august 2010 upfront
DESCRIPTION
Newsletter of the Texas Association of Journalism EducatorsTRANSCRIPT
UpfrontTAJE
P.O. Box 5554Austin, TX
78763-5554taje.org
Texas Association of Journalism Educators August 2010
Sheryl FloydPresident
Susan DuncanPresident-Elect
903-295-5031, ext. [email protected]
Cindy BerrySecretary
940-393-7231cindy.berry@
decatur.esc11.net
Mikyela TedderTreasurer
Lisa Van EttaState Director281-856-1071
Pat GathrightConvention Director
Brenda SlattonAssistant
Convention Director210-442-0300, ext. 350
Sue JettAssistant
Convention Director210-442-0800, ext. 262
Lori HerbstPast President
Dianne Smith-HarperWebmaster
Rhonda MooreExecutive Director
Check the newsletter and contest rules for changes to contests.Clip contest deadline is Dec. 11. Entry forms can be found on the TAJE website, taje.org.To present a session at the convention, go to the TAJE website, taje.org, and fill out a form under Fall Fiesta 2010.
Remember:
Carry-in photo contest entries will no longer be carried in. Entries will be uploaded onto the JEA website. Advisers must be members of JEA to enter students in carry-in photo con-tests. See the rules in the con-vention booklet and the Contest Rules. Entries must be entered online no later than Saturday, Oct. 9.
Carry-in video contest entries will no longer be carried in. Entries will be uploaded to SchoolTube. See the rules in the convention booklet and the Contest Rules. Entries must be entered online by Saturday, Oct. 9.
Convention Saturday• UIL journalism director Jeanne Acton will offer a “mini” Student Activities Conference on UIL journalism contests for students who are not in TAJE contests Saturday afternoon.
• We will offer a “night shoot” for photographers Saturday night. Photography teachers will take students out and show them how to get great images at night. Sign students up for this activity when you register. Cost will be $5 per student.
Reminders:• Students may use computers in the on-site contests. Students who choose to use computers will need to bring a printer. Stu- dents from the same school can all use the same printer, but all contest entries must be printed and turned in by the end of the contest. No one will be given extra time.
• Bring a power strip if students will be using computers.
Photographer John Isaacto keynote Fall Fiesta convention
TakeNOTE
John Isaac
John Isaac, former photographer for the United Nations, will be the keynote speaker at the Fall Fiesta convention, which will be held Oct. 23-25 at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio.
Isaac’s photography is known around the world as he has captured some of history’s most remarkable moments. Born in Madras, India, Isaac came to the United States as a young man in 1968 and began working at the United Nations where he ascended to the role of Chief of the Photography Unit.
Over his U.N. career, he traveled to more than 100 countries as a photojournalist.
Isaac has also provided coverage for UNICEF, working closely with actress Audrey Hepburn and tenor Luciano Pavarotti. He also worked with pop culture icon Michael Jackson during his last concert tour and did the exclusive coverage of Jackson’s first son Prince that was featured in over 250 magazines across the globe.
Isaac’s numerous awards include winner of the Photokina
International Photo Contest, Best Photograph of the Year from Graphis Magazine, Professional Photographer of the Year from Photo Imaging Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMDA), Lifetime Achievement Award from International Photographic Council and Pictures of the Year (POY) for his coverage of the Ethiopian famine in 1984.
Isaac has authored many books, including his latest, The Vale of Kashmir. He is working on an upcoming book on the tigers of India.
To see more of his work, visit www.JohnIsaac.com.
2 Texas Association of Journalism Educators August 2010
From the PresidentSheryl Floyd
Pflugerville HSTAJE President
Students must be pre-registered to compete in convention contests.
Advisers will receive a confirma-tion e-mail when entries arrive.
Many times advisers will mark that their students will enter con-tests then send the names later. This is fine as long as the names arrive by the deadline.
If student names are not turned in on time, students will not be al-lowed to compete.
Name changes for contests can be made at registration, but if a name has not been entered before the con-vention, students will not be allowed to compete.
Students must be registered for contests by deadline
Members to elect officers in February
Officer elections will be held in February. Positions on the ballot will include president-elect, secretary, treasurer and state director.
Anyone interested in running for office should contact TAJE president-elect Susan Duncan at [email protected].
In BriefHappy New Year! It always feels that
way to me as I start each school year. Fresh faces, fresh ideas, fresh paint, fresh copies of fall yearbooks and a fresh ap-proach to our media classes.
