may 2009 upfront
DESCRIPTION
May 2009 issue of UpfrontTRANSCRIPT
aInside
UpfrontUpfrontTAJE
P.O. Box 5554Austin, TX
78763-5554taje.org
Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2009
Lori HerbstPresident
972-539-1591, ext. [email protected]
Sheryl FloydPresident-Elect512-594-0500
Lisa Van EttaSecretary
Cindy BerryTreasurer
940-627-6495cindy.berry@
decatur.esc11.net
Susan DuncanState Director
903-295-5031, ext. 265
Pat GathrightConvention Director
210-325-7793pgathright@
yahoo.com
Brenda SlattonAssistant
Convention Director210-442-0300, ext. 350
Sue JettAssistant
Convention Director210-442-0800, ext. 262
Peggy MillerPast President281-498-8110,
ext. 2460Peggy.Miller@
aliefisd.net
Rhonda MooreExecutive Director
““
Kendall Popelsky of Cypress Falls High School was named the Texas High School Jour-nalist of the Year at the ILPC awards convention April 19 in Austin.
“The judges chose Kendall because herportfolio demonstrates a variety of skills
which make her a multi-faceted journalist,” TAJE State Director Susan Duncan said. “She has compiled superior quality work over an extended pe-riod of time, and her entry shows amazing depth for a high school journalist.”
Popelsky was the editor of the online newspaper her senior year. She has been a member of the pub-lications staffs at Cy-Falls for four years.
“I extended an invita-tion to Kendall based on her application to join my publication staffs her freshman year as an in-experienced and untried photographer,” adviser Lisa Van Etta said. “Not having met Kendall, I was pleasantly surprised when she showed up for the first day of the summer workshop, en-thusiastic and eager to learn how to be a pho-tographer. It didn’t take her long. The results of her first day shooting in a variety of lighting situations showed great promise.”
Popelsky was soon doing more than just photography for the publications.
“After mastering photography she began to volunteer for other assignments,” Van Etta said. “She extended her caption writing skills to include column and feature writing. Kendall was soon completing double page spreads in the yearbook and photo essays for the newspa-per.”
According to Van Etta, Popel-sky has a strong sense of ethics.
“With a lack of ethics so pre-dominant in today’s profession-al journalists, young journalists such as Kendall are needed to reestablish journalism as a re-spected and honored career,” Van Etta said, “diminishing the label of tabloid and biased re-porting associated with the re-porting of news today.”
Duncan said the JOY judges were impressed with Popelsky’s eye for detail.
“The panel was impressed with her technical sophistication as a photographer, her engag-ing abilities as a writer, her cut-ting edge layout design and the
depth of the work presented,” Duncan said.Popelsky was named one of the top five fi-
nalists for National High School Journalist of the Year at the JEA/NSPA convention in Phoe-nix in April.
“Kendall has all the traits needed to be a suc-cessful 21st Century journalist,” Van Etta said. “She can take the photos, design the layout and write the story for any publication.”
Kendall has all the traits needed to be a successful 21st Cen-tury journalist. She can take the photos, design the layout and write the story for any publication.
Lisa Van EttaCy-Falls adviser
Cypress Falls’ Popelsky named High School Journalist of the Year
Inside Herbst’shurrah4-yearpresident signs off
-page 2
Name anomineeNominate a deserving Trailblazer/Friend-pages 6-7
WorkshopwinnersFind a workshop for you, your students-pages 4-5a
W2 Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2009
From the President
Lori HerbstMarcus High School
TAJE President
““
When I meet journalism teachers who are not members of TAJE, I admit that I am a little sad-dened for them. I didn’t discover TAJE until I had been an adviser for about five years, and I remember clearly how much more difficult and lonely the job was in those early years.
This is my 15th column for the newsletter, and I imagine I’ve men-tioned the benefits of membership in TAJE in at least 13 of them—that’s how passionate I am about joining. But for this, my last column, I wish to reminisce on some of the things I’ve learned that I really never expected to know.
As a result of my time as a TAJE member, I have learned…• …how to successfully squeeze “just one more per-son” onto an elevator—and how to tune out the incessant alarm that inevitably goes off when you do that.• …which member of the TAJE board snores the loud-est. (Hint: It’s the one who always miraculously ends up with her own room!)• …how to use the bathroom from the side of a car (thanks, Jeanne).• …how to use the bathroom on a charter bus that is ca-reening down a pothole-laced highway at 70 mph.
