JOURNALISM EDUCATION ASSOCIATION STATE DIRECTORS GUIDE

Transcription

1 JOURNALISM EDUCATION ASSOCIATION STATE DIRECTORS GUIDE CREATED BY LINDA BALLEW, MJE GEORGIA DUNN, MJE BETH FITTS, MJE & SARAH NICHOLS, MJE rev. 9/15

2 PREFACE I realize that advisers are icredibly busy people with way too much o their to-do lists. Ruig their ow programs is ofte overwhelmig, ad addig a huge list of JEA state director duties may tur off some from beig willig to serve. My outreach as Idiaa state director depeds o the time of year ad how busy I am with my ow resposibilities. Perhaps your biggest role as a state director is to become the face of JEA i your state. That meas attedig your state covetio ad as may regioal cofereces as possible ad participatig by givig sessios for both advisers ad studets. Advisers eed to see JEA i perso for the orgaizatio to become real. Every time I talk to advisers I always talk about what JEA ca do for them ad why it s importat to be part of a atioal orgaizatio. The JEA olie curriculum is worth much, much more tha the cost for dues. I also ecourage JEA certificatio as a added elemet of professioalism. May admiistrators recogize this as aother support for competet, traied advisers. A secod key role for a state director is to ecourage scholastic jouralism withi your state. I have writte coutless letters to admiistrators ad local ewspapers supportig programs o the verge of beig cut or facig First Amedmet issues. I have traveled to school board meetigs to offer reassurace ad sometimes to speak out i support of resposible scholastic jouralists. NANCY HASTINGS, MJE

3 INTRODUCTION State directors provide a essetial lik betwee idividual members ad the atioal orgaizatio. Each director s job icludes commuicatio ad outreach to promote JEA programs, support ew members, relay atioal ews to local colleagues ad represet state cocers so the JEA board ca address importat eeds from all areas. I appoitig state directors, the vice presidet has a resposibility to cosider each state s specific eeds as well as iput from members while followig a cosistet, orgaized selectio ad appoitmet process. Part of the goal is to draw i ew leaders to the orgaizatio. To serve as a state director, idividuals must be curret members i good stadig. Cotact iformatio for each state director is posted at The role of a state director ivolves year-roud ivolvemet. Activities geerally fall ito three categories: covetio items, the Jouralist of the Year cotest ad ogoig commuicatio. This guidebook will address each aspect of the state director s role with suggestios ad best practices. The job is ot somethig directors must tackle aloe or o a daily basis. The vice presidet, specifically, ad all board members, i geeral, have the same iterests ad wat to support state directors to help achieve JEA s missio. Each of JEA s programs ad iitiatives is icluded i this guidebook to provide a overview. State directors should feel kowledgeable about covetio activities, committees ad projects. It should be oted, however, that the most curret iformatio will be available at ad that directors ca reach out by or phoe for more iformatio at ay time. Directors are ot expected to be experts i all of these areas but rather are ecouraged to kow how to fid the iformatio ad to support members as questios arise. SARAH NICHOLS, MJE JEA VICE PRESIDENT

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5 PART 1: WHAT IS THE JOB ALL ABOUT? THE STATE DIRECTOR S JOB DESCRIPTION JEA directors have a umber of optioal job resposibilities, but the positio requires the followig: Work cooperatively with JEA headquarters i the recruitmet ad retetio of members. Network with members, scholastic press associatios, professioal media ad uiversities. Coordiate the state Jouralist of the Year cotest. Atted JEA geeral ad directors meetigs at atioal covetios. Promote JEA to advisers at state meetigs or covetios. Submit reports ad membership iformatio o time. Promote JEA certificatio, committee efforts, philosophies ad policies. Commuicate with state JEA members o a quarterly basis. TO RECEIVE THE STATE DIRECTOR S STIPEND FOR CONVENTION PARTICIPATION JEA directors may obtai a stiped twice a year to offset travel expeses to atted ad serve as voluteers at the atioal covetios. To be eligible for the stiped, directors must do the followig or ay duty pre-approved by the vice presidet: Teach at least oe covetio sessio. Judge ad/or moderate a Write-off cotest. Atted JEA geeral ad directors meetigs. Submit a completed voucher durig the directors meetig. State directors also are ecouraged to do the followig: Atted adviser receptio(s) to coect with first-time attedees ad ew members. Atted Saturday lucheo to show support for JEA hoorees. BUDGET INFORMATION The state director s stiped is iteded to help defray costs associated with travelig to a atioal covetio. Beyod that, though, there is o budget for day-to-day operatig expeses, Jouralist of the Year judges, travel withi your state or ay other expeses. Luckily, commuicatio is possible i a variety of ways at o cost to our members or our directors. O the ext page are some ways to support your state s JEA commuity for free. Obtai a list of JEA member addresses i your state by cotactig JEA staff for help. While you ca fid this 5