If you take the theme of what comes with the beginning of the year, you might consider making a few reso-lutions or goals for yourself this year. Here are a few ways to get started:
1. Lose weight — as in all that baggage from last year. We get so caught up in worrying about administrators, policies, parents and the day-to-day happenings of school that we can’t see the important stuff all around us—our students. Don’t let dead weight (however your define it) get you down.
2. Do some self-improvement. Make a plan to attend the TAJE convention. It’s a chance to learn more about all the new media trends and make an impact on Texas journalism. Did you know we are hosting the national JEA/NSPA con-vention in two years? What an exciting time to be a member of TAJE and part of scholastic journalism.
3. Break a bad habit. Quit doing something that doesn’t work. Are you doing the same thing that you’ve always done? If it isn’t working, quit! Try some-thing new. Are your publications online yet? Try it or do it better.
4. Make new friends and get reac-quainted with old ones. Look for the regional rep in your area. She should have a regional workshop in your area this year or next. These are great oppor-tunities to find others in your area who teach the same classes you do and to get more resources and training in our field.
5. Start a blog. Get going on your own Blogger site or any other free blog-ging site. It’s good to practice what you preach to your students.
6. Have fun. Make time for your students to have some team building/bonding time. This is always the hard-
est for me—especially when deadlines hit. But try!
7. Get involved. Consider running for TAJE officer this spring and/or signing up for a committee for the Fall 2012 national JEA convention that we are hosting in San Antonio. Don’t think you need to have taught for very
long or be extremely experienced. Enthu-siasm and ideas are just about all that is required.
I wish you the best this school year, one
full of excellent writing, photography and design. And if you need help with any of the above, please contact a board member, the TAJE listserv and your regional repre-sentative. That’s why we are here.
On a personal note, I wanted to let you know I will not be teaching this year. I decided to pursue something new as a result of an online master’s degree I just completed. Not to be a salesperson for the school, but it truly was one of the most beneficial things I could have done for myself. It armed me with technology for the 21st Century and stretched my brain enough to question what I wanted to do with my passion for education and technology.
I thought about the area of instruc-tional design and landed a job with a company which does consulting with high tech companies. I am now a techni-cal writer and create e-learning materi-als for them. It is a definite challenge and I feel like a fish out of water most days, but it has been a blessing to be able to jump in and learn. So I feel your pain on those days when you aren’t quite sure how to get that lesson across or even what your plan is for a brand new unit you have in the works.
That being said, I still plan to serve TAJE as president and eventually as past-president. I will still do whatever I can for scholastic journalism and for all our kids in Texas, and I appreciate your willingness to continue to serve them as well.
It’s time to make some resolutionsNew year offers opportunity for fresh approach
Board votes to offer lifetime memberships
The Executive Board voted to in-clude lifetime memberships to TAJE at its meeting in June.
Lifetime memberships are $250. These memberships are offered on the new membership form, which can be found on the TAJE website, taje.org.
August 2010 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 3
State Director’s ReportLisa Van Etta
Cypress Falls HSTAJE State Director
Optimistic. That’s my word for the new school year. Like most of you, I’ve had the summer to de-stress, recharge and prepare for another year of news-paper and yearbook deadlines in addi-tion to a new influx of Journalism I and staff publication students. Sound familiar?
We’ve all had at least one of those great students we wished we could clone.
Mine was Marcelino Benito, the 2006 National High School Journalist of the Year and the newest reporter for the CBS affiliate in Tucson, Arizona. Part of my optimism involves having at least one student of his caliber walk into room 1808 the first day of school. I know, you’re probably thinking that’s not happening. But I’m optimistic.
The point is: take a moment; think about it. Maybe the word “optimistic” can be the new start of the year for you, too.
Now that we’ve established every-
one is going to be optimistic about the new school year, let’s think about what the year is going to involve. First up, put the dates Oct. 23-25 for TAJE’s Fall Fiesta on the calendar. The execu-
tive board has been working on imple-m e n t i n g s o m e new contests, new workshop classes and new speakers. The details are in
this newsletter or can be found at www.taje.org.
The convention has something to offer everyone. Students have the op-portunity to compete by designing awe-some layouts, writing great stories and taking eye-catching photos. Advisers can visit with one another and exchange ideas and helpful tips to improve their schools’ publications.
