may 13 upfront
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Upfront, TAJE newsletter, May 2013TRANSCRIPT
UpfrontUpfrontTAJE
P.O. Box 9187Austin, TX
78766taje.org
Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2013
Advisers are easy. Asked to write a rec-ommendation for a newspaper or year-book editor, they’re generally gung-ho, all-in, right-away.
Fellow staff mem-bers — teenagers with all the typical teenage hang-ups and quirks — are rarely as effu-sive or efficient. And that’s all you need to know about Daniel Hersh of St. Mark’s School of Texas, the 2013 Texas High School Journalist of the Year. Sure, his adviser, Ray Westbrook, sub-mitted reams of praise in support of his nomi-nation, but fellow staff members are as compli-mentary of Hersh — or more.
“Daniel has a seemingly endless generosity that comprises his style of leadership,” one staff member wrote.
“Daniel is willing to do anything to main-tain excellence,” wrote another.
“Daniel is the king of leading by example,” claims a third.
Ask 10 other members of the ReMarker staff, and it’s likely they’d say the same thing. Daniel Hersh was a great editor, the type of leader who willingly and consistently goes beyond even the most ambitious expectations.
“I had a water polo tournament and needed to get in (the Journalism lab) early on a Satur-day morning to work on my page, so I asked Daniel,” ReMarker editorial director Henry Woram said. “He got up at the crack of dawn to get to school and let me in. He then stayed there while I worked on my page. Any time I had work I needed help with, he swooped in,
even without my asking.”It’s this “lead from the front” philosophy
that hallmarked Hersh’s remarkable year as Re-Marker editor, which culminated recently with the newspaper winning yet another ILPC Gold Star Award and with his finishing third nation-ally in JEA’s National High School Journalism Student of the Year competition.
Ironically, Hersh wasn’t on Westbrook’s list of “most likely to” candidates as a freshman staffer. He was introverted, unsure of himself, a good but not great student. But once given responsibility as a sophomore sports editor, he flourished in the uber-competitive environment of St. Mark’s journalism, and Westbrook said he began to notice the metamorphosis.
“He literally came alive, both as a journalist and as a dynamic, confident leader of the staff,” he said. “He rarely missed a beat, and he had that rarest of abilities: to take each assignment and view it as a learning opportunity.”
In time, Westbrook and the other boys took notice.
Texas High School Journalist of the Year Daniel Hersh. Photo by Michael Doorey.
Bobby Hawthorne
‘An exemplary job’St. Mark’s Hersh named Texas Journalist of the Year
Susan DuncanPresident
903.295.5031, ext. [email protected]
Cindy BerryPresident-Elect940.393.7231cindy.berry@
decatur.esc11.ne
Christine DavisSecretary
817.571.0271, ext. [email protected]
Mikyela TedderTreasurer
Alyssa BoehringerState Director
214.385.7078aboehringer@
mckinneyisd.net
Pat GathrightConvention Director
Brenda SlattonAssistant
Convention Director210.442.0300, ext. 350
Sue JettAssistant
Convention Director210.442.0800, ext. 262
Sheryl FloydPresident
Dianne Smith-HarperWebmaster
Rhonda MooreExecutive Director
[email protected] See ‘Hersh’ on page 5
2 Texas Association of Journalism Educator May 2012
From the PresidentSusan Duncan
Pine Tree High SchoolTAJE President
ATPI to host workshop for advisers June 12-15 at Allen High School
As I struggled with the topic for this column, I asked myself what has been the most important thing in my last two years as TAJE president, and my instant response was the people.
Whether it’s a high school publica-tion staff or a large organization, peo-ple are always the key to whether the year will be a success. And the journal-ism advisers across the state are some of the best people I know.
Every time I attend a convention or meet together for a UIL event, it’s like a reunion—even if our students are com-peting against each other. Even though I see my journalism buddies only a few times a year, we have a bond. We en-dure the same hardships and share the same joys.
We have walked in the fires of year-book and newspaper deadlines and survived. We have gotten children home safely from long school trips. We have lived through administrative changes and edicts and have stood up
for our publications against budget cuts and threats to press freedom.
We are survivors.So, though a little battle weary af-
ter the national convention last fall, our organization and our people have come away from those experienc-es stronger. We weathered the storm, and now we are ready for the organization to concentrate on needs closer to home such as certification issues and curricu-lum changes.
My stint as TAJE president ends in May as I pass the reins to Cindy Berry, who will do an excellent job leading the organization. Under her direction, we will explore new opportunities to serve advisers and student journalists.