6 iformatio by searchig the membership directory olie, cotactig is the suggested method i order to have the most complete ad accurate member list. Members may choose ot to be listed i the directory but should still receive JEA-related commuicatios from you. Use this file to sed a group or e-blast or ivite members (ad omembers) to a state Facebook group to share iformatio the vice presidet seds to you. Ecourage state members to sed you iformatio o achievemets ad awards for you to share with others. Ecourage guest colums i your , e-blasts or Facebook groups. Pla get-togethers where the expectatio is you ll provide the space (at your home, a local restaurat, etc.) ad ayoe who wats to come is welcome. Or set up committees to do this i differet areas throughout the state. Make a phoe call. Persoal calls are a rare ad beautiful occurrece i today s electroic world. Use the JEA membership directory to reach out i perso. Nomiate deservig members from your state for awards or special recogitio. JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR SCHOLARSHIPS Although it may vary i some states, the state director is i charge of JEA s aual Jouralist of the Year cotest etry. Oe of the state director s mai jobs is to orgaize this competitio to select the state wier. Wiers from state Jouralist of the Year competitios are set to the atioal level. Digital portfolios are judged prior to the JEA/NSPA Sprig Natioal High School Jouralism Covetio, ad scholarship wiers are aouced at the closig award ceremoy. Scholarship fuds are released to the wier ad ay ruers-up after wiers are aouced. To orgaize the cotest, the state director eeds to secure judges, dissemiate iformatio about the cotest to studets ad teachers i the state, ad after selectig a wier, esure that the wiig portfolio is submitted olie to JEA by March 15. Clear commuicatio of deadlies ad portfolio requiremets to state members is of utmost importace. Securig judges Each state does this differetly. I some states a committee of teachers who do ot have studets etered ito the competitio judges the etries. I others, professioal jouralists serve as judges. Still others may actually have judges from outside the state who would be ufamiliar with the programs withi the state to serve as judges. Regardless of who does the judgig, it is a good idea to ask judges to use the rubric that will be used at the atioal level i order to esure that the state wier will do well at the ext level. Dissemiatig iformatio Gettig complete cotest iformatio to members ca be the most difficult part of the process. State directors should use all aveues available. Some possible ways are aoucemets ad/or iformative sessios about JOY at cofereces, workshops ad covetios; ewsletters or s the state director has developed through the JEA membership list; state ewsletters ad lists; ad/or postcards or letters. Be sure to iclude the requiremets: Be a graduatig high school seior. Have at least a 3.0 GPA o a 4.0 scale. Have participated i high school jouralism for at least two years. Submit a digital portfolio followig JEA guidelies. Be a studet of a JEA adviser with curret member status. 6