And for those of you who would like to share with both students and advis-ers, sign up and volunteer to present a session. This is all building up to the 2012 NSPA/JEA National High School
Convention to be held in San Antonio. Word has it, the convention should be bigger than the 2009 record-breaking Washington, D.C., convention.
Like most of ya’ll, I spent some of my summer either attending workshops or teaching at one. I am happy to report, sessions or classes for online news-papers or some form of convergent media were offered at most workshops throughout the state and attendance was high.
I’m not sure if you’ve been reading the columns in the newsletter about the importance of implementing conver-gent media into our high school pro-grams. Maybe that was the reason for widespread interest in online papers, and if so, I’m glad to know some of ya’ll out there are reading my columns and making a move towards the future of high school journalism.
Right now, my optimism knows no bounds. So I expect to see everyone one of ya’ll reading this column in San Antonio in October.
Have a great year!
JEA’s new executive director to present sessions at conventionKelly Furnas, JEA’s new executive director, will present
sessions at the Fall Fiesta convention in October. Furnas was the editorial adviser at Virginia Tech Univer-
sity. He is a graduate of Kansas State University where he served as editor of the Collegian. At Virginia Tech, he was the editorial adviser to the newspaper, yearbook and all me-dia. He led his students through the coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings three years ago.
David Knight and Scott Winter will also present sessions at the convention.
Knight is Public Information Director for Lancaster County School District in South Carolina, and he teaches broadcast-ing there. He is the former adviser of the student newspaper at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, SC, which won Best in State for three years, the Sweepstakes Award for most individual contest winners six of seven years, and numerous awards for regional and national associations.
In 1993, he received the Gold Key Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and has been recognized with the
Edith Fox King Award.Winter is a lecturer at the University of Nebraska’s College
of Journalism and Mass Communications. He’s advised pub-lications, on-and-off, for 10 years in three states.
He teaches national workshops during the summer. His students have won several awards, including Best of Show rankings and Pacemakers. They’ve won Hemingway Awards from the Kansas City Star and even a Robert F. Kennedy Foun-dation Journalism Award.
He’s also been a professional journalist for five years, work-ing in sports writing, feature writing, graphic design and feature editing.
In addition to presenting sessions, Furnas will be on hand to administer the Certified Journalism Educator or Master Jour-nalism Educator test to any adviser who wishes to take one. On the registration form on page eight of the convention booklet, there is a place to check for anyone who wishes to take one of the tests. In addition, advisers who want to take the test must contact JEA at least a month before the convention.
Put on a happy faceAfter a summer to relax, advisers can look forward to the school year
El PasoOdessa/Midland
Lubbock
Amarillo
Wichita Falls
DallasFt Worth
WacoTyler
Beaumont
Houston
Corpus Christi
Brownsville
Austin
San Antonio
I
II III
IVV VI
VII
4 Texas Association of Journalism Educators August 2010
Board votes to increase number of regionsThe executive board voted to increase the number
of TAJE regions from seven to 10 at its annual retreat in June. The change will go into effect in 2012 when regional representative elections are held again.
Because the state is so large, regional representatives often have trouble reaching all teachers from their areas. Board members hope the increase in the number of regions will help representatives reach more teachers.
The state is divided into 20 regional services areas. The new TAJE regions will each be a combination of two of the regional service centers. This will make it clear to teachers which region they belong to.
Regional reps must host a workshop at least once during their two-year terms. They also help teachers who need a mentor find one. Anyone who wants a mentor or wishes to be a mentor should contact his/her representative.
Current representatives and their e-mail addresses are as follows:
Region ILaura SmithCanyon HS, 1701 23rd St.Canyon 79015 [email protected]
Region IIChristine DavisTrinity HS500 N. Industrial Blvd.Euless 76039817-571-0271, ext. [email protected]
Region IIICharla HarrisPleasant Grove HS5406 McKnight Rd.Texarkana [email protected]
Region V Theresa Proctor McNeil HS
5720 McNeil Dr.Austin 78729
Region VILaura NegriAlief Kerr HS8150 Howell Sugarland Rd.Houston 77083281.983.8484, ext. 267- School832.379.9924 -
[email protected]@yahoo.com
Region VII Kelsey Martin Memorial HS 101 E. Hackberry McAllen 78501 956-632-5240 [email protected]
Region IVNo representative
1
2 34
57
8
9
10
6
Current TAJE regional map
TAJE regional map beginning in 2012
August 2010 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 5
TAJE is planning for the 2012 fall JEA/NSPA National Convention in San Antonio. We are looking for members to include on the local committee. Advis-ers do not have to be from San Antonio to be on the committee. Anyone inter-ested in being on a committee should contact any of the TAJE officers.