• …just how much one person can physically do. (That would be Rhonda Moore, and though I have only seen her reach her limit once or twice, you’ll know when she has!)• …what it feels like to ride in a police car. (Thanks to some of my students at the 2007 convention, who were caught climbing a fire escape to the top of City Hall. Ah, the memories….)• …how to room check 12 hotel rooms in 12 min-utes flat.• … where to look to get tons of resources—namely, the TAJE Web site.• …that Dianne Smith is not only a top-notch webmaster but also TAJE’s First Amendment ex-pert.• …where to find the best food on the
Riverwalk.• …to check in as early as possible to the conven-tion hotels.• … that just smelling Peggy Miller’s cooking can make me gain 5 pounds.• … that no matter how smart and well-behaved
my students seem to be, they are still teen-agers and will abuse my trust from time to time.• … that I always forgive them, even
though I never forget.• …that Mark Murray can fix almost anything.• … how supportive people in this business are, and how much it means in hard times to have people who care about you.• …how hard I can laugh.• … the true limits of my patience.• …to give Susan Duncan the date of the retreat more than once.• … that journalism teachers really need air con-ditioning.• … how many advisers are willing to pitch in and help when something goes wrong at conven-tion.• … that after 21 years as an adviser, I still have so much to learn and there are so many of you out there to teach me—in sessions, keynote speeches, listserv posts, etc.• … that there is no better group of colleagues out there than journalism teachers. You people are unique, weird, fun, smart, compassionate, independent, hilarious, loyal, brave and, best of all, my friends.
Thank you so much for your support these past four years that I have served as president of this terrific group. You have volunteered, judged, critiqued, served on committees, run for office—done whatever you could to make this group a support system for all of us. It has been my privilege to work with you and to get to know so many of you.
I know that you will give the new president, Sheryl Floyd, an equal amount of help and sup-port. She is going to be an absolutely awesome president, and in a few months you’ll be wonder-ing how you tolerated the likes of me for so long. I look forward to her leadership.
Hasta la vista!
Thank you so much for your support these past four years that I have served as president of this terrific group. It has been my privilege to work with you and to get to know so many of you.
TAJE teaches more than journalism
May 2009 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 3
State Director’s Report
Susan DuncanPine Tree High SchoolTAJE State Director
For those still working on the last newspaper or a summer or fall delivery yearbook, surviving May means getting students to finish as-signments when all anyone wants to do is laze around the house or the pool with family and friends.
I don’t know that I have any great ad-vice for late dead-line advisers other than I hope you got your bluff in early because if your students are like mine, they already have one foot in vacationland.
I try, if at all possible, to avoid criti-cal deadlines in May. My school went to a spring delivery book several years ago, and I have to admit I don’t mind the month of May anymore. For many years, I struggled through fall delivery deadlines, and my staffs have finaled as late as early July.
I resented spending so much of my summer trying to get kids to finish assignments that were due at least a month earlier. I hated my col-leagues who were getting everything wrapped up in May and planning ahead for the fall. Their lives were slowing down while I was trying to make everyone around me speed up to get pages finished faster before the staffers and their sources vanished the week after graduation.
The event that really made my decision for me occurred when I attended a TAJE summer retreat several years back. Then-president Peggy Miller spent the afternoon telling everyone that she was already bored and talking about all the things she had accomplished in the month of June. “That’s it,” I thought. “I’ve had enough.”
I decided it is just plain crazy to plan major deadlines for the final six
weeks when the students’ only desire is to be outside the school doors enjoying the gorgeous weather and spending their last few days with high school friends.
With that realization, I began work-ing to get my administrators to approve
the change to spring delivery for the next year. It made so much more sense to have major deadlines in the winter months while the staff mem-bers’ brains were still
in gear and their bodies were still in the building.
It helped that my school had pro-duced spring delivery books a couple of decades ago when many of the current parents were students themselves. They were used to getting their yearbooks in May and were excited to go back to an early delivery date.
Since the change was made, I haven’t looked back. November through March is hectic, but I can enjoy the end of school AND summer vacation.
Now, the hardest thing about May is finding enough assignments to keep the children busy. Our latest project is creating online photo books, calendars, cookbooks, etc. through sites such as Shutterfly or Lulu. The staff members are creating portfolios of their work or per-sonal scrapbooks from photos they have taken. I grade them online, and then the students can get their parents to actually purchase the books if they desire.
We’ve also done some fun projects with PowerPoint, Photoshop and Illus-trator to fill the days until the books ar-rive. What we haven’t done is miss May deadlines. It’s 3:15 on a Friday afternoon, and I’m walking out the door.
Thanks, Peggy, for opening my eyes to the wonders of spring delivery and congratulations on your retirement and that final trek out of the yearbook room.
May was not meant for deadlinesSpring delivery yearbooks make end of year less stressful
The 2009 Fall Fiesta convention will be held Oct. 17-19 at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio.
Speaker forms are on the Web site. Members are urged to sign up to present a session at the convention.
Please note:The deadline dates are
incorrect on the hard copy of the convention flier. The correct dates are on the flier that is on the Web site. The earlybird deadline and the hotel deadline are Sept. 18.
Dates set for 2009 convention
Time to renew membership
Invoices for TAJE member-ship for the 2009-10 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 invoice 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.
Clip contest winners announced
Certificates for clip con-test winners were mailed to schools in February.
A complete list of winners can be found on the TAJE Web site at taje.org.
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 May 2009
Regional representatives plan workshops for next yearRegional workshops are
planned for members in August and September.
Workshops will include lunch, and participants will receive a certificate for in-service credit.