7 Each state determies its ow cotest guidelies, icludig iitial submissio deadlie ad format, prior to the atioal cotest. State directors may be workig with state press associatios or local groups i coordiatig these efforts. Makig members aware of state-specific iformatio is critical to esure that all members kow how to advise their studets i the process. Regardless of ay state-specific cotests beforehad, the official state etry must coform to atioal cotest specificatios ad is coordiated by the state director. The JEA website carries specific istructios ad guidelies about the portfolio. Direct etrats to Submittig the wiig portfolio The wiig portfolio must be submitted digitally by March 15 i order to be eligible for the atioal cotest. The etry form for the state wier submissio is available olie here: SUBMITTING REPORTS Because maitaiig strog commuicatio betwee members at the state level ad atioal level is a importat aspect of the positio, the state director s positio ivolves submittig reports. Although the submissio method ad deadlie may chage, geerally directors submit reports electroically twice a year. The report is a opportuity to share with the JEA membership specific ews ad cocers uique to each state. Oe moth before the submissio deadlie, the vice presidet will otify state directors by about the report with clarificatio regardig format ad how/where to sed the iformatio. Ideally, directors are i cotact with members o a regular basis ad the report simply summarizes iformatio for sharig. Thigs to iclude i the report are the geeral status of state membership, ay major awards or hoors issued to members i the state, ews ad evets (such as covetios, press days, workshops or semiars), challeges (i terms of curriculum, state stadards, budget cuts or state-specific treds affectig jouralism educatio) ad ay First Amedmet-related cocers. The report serves as a historical record of JEA happeigs ad is used i grat applicatios ad fiacial audits, so adherece to format ad deadlie is critical. State directors should gather iformatio o a regular basis to make the report as accurate ad thorough as possible by the submissio deadlie. Other forms of cotact Commuicatig with other JEA leaders as cocers arise is importat. State directors are ot limited to just the two required reports each year. Cotact by ad/or phoe is ecouraged at ay time. The questios ad cocers received from members are importat to the JEA board. It s great to hear success stories ad ew ideas, ad that cotact eed ot be limited to a deadlie or report. State directors also are added to JEATALK, a Listserv that icludes board members, committee chairs ad liaisos, as aother way to maitai iteral commuicatios amog all JEA leaders. Cotactig board members is ecouraged. State directors should feel free to reach out to board members with ideas ad suggestios or just to chat about teachig jouralism ad advisig studet media. 7

8 STAYING CONNECTED VIA JEA SOCIAL MEDIA JEA leaders coect with members i a variety of ways. The Facebook page, provides breakig ews, liks, awards aoucemets, member recogitio ad deadlie remiders. State directors are ecouraged to like the page ad subscribe to updates. This Facebook page also recogizes each state s Jouralist of the Year wier as the results are made official i the sprig. JEA o YouTube: JEA o Istagram: JEA o Twitter: (Presidet Mark Newto, MJE); (JEA ews) REPORTING CENSORSHIP I some states, members may go directly to the state director i cesorship situatios or emergecies related to studet press rights. I these situatios, state directors should poit them to the Scholastic Press Rights Committee Paic Butto olie at The Paic Butto is a olie reportig tool to collect iformatio from those experiecig some type of cesorship. Whe a adviser or studet uses the Paic Butto to submit iformatio, desigated SPRC members receive otificatio. This sets i motio a series of resposes followig a checklist system. I o way will the committee direct the fight agaist cesorship, but each respoder will follow a specific course of actio i supportig the adviser ad studets while offerig suggestios ad resources specific to that situatio. The SPRC offers the Paic Butto for state use, too. Upo request, state directors will receive the graphic, the code ad the survey of questios the perso placig the help request will aswer i order to set up the same system for state jouralism websites or scholastic press associatio pages. The SPRC also will provide liks to SPRC materials o its website. To commuicate effectively, state directors should appoit a cotact perso the SPRC ca work with to share legal ad ethical issues, ad who will respod locally while keepig the SPRC aware of issues. This eables JEA to be more aware of cesorship issues, which makes it possible to respod more quickly ad thoroughly as well as track iformatio for a cesorship map ad additioal study. To add the Paic Butto i your state, cotact the press rights director or a member of the Scholastic Press Rights Committee. Iclude the ame of the perso who will serve as local respoder. Also provide the ame ad cotact iformatio for the idividual who should receive the Paic Butto code ad the supportig materials for your website. The atioal Paic Butto is desiged to help ayoe i eed, so do t worry if you do t have a state-specific website. I the evet that a member uses the Paic Butto to report a icidet, the appropriate state director will receive a from the vice presidet with details about the situatio. At that poit, the director s role is to follow the checklist to provide immediate cotact ad support. (Please see the checklist o the ext page.) 8