Below is a list of the items the local committee will handle. If you want to be help with something specific or if you have any suggestions, please let us know. Most of the committees will need several volunteers.
• Opening Ceremony/Welcome — We need to plan something fun to get the convention started. Suggestions for keynote speakers for Thursday night and Friday afternoon are welcome.
• Break with a Pro — We need to get local professionals for this event that is scheduled for 9-11 a.m. Friday.
• Swap Shops — These could be 9-11 a.m. Saturday or 8-10 p.m. Friday.
• Write-offs — We need to secure judges for contests, arrange for speakers for categories that require a speaker(s) (News, Feature, Sports, Commentary, Review), help national co-chairs. A few local people will be needed to help the national Write-off chairs near registra-tion on Thursday and Friday.
• On-site Critiques — We need peo-ple to do critiques, collect the money, mail publications to critics before the convention as well as set up a critique schedule and have some backup critics in case someone doesn’t show.
• Exhibits — We can earn extra mon-ey by getting local advertisers/exhibi-tors for the trade show.
• Adviser Bags — We need to secure freebies for the adviser bags and help with stuffing the items in the bags.
• Friday Night Auction — If we have an auction for SPLC and/or another or-ganization, we’ll need to gather the auc-tion items, make the forms, etc.
• Issue Seminars — Organize and get speakers for four, two-hour issue seminars covering topics that students could localize. The JEA board requests one is on a topic about diversity and one
on media law/ethics.• Friday Luncheon — We can have
a special speaker for the Friday adviser luncheon.
• Featured Speakers — We need to secure break-out session professional speakers from the convention area who would be well-received by students and advisers. We need a diverse mix of folks in various media — advertising, news-paper, online, broadcasting, magazine, editorial cartoon, photography, etc.
• Welcoming committee/student helpers — Committee members and about 25 students will help with vari-ous parts of the convention: stuffing bags, handing out speaker gifts, help-ing people find meeting rooms, help in the Write-off room, etc. NSPA may need help at registration.
• Curriculum CD — One person col-lects curriculum ideas, lesson plans, etc. and burns disks for those who contrib-uted. Have these stuffed in school pack-ets before registration opens.
• T-shirts — If we want to design and sell a convention T-shirt, we’ll need to have the art ready in time for the regis-tration booklet (July 1).
• Convention scholarships — Some-one on the local committee collects these applications and sends them to NSPA. We may also try to get local businesses to contribute money for more scholarships.
• Outreach Academy — A local person will help collect the application forms and help with this on Thursday.
• Media Tours — We are in charge of arranging media tours. NSPA is in charge of the citywide tours.
• Student entertainment for Friday and Saturday nights — There are usu-ally dances, but we might want to come up with something else for one night. Occasionally there are movie showings. We need chaperones for this.
• City guide — An adviser’s staff could design a student’s guide to the city — nearby restaurants, shopping, at-tractions, public transportation tips, etc.
Please consider being a part of the lo-cal committee. We want to show the rest of the country all Texas has to offer.
Executive Board begins plans for 2012 JEA/NSPA National Convention
TAJE, ILPC team upto host invitational meet,online media workshop
TAJE and ILPC will again host an invitational UIL meet Dec. 11 at Mc-Callum High School in Austin.
This year, schools will be allowed to e-mail or fax entries as well as to compete on-site.
The first contest will start at 10 a.m., and the last will start at 1:30 p.m. Registration forms can be found on the TAJE website. Dead-line for entries is Nov. 27.
TAJE and ILPC also teamed up for an online media workshop Aug. 2-4 in Austin.
The workshop covered setting up a website as well as podcasting, editing audio and video, and post-ing items to a website.
“I will use almost everything I’ve learned,” China Springs adviser Pat Brittain said, “but learning the technical terminology and finding out about free online resources will be especially helpful throughout the year.”
The workshop was taught by Andrea Lorenz, a new journalism teacher who will be teaching at Dripping Springs High School this fall.
“Andrea was so knowledgeable that I felt like she was a great teach-er,” Plano West adviser Deanna Martin said. “[I] was sitting there wishing I was going to be in her class next year. Those students will gain so much being in her class.”