Cindy, who teaches in Decatur, rep-resents small towns and big hearts. Her smile is infectious, and her passion
for scholastic journalism is evidenced by her excellent publications and the knowledge she shares with yearbook staffs and advisers around the state and the nation. Most of the TAJE presidents in the recent past have come from larger
metropolitan areas, so Cindy will bring a new perspective to the job.
Over the years, I have encouraged many of the current board members and
regional representatives to step up to leadership positions, and I am proud of them for their willingness to make a difference. As I assume the job as past president, I will support Cindy and continue to work on any projects she assigns me. And if I can be of any help to advisers with curriculum needs or other requests, I’m only an email away.
Keep the faith these last few weeks, and I’ll see many of you at State for our next reunion.
Bond between journalism teachers makes surviving the school year easier
A sticky situation
The ATPI Summer Workshop for In-structors Only will be June 12-15 at Al-len High School in Allen.
The three-and-a-half day workshop will allow teachers to choose from one of several tracks, includ-ing Video Instruction/Production, Action Photography, Digital Tech and Workflow and Back to the Ba-sics. There will also be portfolio reviews and a print exchange.
Participants can stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Allen, which is located just a short distance from Allen High School. The hotel
has free wireless internet access in all rooms and a complimentary hot break-fast buffet. ATPI has reserved a block of rooms at $89/night. The rate does not
include 7 percent city tax.Make sure you bring your
state sales tax exemption form to avoid paying the 6 percent state tax. Rooms must be reserved by May 22 with a credit card. Contact the Holiday Inn at 972-727-2000 or use the online form to make reservations. Tell them you are with the ATPI 2013 Summer Workshop group.
Go to atpi.org for more information about classes and a registration dis-count.
POB COA
Please note TAJE’s new ad-dress:
TAJE PO Box 9187Austin, TX 78766
Members are encouraged to notify their school bookkeepers about the change of address. If anyone needs a new W-2 form sent to his or her school, email executive director Rhonda Moore at [email protected].
TAJE changes addressof post office box
May 2012 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 3
“
“State Director’s Report
Alyssa BoehringerMcKinney High SchoolTAJE State Director
TAJE names Clinton Administrator of the Year
Principal Deborah Clinton of Naza-reth ISD was named TAJE’s Adminis-trator of the Year at the ILPC Awards Ceremony in April.
In her letter of nomination, Naza-reth adviser Brenda Schulte called Clinton “our most consistent and most loyal leader.”
“Mrs. Clinton has created an envi-ronment at Nazareth ISD that promotes success,” Schulte said. “Her guidance and support have made it possible for me and my students to create a finan-cially stable and academically success-ful journalism program.”
Schulte also credited Clinton with Nazareth’s UIL academic success.
“Students and sponsors know that Mrs. Clinton cares, and it motivates them to do their best,” Schulte said. “Without Mrs. Clinton’s support and guidance, we would not have had the opportunity to be successful.”
Some magical spark of good luck invited my district to Adobe MAX Cre-ativity Conference last week and our CTE coordinator decided to take me along.
Artists, graphic designers, film-makers, photographers and creativity enthusiasts from all over the world gathered at the Los Angeles Con-vention Center to learn tips and tech-niques, discover what inspires cre-ativity and, of course, see what’s new with Adobe. In case you haven’t heard Creative Suite is a thing of the past. The future will lie solely in Adobe’s Creative Cloud. While it’s unclear to me just how CC institutional licensing will work, there are some changes to the new ver-sion, available June 17, which journal-ism teachers should be excited about.
Here are some of the most exciting things for us:
Adobe hardware. You read that right. Adobe debuted both projects Mighty and Napoleon, as they head into the world of cloud-enabled hard-ware. Mighty, a smart stylus, works
with Napoleon to allow users to draw angles and shapes with impressive pre-cision.
One of my fa-vorite new features will be the addition
of the camera raw filter to Photoshop. So now those camera raw settings can be applied in a filter (video included!). Also new is camera shake reduction. Now, for better or worse, those im-ages that are slightly soft really can be sharpened in the editing process. I guess there’s no longer an excuse for out-of-focus images. The scary thing is,
Adobe ditches Suite, moves to Creative Cloudit works.
Their Internet application Kuler will expand to an app where users can ac-tually take photos on their iPhone and select colors from the image to create custom color palettes that will be saved to the cloud. These colors can go from a photo on your phone to a Kuler palette on your InDesign or Illustrator work-space in a matter of seconds. I really can’t wait to play with this one.