9 Cesorship Checklist for JEA State Directors Whe you receive otificatio that a adviser has used the Paic Butto, your role as state director is to provide immediate cotact ad support. Keep i mid that members of the Scholastic Press Rights Committee have their ow specific tasks i commuicatig with the adviser ad studets. Use this checklist to esure cosistet efforts. o Make sure you are familiar with how your state law affects studet expressio: model; o Reach out to the adviser as quickly as possible with a iitial of support usig the address provided o the olie form, ad propose a time to talk; o If the adviser is receptive to the idea, schedule a phoe call or Web chat for more persoal cotact; o Get the adviser s perspective to lear more about the situatio to kow what will help i this uique situatio as well as aythig the adviser says would actually be harmful; o Cotact a JEA metor from your state i the evet that the adviser may eed additioal traiig; o the director, presidet or desigated liaiso of your state press associatio to make sure all parties have the same iformatio ad ecourage those parties to support the steps outlied with the JEA-SPRC Paic Butto system; o Cotact the committee chair, Joh Bowe, with what you have bee doig so he ca update the SPRC Reportig Cesorship page; o If the adviser is ot a JEA member, provide iformatio about how ad why to joi; o Ecourage the adviser to give your cotact iformatio to the studet editors; o Make weekly cotact with the adviser util the situatio is resolved. o Suggest a opportuity to meet with studets, if possible, at a upcomig coferece or workshop, if you feel comfortable ad the distace is doable; 9

10 PART 2: WHAT ELSE CAN STATE DIRECTORS DO? USE THE JEA WEBSITE The official website of the Jouralism Educatio Associatio is a site maitaied by headquarters staff with a full-time webmaster positio. The website is the best place for curret iformatio about the orgaizatio, icludig cotact iformatio for officers, deadlies, details about programs ad iitiatives ad ews about the orgaizatio. A members-oly area offers additioal services, such as access to the membership database. This part of the site requires members to log i ( ad is a great way to search by state for lists ad cotact iformatio of curret JEA members. You may maage your Listserv subscriptio, update your profile ad reew your membership here, too. The JEA Bookstore is liked olie from this site as well ( providig a vast assortmet of texts ad materials useful to jouralism teachers ad media advisers. Members ca obtai a discout code for the bookstore at the members-oly area to save 10 percet. State directors ca use the JEA website for iformatio about JEA s missio ad to stay i tue with curret happeigs. The website provides access to reports ad board meetig miutes, which is helpful i the evet that a state director is uable to atted a atioal covetio. Past reports are available here: It s importat to keep JEA s website updated with correct cotact iformatio. To update iformatio, icludig chagig a ame, address or other item, directors should cotact the vice presidet as well as to the headquarters staff (staff@jea.org). COMMUNICATE OFTEN WITH MEMBERS A essetial compoet of each state director s activities is stayig i touch with members. Oe way to maitai cotact is through ewsletters o a mothly or quarterly basis. Directors also ca work with local ad state press associatios or earby uiversities to build a database of adviser ames ad cotact iformatio to iclude ew teachers or those who are ot JEA members. Directors should determie what commuicatio method ad frequecy works best for their state. Sharig iformatio about JEA deadlies (Awards, Write-offs, Certificatio) ad promotig JEA s curriculum is importat, as is providig the opportuity to ask questios or solicit feedback. 10

11 I the case of Jouralist of the Year, directors should make multiple forms of cotact so advisers have plety of lead time regardig the deadlie, submissio requiremets, olie applicatio form ad ay state-specific rules or specificatios. Iformatio o the atioal aspect of the cotest is available at jouralist-of-the-year/. With the popularity of social media, some state directors or state press associatios have created Facebook groups ad/or Twitter accouts to commuicate with members. CREATE A FACEBOOK GROUP TO CONNECT WITH STATE MEMBERS BY STARR SACKSTEIN, MJE Backgroud State directors eed to fid ways to commuicate effectively with members. Talkig to members directly ad regularly or eve reachig out to people i differet parts of the state, give the diversity of membership ad geography of may states, ca make the job difficult. Facebook may be oe of the best solutios. Whe state directors provide a closed group for members ad/or other jouralism educators i the state to discuss their successes, share iformatio ad commuicate about challeges all the while learig from each other, teachig ad advisig are o loger isolated experieces because the absece of camaraderie is elimiated. The Facebook group solves that problem. Objective Create a safe eviromet for teachers ad advisers of jouralism to discuss cocers, share successes ad resources ad develop relatioships o a state level i additio to sharig the missio of JEA. Why create a group as opposed to a fa page or persoal page? Groups o Facebook offer more versatility ad security. The admiistrator of the page has the ability to ivite users ad so do other users oce they are members. By makig the group Closed, it is searchable i the geeral directory, but users must request to joi it (or be placed i it), which is differet from a fa page. A closed group provides a safe eviromet for teachers to ot be worried about admiistrative backlash. Fa pages are public, ad persoal pages are just that, persoal; they do t have the same ability to develop coversatios ad threads started by ay member. Settig up your closed group Oce directors access the Groups scree, creatig a group is as easy as pressig a butto. Make sure to ame the group somethig obvious ad specific. A ew widow will pop up oce the directors or group admiistrators click o Create group. This is where they will ame their group, select the kid of group they would like it to be ad have the opportuity to add frieds who would be appropriate for the group. Ivitig ew members/fidig members Usig the membership list from a state orgaizatio or from JEA headquarters, issue a fried request to people o the list. It s easy to add Facebook frieds to the group. Oe of the beefits of groups is that the group is a trusted etwork of people because ew members eed to be ivited by either the admiistrator or curret members. People added are able to leave by optig out of the group. Directors ca add members to their group o the first pop-up widow or after the page has bee created. Simply go ito the widow with the + ad start typig a fried s ame. If the director or group admiistrator idicates this is a fried, the perso s ame will appear i the widow. Hit retur ad the perso is ow a member of the group. 11