Another workshop is planned for next summer. Details will be on the TAJE website in the spring.
6 Texas Association of Journalism Educators August 2010
TAJE ...........Oct. 23-25 San Antonio
JEA/NSPA ..Nov. 11-14 Kansas City
ATPI ............Feb. 11-13 UT Arlington
CSPA. .........March 16-18 Columbia University
ILPC. ..........April 9-10 UT Austin
JEA/NSPA ..April 14-17 Anaheim
20010-11 conventions
Beginning this year, headlines written for UIL contests will be dis-qualified if the count is too short.
In previous years, headlines were disqualified if the count was too long. The headline count will now have to be in the lengths given for the headline to be judged.
UIL journalism contests will be given verification periods beginning in the 2011-12 school year. These verifications will allow teachers to make sure the student number on an entry matches the placement it is given in the contest.
UIL will again host four Student Activities Conferences this fall. The conferences introduce students and advisers to UIL contests. They will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 1:30 p.m. without a break for lunch. Tentative programs will be posted on the UIL website.
The dates and locations of the conferences are as follows:
Sept. 18: El Paso Bel Air HS
Sept. 25: Tyler Junior College
Oct. 2: University of Texas at Austin
Oct. 16: Texas A&M UniversityCorpus Christi
UIL updates journalism contests
Todd, Westbrook to receive Trailblazer Awards
ILPC is offering a new contest this year, “UIL: Our Story.”
Contest entries will focus on a school’s academic/athletic success from start to finish within one year.
To participate, an ILPC member school must create a documentary film about one of the school’s UIL contests — athletic, academic or music. The film should show the whole story of a
ILPC offers new documentary film contest
The TAJE Executive Board voted to present Cindy Todd and Ray West-brook with Trailblazers at the Fall Fi-esta convention.
Todd is the yearbook adviser at Westlake High School in Austin. Before moving to Austin, she advised both newspaper and yearbook at Randall High School in Amarillo.
“Cindy deserves this award because she and her staffs are always push-ing technology,” Westlake newspaper adviser Deanne Brown said. “For ex-ample, this year’s book was designed with the focus on dominant HDR pho-tographs, which give the book a very unique look.
“Additionally, Cindy really gets to know her kids beyond just their work in her class,” she added. “One day I might walk in and she’s talking with a baseball player about a game she at-tended where he scored a home run, or another day she might be congratulat-ing another staffer for doing well in a speech tournament the prior weekend. Her students know she’s invested in them as people.”
Westbrook is the newspaper and yearbook adviser at St. Mark’s Episcopal School of Dallas. He previously worked at San Marcos and Klein Forest High Schools as well as Taylor Publishing.
“He has very quietly been on of the state’s finest journalism educators,” former UIL academic coordinator Bob-by Hawthorne said. “He won ‘Tops in Texas’ while at San Marcos and built an outstanding program at Klein Forest.
His work at St. Mark’s speaks for itself.”Deanne Hullender and Jeff Grimm
will receive the Friend of Journalism Award at the convention.
Hullender is the Director of Com-munications and Professional Devel-opment for Dallas County Schools.
Hullender was nominated by three of the state’s top advisers: Mary Pul-liam, Sandy Hall-Chiles and Ray West-brook. All said she was the driving force behind the organizational aspects of one of the state’s largest and most prestigious scholastic journalism work-shops. She organizes the facility, buses and activities as well as the online reg-istration. She is present every day reg-istering schools, overseeing the day’s schedule and providing assistance to all who need it. Through all the hustle and bustle, Deanne keeps a smile on her face and a friendly demeanor.
Grimm teaches photography at Trin-ity High School in Euless. He is a vice president of the Association of Texas Photography Instructors and teaches at the ATPI advisers workshop each sum-mer.
“From the moment Jeff met me, he told me I looked like Sandra Bullock,” TAJE president Sheryl Floyd said. “That’s when I knew he not only had a good taste but a good eye as well. He has been such a treat to work with at ATPI workshops and a great resource for any photography need I have ever had. I know he has helped countless teachers and has made an awesome impact on Texas photojournalism programs.”
UIL contest. For example, if the school chooses an athletic team or an individ-ual athlete, it should include practice, team meetings, games, etc. — the full story of that team’s experience through-out the season. If the school chooses to film an academic or music event, then the same process should be used.
For more information, go to the UIL website. Contest deadline is May 13.
Hullender, Grimm to be honored as Friends of Journalism