newspaper program is an Idaho CTE program.

Summary: I thought I could influence a merge between ISJA & SkillsUSA from the ground up in hopes of syncing the goals of each, and thereby making JEA membership relevant again. What I learned is JEA can become a viable PSTO for CTE program qualification only through a top-down process. JEA’s national leaders need to talk to the ACTE national organization for anything to happen at all. (Read further for details.)

Among other requirements of a CTE program, CTE program advisers must register students in one of a handful of professional student organizations (PSTO): HOSA, BPA, TSA, DECA, FFA, and SkillsUSA, for example.

JEA does not qualify as a PSTO under The Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) guidelines; so many advisers in Idaho have had to concentrate efforts in contests and conference participation in an approved PSTO. Participation / membership in JEA becomes onerous because:

Many Idaho students do not have money to register for both;

School programs often don’t have money to register for both;

Some national conference dates conflict with each other (especially April, which is the conference most Idaho chapters are likely to attend);

Gearing up contests and conferences for both JEA & a PSTO can be time consuming, which can be a distraction from the regular curriculum; and

Any distraction from the CTE program requirements risks substantial funding of the journalism program.

Of course, journalism programs can opt out of CTE qualification, but state and district education has little funding to offer programs for textbooks, technology, travel, and so on.

The most likely increase in JEA membership in Idaho will come from approval by ACTE of JEA/ISJA as a bona fide professional student organization. I sought advice from my district’s technical education center principal — who also served as a Skills and Technical Sciences Program Manager for the state of Idaho. Following are some notes from our recent conversation.

All PSTOs have

Advocates at the national level who have a strong relationship with ACTE (the organization that defines and approves PSTOs); and

Student components across the board include

i.     elected state and chapter officers;

ii.     regularly scheduled meetings;

iii.     community Service;

iv.     fundraising; and

v.     state and national events.

The potential to merge ISJA into SkillsUSA (like TSA does) met resistance because

The fit of Journalism in CTE pathways nationwide is complex.

i.     For example, three years ago, I created a photojournalism contest for Idaho SkillsUSA in hopes I could generate support for ISJA/JEA under the umbrella of SkillsUSA.

ii.     The photojournalism contest was successful on the state level, and the state CTE coordinators supported it 100%.

iii.     However, the contest would likely not gain traction at the national level because 10 other states would have to be willing to take it on, too.

Journalism in other states is not only organized in various pathways, but also perceived as wholly different undertakings. In many states, it’s not journalism per se that qualifies for CTE funding. For example, Graphic Design in Idaho under the Skills & Technical Sciences pathway is usually a computer class that teaches Desktop Publishing skills, but Graphic Design in other states is strictly a technical skill that falls under domains of the printing press for products such as t-shirt production and design.

Such disparity among state definitions of “journalism,” much less national CTE configurations, makes it difficult for journalism to coordinate an effort to become an umbrella of SkillsUSA.

Summary (repeated from above): I thought I could influence a merge between ISJA & SkillsUSA from the ground up in hopes of syncing the goals of each, and thereby making JEA membership relevant again.What I learned is JEA can become a viable PSTO for CTE program qualification only through a top-down process. JEA’s national leaders need to talk to the ACTE national organization for anything to happen at all.

Brenda Field, CJE

Illinois State Director

4000 W. Lake Ave

Glenview, IL 60026

847-486-4509

bfield@glenbrook225.org

Report goes here.

Nancy Hastings, MJE

Indiana State Director

9234 Prairie Ave.

Highland, IN 46322-2339

219-838-6743

nhastna@comcast.net

Report goes here.

Leslie Shipp, MJE

Iowa State Director

Johnston High School

(PO Box 10 if using U.S. Post Office)

6501 N.W. 62nd Ave.

Johnston, IA 50131

515-278-0449

lshipp@johnston.k12.ia.us

Report goes here.

Susan Massy

Kansas State Director

Shawnee Mission Northwest H.S.

12701 W. 67th St.

Shawnee, KS 66216

913-993-7286

susanmassy@smsd.org

Report goes here.

Bobbi Templet, CJE

Kentucky State Director

Oldham County High School

1150 N. Highway 393

P.O. Box 187

Buckner, KY 40010

W: 502-222-9461 ext. 167 | C: 502-905-8666

bobbi.templet@oldham.kyschools.us

Report goes here.

Gina Parker

Louisiana State Director

C.E. Byrd High School

3201 Line Ave.

Shreveport, LA 71104

318-869-2567

rhparker@caddo.k12.la.us

Report goes here.

Claire Burke, CJE

Maryland State Director

Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School

11710 Hunters Lane

Rockville, MD 20852

W: 301-692-4971 | C: 812-320-1744

claire.burke87@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Colleen Simpson, CJE

Massachusetts State Director

Gates Intermediate School

327 First Parish Road

Scituate, MA 02066

781-545-8760

csimpson@scit.org

Julia Satterthwaite, CJE

Michigan State Director

1304 Woodlawn Ave.

Royal Oak, MI 48073

248-302-4289

jsatterthwaite@rocheester.k12.mi.us

Report goes here.

Laurie Hansen, CJE

Minnesota State Director

Stillwater Area High School

5701 Stillwater Blvd. N.

Stillwater, MN 55082

651-351-8128

hansenl@stillwater.k12.mn.us

Report goes here.