12 Add evets Facebook admiistrators ca add evets to make members aware of upcomig covetios ad/ or deadlies or workshops. Next to Notificatios, there is a butto. Here, admiistrators will be able to create a evet or edit the group. Here, members ca leave a group or go olie to chat with other people who are olie whe the Facebook admiistrator or state director is olie. The group ame appears at the top of the page. I the same pael, you ll see how may members are i the group. Click o that, ad this is what the list of a member s page looks like oce it s doe. The admiistrator is at the top, ad the the members i the order they were added are below. The admiistrator ca give ay member admiistrator status, but it is recommeded that the state director maitai cotrol of those fuctios. Members ca be searched for o this page. Iitiatig discussio ad sharig iformatio Post status updates i the same maer a perso would post updates o his/her persoal page. Other members are able to iitiate coversatios as well. Share liks Sharig liks is oe way to provide valuable iformatio to state members. Cut ad paste the lik to be shared, ad Facebook automatically recogizes the lik ad shows a picture. The admiistrator is able to give a brief descriptio of the lik ad let members kow what is beig shared. Share photos/videos This is a fu way of ivolvig members ad creatig a camaraderie. Sice some members will ever meet i perso, the pictures serve as a way to make people feel more coected, like they kow each other ad, o some level, it s a opportuity to share experieces with those who could t atted. Share otes ad documets Facebook ow allows people to post documets usig a Microsoft Word format. The admiistrator clicks, creates doc ad a blak page comes up. Give the documet a title, ad ow it is possible to attach lesso plas ad/or useful iformatio that would t be appropriate for a status due to legth. Post questios/surveys Members ad admiistrators may wat to pose a questio. Several possible aswers may be provided, ad admiistrators ca poll the members o differet topics. Facebook will the create a bar graph with the ames of members who aswered the questio ad state directors ca get a percetage of member resposes, reactios ad/or good feedback for importat ideas. Commetig o posts provides easy feedback Whe members post, directors will receive otificatios o their regular Facebook page. Visitig the page daily ad always persoally respodig to their cocers lets state directors build relatioships with members so they kow that the JEA director is iterested i what they write. Eve if directors do t kow the aswer to questios right away, they should try to get the iformatio or suggest where members ca get the iformatio. A easy way to let them kow the admiistrator ad members of the group have read what they have writte is to like what they have posted. Frequecy of posts/commets State directors should check the page daily, ad wheever there is a otificatio that somethig ew has bee posted, be prompt i makig a respose to members questios or at least to ackowledge the messages or commets. Vary the types of cotet posted to keep the group page relevat. Always remember to praise members o their accomplishmets, big or small. 12