Meanwhile digital publishing suite is taking off, making it super simple to develop content for Apple’s app store. The professional world is already do-ing it so why shouldn’t we? These tools make it seem so easy to build those apps right in InDesign.
I don’t mean to sound like a com-mercial for Adobe. But while I’m sure there will be a few hiccups as publica-tions and broadcasts make the Creative Cloud transition, I can’t help but see possibilities.
Schulte called Clinton the “perfect administrator.”
“She puts education first,” Schul-te said, “she supports all programs equally, she demands the best from her teachers, and she expects teachers to motivate students to do their best.”
Her guidance and support have made it possible for me and my students to cre-ate a financially stable and academically successful journalism program.
Brenda SchulteNazareth journalism adviser
Applications are being accepted for the 2013 Dow Jones News Fund Na-tional High School Journalism Teacher Awards Program.
Newspaper, online and newsmaga-zine advisers are considered; literary magazine, broadcast-only and year-book advisers are not eligible for this competition. The postmark deadline is July 8.
Benefits include a free subscription to The Wall Street Journal, free atten-dance at the Poynter Institute, free Poynter webinars, a newsroom laptop, travel, speaking engagements and a $1,000 scholarship for a senior at the teacher’s school.
Visit the Teacher Programs section of the Dow Jones website at https://www.newsfund.org for more details
Dow Jones News Fundaccepting TOY applications
4 Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2012
Regional representatives to meet with BoardRegional workshops are
planned for members in the next few months.
Workshops will include lunch, and participants will receive a certificate for in-service credit.
For more information, contact your regional repre-sentative. Each TAJE region represents two regional ser-vice center areas. The repre-sentatives and their e-mail addresses are as follows:
Region ILaura SmithCanyon HS1701 23rd St.Canyon [email protected]
Region IIMary Beth LeeRider HS4611 CypressWichita Falls [email protected]
Region IIICorey HaleLewisville HS
1098 W. Main St.Lewisville [email protected]
Region IVCharla HarrisPleasant Grove HS5406 McKnight Rd.Texarkana [email protected]
Region V Alex Seufert
Coronado HS100 Champions Pl.El Paso [email protected]
Region VINo representative
Region VIIMichael ReevesAkins HS10701 S. 1st St.Austin [email protected]
Region VIII No representative
Region IXEd LarsenCinco Ranch HS23440 Cinco Ranch Blvd.Katy [email protected]
Region XKelsey MartinMemorial HS101 E. HackberryMcAllen [email protected]
Regional representatives will meet with the Executive Board in August. Members with questions or concerns for the Board should contact their regional representative by July 15.
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(ESC 16 & 17)
(ESC 3 & 4)
(ESC 5 & 6)
(ESC 12&13)
(ESC 15 & 20)
(ESC 18 & 19)
(ESC 7 & 8)(ESC 10 & 11)(ESC 9 & 14)
(ESC 1 & 2)
Short itemsTime to renew membership
Invoices for TAJE membership for the 2013-14 school year have been mailed.
Members should check the invoice to see when their membership expires. Those who do not need to renew TAJE membership this year may use the in-
Clip contest winners announced
Certificates for clip contest winners were mailed to schools in March.
A complete list of winners can be found on the TAJE website at taje.org.
Short items
The TAJE Fall Fiesta will return to the Crowne Plaza Hotel Oct. 19-21.
Room rates will remain the same at $150 per night, but we will have more rooms to spread out for sessions, on-site critiques, Breakfast with a Pro, on-site contests and more.
The keynote speaker will be Ben
Date set for 2013 TAJE convention
Campbell of the Tampa Bay Times.So, mark you calendar now for the
Fall Fiesta Oct. 19-21.
voice to join JEA, ATPI or SIPA.Members who need to join JEA may
do so through TAJE. TAJE receives a rebate from JEA for each member who joins JEA through TAJE. Please note JEA membership increases to $60 July 1.
May 2012 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 5
“Whenever Daniel would come into the publications suite (during an off period), whoever was in the room would immediately gravitate to him.”
They wanted to be around him, to visit with him, just to ‘hang’ with him.
“That suggested to me that because he was so likeable, he would command respect as an editor-in-chief,” West-brook said. “People generally respond well to people they like and respect.”
Over the course of the year, Hersh spear-headed the most mas-sive re-design of the newspaper in the last 12 years, arranged for an interview with Pres-ident George W. Bush in which he discussed with the former presi-dent the forthcoming opening of the Bush In-stitute and Library, and coordinated a ground-breaking four-page special section on teenage depression.