Cynthia Ferguson

Mississippi State Director

Oxford High School

222 Bramlett Blvd

Oxford, MS 38655

W: 662-234-1562 | C: 662-607-1260

cferguson@oxford.k12.ms.us

Report goes here.

Robin Stover, MJE

Missouri State Director

Rock Bridge High School

4304 S Providence Rd.
Columbia MO 65203

573-214-3100

rstover@cpsk12.org

Report goes here.

Linda Ballew, MJE

Montana State Director

2212 4th St. S.

Great Falls, MT 59405

H: 406-727-2795 | C: 406-799-8313

linda_ballew@outlook.com

Report goes here.

Marsha Kalkowski, MJE

Nebraska State Director

Marian High School

7400 Military Ave.

Omaha, NE 68134-3398

402-571-2618, ext 1134

mkalkowski@omahamarian.org

Report goes here.

Matthew LaPorte, CJE

Nevada State Director
Southwest Career and Technical Academy

7050 W. Shelbourne Ave.

Las Vegas, NV 89113

702-406-3871
matthewlaportesnsj@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Susan V. Everett, MJE

New Jersey State Director

78 Lincoln St.

Jersey City, NJ 07307-3633

everetts@earthlink.net

Report goes here.

Agustin Kintanar

New Mexico State Director

Albuquerque Academy

6400 Wyoming Blvd. N.E.

Albuquerque, NM 87109

505-366-3149

kintanar@aa.edu

Report goes here.

Starr Sackstein, MJE

New York State Director

World Journalism Prep School

34-65 192nd St. Third Floor

Flushing, NY 11358

718-461-2219

ssackstein@wjps.org

Report goes here.

Marva Hutchinson

North Carolina State Director

Providence Senior High School

1800 Pineville-Matthews Rd

Charlotte, NC 28270

980-343-5390

marva.hutchinson@cms.k12.nc.us

Report goes here.

Sue Skalicky, MJE

North Dakota State Director

Legacy High School

806 N. Washington

Bismarck, ND 58501

701-323-4850

susan_skalicky@bismarckschools.org

Report goes here.

Georgia Dunn, MJE

Ohio State Director

1001 Blossom Heath Road

Lebanon, OH 45036

H: 513-836-3150 | C: 513-304-9932

gdunn@cinci.rr.com

Report goes here.

Darla Tresner, MJE

Oklahoma State Director
Bartlesville High School

3512 Harvey Road

Bartlesville, OK 74006

918-214-5512

oklahomajea@gmail.com

Report goes here.

J.D. McIntire

Oregon State Director

Sandy High School

37400 Bell Street

Sandy, OR 97055

503-668-8011 ext. 7227

jonathan.mcintire@ortrail.k12.or.us

Report goes here.

Susan Gregory, MJE

Pennsylvania State Director

Conestoga High School

200 Irish Road

Berwyn, PA 19312

610-240-1000

gregorys@tesd.net

Report goes here.

Doreen Picozzi, CJE

Rhode Island State Director

Lincoln High School

135 Old River Road

Lincoln, RI 02865

W: 401-334-7500 | C: 401-524-6517

picozzid@lincolnps.org

Report goes here.

Karen Flowers, CJE

South Carolina State Director

South Carolina Scholastic Press Assn.

Southern Interscholastic Press Association

School of Journalism and Mass Communications University of South Carolina

803-777-6146

flowersk@mailbox.sc.edu

Report goes here.

Deb Rothenberger, MJE

South Dakota State Director

Brandon Valley High School

301 S. Splitrock Blvd.

Brandon, SD 57005

605-582-3211

rothenberger@alliancecom.net

Report goes here.

Heather Nagel

Tennessee State Director

Christ Presbyterian Academy

2323 Old Hickory Blvd.

Nashville, TN 37215

615-373-9550

heather.nagel@cpalions.org

Report goes here.

Alyssa Boehringer

Texas State Director

McKinney High School

1400 Wilson Creek Pkwy.

McKinney, TX 75071

C: 214-385-7078 | W: 469-302-5700

aboehringer@mckinneyisd.net

Report goes here.

Terri Hall, CJE

Utah State Director

Davis High School

325 S. Davis Blvd.

Kaysville, UT 84037

801-402-8925

thall@dsdmail.net

Report goes here.

Nancy A. Olson, CJE

Vermont State Director

45 Pratt Road

Putney, VT 05346

802-387-5963

olsonnan47@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Valerie Kibler, CJE

Virginia State Director

Harrisonburg High School

1001 Garber’s Church Road

Harrisonburg, VA 22801

540-433-2651

vkibler@harrisonburg.k12.va.us

Report goes here.

Sandra Coyer, MJE

Washington State Director

Puyallup High School

105 Seventh St. SW

Puyallup, WA  98371

253-841-8711, Ext. 6608

coyers@gmail.com

Report goes here.

Jessica Bramer

West Virginia State Director

John Marshall High School

1300 Wheeling Ave

Glen Dale, WV 26038

304-843-4444 ext. 305

jbramer@access.k12.wv.us

Report goes here.

Sandy Jacoby

Wisconsin State Director

3511 288th Ave.

Salem, WI 53168

262-909-8041

jacoby@tds.net

Report goes here.

Dawn Knudsvig

Wyoming State Director

Arvada-Clearmont High School

1601 Meade Ave.

P.O. Box 125

Clearmont, WY 82835

307-758-4444

dknudsvig@shr3.12.wy.us

Report goes here.

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