For more information, contact your regional rep-resentative. The represen-tatives and their e-mail addresses are as follows:
Region ILaura SmithCanyon HS1701 23rd St.Canyon [email protected]
Region IIMary Beth LeeSH Rider HS4611 CypressWichita Falls 76310940.720.3019 - School940-232-1589 - [email protected]
Region IIIMikyela Tedder
Lindale HSP.O. Box 370Lindale 75771903.882.6138 - School903.534.5495 - [email protected]
Region IVPat MonroeBurges HS7800 EdgemereEl Paso 79925
915.780.1100ext. 6203 - School915.822.2513 - [email protected]
Region V Christine Keyser-Fanick John Paul Stevens HS 600 N. Ellison Dr. San Antonio 78251 210.397.6450 - School 210.681.6819 - Home
ckeyserfanick@ sbcglobal.net
Region VILaura NegriAlief Kerr HS8150 Howell Sugarland Rd.Houston 77083281.983.8484 ext. 267- School832.379.9924 - Homelaura.k.negri @[email protected]
Region VIIDina WilsonBETA510 S. Sugar Rd.Edinburg [email protected]
Regional representatives will meet with the Execu-tive Board at the beginning of July. Members with ques-tions or concerns for the Board should contact their regional representative by-May 31.
With summer vacation just around the corner, many advisers will be looking for workshops for their stu-dents.
Two of the biggest in the state are ILPC and the Gloria Shields All-American Workshop, Information for these workshops is as follows:
ILPCJune 26-29UT AustinContact Jeanne Acton at
Gloria Shields All-American WorkshopJuly 5-9Dallas Marriott Quorum HotelE-mail: [email protected] companies also host
workshops. If you need a work-shop other than the two listed, contact your yearbook represen-tative.
Vacation? What vacation?
Summertime meansworkshop time
ATPI to host summer workshop for advisers July 15-18 in Commerce
The ATPI Summer Workshop for In-structors will be held July 15-18 at Texas A&M University in Commerce.
The $250 registration fee covers the workshop, all lunches, dinner on Wednesday and Friday evenings and other fun items. Teachers who have attended the Summer Workshop in the past who bring one new person with them this year can register both in-dividuals for $200 each.
All workshop partici-pants will receive a cer-tificate for hours earned.
Participants can stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Commerce, less than five minutes from the campus. The hotel has free wireless internet access to all
May 2009 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 5
TAJE presented the following scholarships at the ILPC conven-tion in Austin April 20:
Kendall PopelskyCypress Falls HS
$1,500 Bill Taylor Memorial Scholarship
Chelsea Ruffino Cypress Falls HS
$1,000 Bobby Hawthorne
Scholarship
Stephanie DoanMarcus HS
$1,000 Jim Davidson Memorial Scholarship
Emily Judd McKinney HS
$1,000 DeWitt C. Reddick
Memorial Scholarship
Kelley Peterson Decatur HS
$1,000 Julia JeffressMemorial Scholarship
Summer workshop scholar-ships:
Sonia AcostaRachel Nguyen
Alief Hastings HS
Kimber MorrisRowlett HS
Monique MorenoSierra Flores
Morton Ranch HS
Hayley MunguiaPflugerville HS
Teacher workshop scholarship:Brenda Marafioto
Krueger MS
TAJE scholarships presented in April
Superintendent Margaret Davis of Pleasant Grove ISD was named the 2009 Administrator of the Year at the ILPC awards ceremony April 19 in Austin.
In her letter of nomination, Pleasant Grove adviser Charla Harris said Davis has always been support-ive of the journalism program.
“From the begin-ning, she was inter-ested in the journal-ism program and the opportunities it would provide PG students,” Harris said. “During her tenure as superintendent, shes never even suggested that principals per-form prior review, and she’s never
Margaret Davis named Administrator of the Year
asked us to cut a story.”Harris said Davis also provided
funding for her program.
“I am certain that my students would not have achieved their very high level of success over the years without her support,” Harris said.
Because of Da-vis’ support, Harris said, her program has not had to face controversy.
“Because of her visible and vocal pride in our pro-gram,” Harris said, “the district and community view my students’ work with that same pride.”
of the rooms. The rate at the Holiday Inn is $79/night (single or double) plus 7 percent city tax. Make sure you bring your state sales tax exemption form in
order not to pay the 6 per-cent state tax. Rooms must be reserved by July 6 with a credit card. Contact the Holiday Inn at 1-903-886-4777 to make reservations.
The classes to be offered include Sports Photogra-phy, Digital Video, Digital Processes and Visual Com-munication. For more infor-mation, including full class descriptions, go to atpi.org.
Workshop supporters include Olym-pus America (John Knaur), the Photo Imaging Education Association and Stan Godwin Photography.
“
“
Because of her visible and vocal pride in our program, the district and community view my students’ work with that same pride.
Charla HarrisPleasant Grove adviser
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 capabil-ity 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 15, 2009.Mail nomination forms to:Rhonda MooreTAJEP.O. Box 5554Austin, TX 78763-5554
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
6 Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2009
May 2009 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 7
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 personal dedication and advocacy toward the betterment of scholastic journalism in Texas deserves recognition.
Entries must be postmarked no later than June 15, 2009.Mail nomination forms to:Rhonda MooreTAJEP.O. Box 5554Austin, TX 78763-5554
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