“He’s made this year very pleasant for me and for his staff members, many of whom are good friends of his,” Westbrook said. “In fact, his upper leadership team consists of six of his closest friends, and he’s done a textbook job of balancing friendship with the realities of getting the job done.”
Early in the year, Hersh had to call in a close friend who was not doing his job to produce a major in-depth story for the centerspread sec-tion.
“Daniel bridged that masterfully — sepa-rating the friendship from the task at hand,” Westbrook said. “A tough situation, certainly, but the end result was a solid reporting piece which ran as the major story in that section — and the friendship was intact, with no perma-nent hard feelings. That’s difficult for anyone to do, but to see an 18-year-old handle it with
such aplomb and poise, well that was simply amazing, too.”
Much of his success also stemmed from his relationship with the senior staff members — all close friends inside and outside the J lab.
“Daniel was very adept at separating this friendship from the business of being editor,” Westbrook said. “He does an exemplary job
of carrying out his editor duties with-out showing un-due favor or bias to his friends, and he makes sure all staff members — not just his close friends — get their share of the plum story assign-ments.”
Visuals director Andrew Good-man agrees.
“Daniel is very adroit at weigh-ing the opinions of his staff members equally and mak-ing informed deci-
sions,” Goodman said. “During my four years in this program, Daniel has been the most well-rounded editor I’ve worked with.”
Before relinquishing his position, Hersh created a 20-point checklist for his successor, Dylan Clark.
“The most important was to always be the first one in and the last one out, as that is the best way to get others to work hard too,” said Clark, who served as one of two arts editors this past year. “I saw him in journalism during almost every free period, either working with a staff writer to improve a story or brainstorm-ing with a managing editor on how to make a centerspread as effective as possible. He stays late and comes in early, and it clearly rubs off on everyone else.”
Clark added that while he appreciates the checklist, he doesn’t think he’ll need it.
“The things Daniel taught me,” Clark said, “he taught through action — not words.”
I saw him in journalism during almost
every free period, either working with
a staff writer to improve a story or
brainstorming with a managing editor
on how to make a centerspread as
effective as possible. He stays late
and comes in early, and it clearly rubs
off on everyone else.Dylan Clark
Art Editor
““
Hersh named High School Journalist of the YearContinued from page 1
TAJE awarded schol-arships to the follow-ing students at the ILPC awards ceremo-ny in April.College scholarships:Daniel Hersh$1,500 Bill Taylor Memorial ScholarshipSponsored by Balfour Publishing
Talia RichmanRichardson HS$1,000 Bobby Hawthorne Scholarship
Allison PeregoryDuncanville HS$1,000 Jim Davidson Memorial Scholarship
Zachary BabbCy-Falls HS$1,000 Julia Jeffress Memorial Scholarship
Leah LebeauCy-Falls HS$1,000 DeWitt C. Reddick Memorial Scholarship
$150 WorkshopScholarships:Rebecca NegriAlief Kerr HS Sarah BungayAlief Kerr HS
Mathew DuBoseJersey Village HS Semon AdamsJersey Village HS
Kelsey HodgesJersey Village HS
TAJEawards scholarships
6 Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2012
Signature of TAJE member nominating
Purpose: To recognize individuals/staffs whose initial risk-taking efforts and subsequent experiences (whether wholly successful or not) to expand the scope and capability of Texas scholastic journalism benefit others who follow their lead.
Eligibility: Those who endeavor to “push the envelope” of conventional scholastic journalism to new venues or methods.
Entries must be postmarked no later than June 5, 2013.Mail nomination forms to:Rhonda MooreTAJEP.O. Box 9187Austin, TX 78766
Name of Nominee:
School:
Please explain this individual’s contributions to the field of journalism on a separate sheet of paper. Include examples of how he/she has helped to improve scholastic journalism in Texas and how these improvements have benefitted others. Attach this form and send both to the TAJE address.
Trailblazer Award Nomination Form
Signature of TAJE member nominating
Purpose: To note outstanding contributions to scholastic journalism by persons/organizations not directly involved in the daily instructional process (i.e., outside the classroom).
Eligibility: Those whose instruction, service and/or assistance, financial sponsorship or per-sonal dedication and advocacy toward the betterment of scholastic journalism in Texas deserves recognition.
Entries must be postmarked no later than June 5, 2013.Mail nomination forms to:Rhonda MooreTAJEP.O. Box 9187Austin, TX 78766
Name of Nominee:
Business/Organization:
Please explain the contributions of this individual/organization to scholastic journalism on a separate sheet of paper. Attach this form and send both to the TAJE address.
Friend of Journalism Award Nomination Form
May 2012 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 7