13 SET UP A BLOG FOR STATE MEMBERS BY JULIE DODD, MJE, AND JUDY ROBINSON, CJE Directors ca keep i cotact with JEA members i their state ad recruit ew members more easily by havig a blog. Bloggig platforms are relatively easy to lear. Cosider creatig a simple WordPress site. Tips for gettig started with a blog for JEA state members Decide what you wat the blog to offer to members As with plaig a publicatio, you wat to pla what you wat the blog to do. You ca use it to remid members to register for the JEA/NSPA covetios. You ca post the guidelies ad deadlie for High School Jouralist of the Year. You ca provide liks to JEA resources. By makig those decisios, you ca have i mid what you wat your blog to look like ad how you wat it to fuctio before you set up a accout. Select a bloggig platform ad create a accout The big three are WordPress, Tumblr ad Blogger. All three are free ad provide free server space. You will icur costs if you select a custom template or wat a URL that does t iclude the blog platform s ame i your blog s URL. WordPress is cosidered the stadard. Select your blog s ame Whe you set up a accout, you must select your blog s ame. You wat to select a ame that will be easy for your members to remember, such as JEA-Mississippi.tumblr.com. Uless a state blog of this ature already exists ad caot be chaged, directors should use the format JEA-Stateame for cosistecy. Customize your blog You will have the optio of selectig from a umber of free templates ad also will be able to chage colors ad fots. Decide if you wat others to be able to cotribute to the blog You ca provide admiistrator rights to others so they ca post to the blog. You eed to decide if you wat to do that. Set up the optio for members to subscribe to receive updates via or with RSS feed Most members wo t remember to regularly check the blog to see what the latest iformatio is. Use social media to promote your blog You may wat to set up a special Twitter accout or Facebook page to help promote the blog. But you also wat to remember that you will eed to maitai what you ve set up. Agai, cosider usig the format JEA-Stateame for this accout so members ca fid ad follow easily. Start bloggig Whe you begi your accout, you will be ecouraged to start bloggig. Your first post typically is a welcome ad a descriptio of why you have set up the blog. Oce your members kow you are bloggig, they are goig to expect to have ew iformatio o the blog o a regular basis. That does t mea daily or maybe eve weekly. But you do t wat to set up a blog ad the go for a moth without postig. Remember that a blog post does t eed to be a full-legth article. A photo with a captio or a three-setece remider about a deadlie are OK as blog posts. Write iformative headlies for your posts You wat your headlies to be searchable. Write a headlie that someoe would fid if searchig your site or doig a Google search o a topic. If you were postig a story about the 13

14 JEA High School Jouralist of the Year program, thik about the headlie you d write. Yes High School Jouralist of the Year applicatio iformatio available No Get the recogitio you deserve Tag your posts You will have the optio to provide tags, which are key words, for each post. Agai, thik about makig your article searchable. Tags for JOY could be Jouralism Educatio Associatio, jouralism studet scholarship, studet portfolio ad the state ame, amog others. Set a good example for bloggig By maitaiig a blog for JEA members i your state, you ll be ecouragig other advisers to cosider usig a blog for their media programs ad/or settig up their ow persoal blogs. So you wat to demostrate best practices. Check your spellig ad accuracy. Post photos but avoid usig copyrighted photos or illustratios. The bloggig platforms provide tips for good bloggig. WORK WITH STATE UNIVERSITIES, PROFESSIONAL MEDIA AND STATE PRESS ASSOCIATIONS I workig with uiversities, state directors may do the followig: Cotact jouralism schools or departmets i colleges ad uiversities i the state ad collaborate to provide support for advisers i their areas. It may take some educatio ad promotio o your ed to demostrate the wi/wi i this type of partership. They ca attract good potetial studets ad/or employees ad ca help boost future geeratios of jouralists. Ideally, uiversity leaders or state press associatio liaisos should try to set up a small list of college professioals who are willig to go speak to classes, provide metorig support or develop programs to help high school advisers. Fiacial support would also be helpful for field trips ad meetigs sice high schools ofte struggle to fid fudig for their publicatios, much less fudig for traiig off campus. Work with deas ad chairs to formulate goals that will promote scholastic jouralism i the state. Ivolve faculty members as speakers ad judges for ay workshops or competitios. Use uiversity facilities for area meetigs whe possible. I workig with state press associatios, state directors should do the followig: Cotact state press associatio directors ad meet to form a partership both fiacial ad supportive. Ask press associatio members to serve as cotest judges ad to be istructioal support to staffs. Ask for help promotig Jouralist of the Year cotests or other meetigs that would beefit studets ad advisers. SUPPORT EFFORTS TOWARD STUDENT FREE EXPRESSION LEGISLATION State directors should kow what legal protectio, if ay, studets have agaist cesorship i their state. A great resource from the Studet Press Law Ceter is this guide: The state director is 14

15 well-suited to share iformatio about proposed legislatio ad ews items as part of regular ewsletters or o a state Facebook group or page. For those just startig the process, the Blueprit for Success is a helpful resource: Cotact the Scholastic Press Rights director for support i your efforts. SHARE IMPORTANT PRESS RIGHTS RESOURCES I additio to helpig members lear about free expressio legislatio i their state, directors also ca work with teachers to share resources from the Scholastic Press Rights Committee. The SPRC site, icludes blog posts from committee members o a variety of press rights topics i additio to staff resources, lessos ad materials. I particular, directors may wat to share the Foudatios Package o policies, ethics ad staff mauals, which is available here: HELP MEMBERS WITH THEIR CONVENTION PLANNING Attedace at atioal covetios is a valuable learig experiece ad professioal developmet opportuity as well as a sigificat portio of JEA s icome to cover operatig expeses. A separate website exists for all Natioal High School Jouralism Covetio iformatio, as well as a recurrig hashtag #hsjc, for social media purposes. Although the site structure ad topics addressed are geerally the same (hotel, schedule, registratio, pricig, featured speakers), the covetio website URL chages each time based o the city i which the covetio will take place, such as for Orlado i November 2015 ad la.jouralismcovetio.org/ for Los Ageles i April State directors ca be extremely helpful to the good of JEA covetios by ecouragig members to stay withi the covetio hotel room block ad follow published guidelies regardig how ad whe to reserve rooms without overbookig. Advisers may eed help justifyig the time outside of class ad expese ivolved i attedig covetios. JEA has created a oe-page documet promotig the value of JEA covetios with emphasis o iformatio that might help members gai admiistrative approval ad/or fudig to atted. That Why Covetios Matter resource is available at State directors ca help members have a smooth experiece from the plaig stages through the evet itself by sharig the followig suggestios: Pla early ad make arragemets to stay i the official covetio hotel. Book oly the umber of rooms eeded. First-time attedees should try to atted a atioal covetio aloe or with oly key staffers, icludig uderclassme. Have studets sig a pre-coferece cotract sayig they will remai i the class the followig year. Study the veue locatio for other cultural activities/local college campuses to visit. 15

16 Ecourage a samplig of a large umber of sessios while at the covetio; limit the umber i the group who will atted a particular sessio so the staff ca reap more ideas. a. Pla sessios for each studet oce the covetio booklet or digital guide is available. b. Set a umber of sessios each studet must atted. c. Set up a accoutability system: otes o each sessio, check-i ad reportig at a certai time, feedback form, reflectio rubric. d. Have studets had preseters a thak you ote o publicatio statioery. All studets should pay for at least a part of the covetio so they have a stake i the learig. a. Set a o-refudable deposit. b. If possible, have studets pay a travel aget directly for the airlie (ad deal with him/her for refuds). Have a applicatio process for attedig. Set deadlies. Eter all studets attedig i Write-off cotests; they get valuable experiece practicig jouralism. Put a studet i charge of sig-ups for the various cotests. Atted ay ew adviser meet-ad-greet or first-time-attedee evets. These are great places to establish cotacts. Make reservatios early ad save copies of cofirmatio umbers. Sed a letter home to parets with all the trip details: rules for studets, hotel address ad phoe umber, airlie flight umbers. Make a list of studet phoe umbers ad program them ito the phoe. For a large group, put two or three studets i charge of four or five others each. Whe it is time to move from place to place, have the captais take roll for their groups. Give the studets a pep talk before leavig, icludig rules about ever goig aywhere aloe ad ot allowig people from other schools or other geders i each other s rooms. Brig alog a paret, spouse or colleague of the opposite geder for room checks. Have studets sig a behavior cotract. DEVELOP STATE CONTESTS Mail-i cotests These cotests usually ivolve etries produced durig a defied segmet of time ad published before the mail-i deadlie. Staffs mail i the etries to the director, who the gets judges to evaluate those etries. Awards are usually preseted at the fall or sprig state covetio. May states have updated this format to iclude a digital submissio process, whereby etries are set by or uploaded to a particular site olie, which saves time cuttig ad preparig etries as well as the time ad cost ivolved i mailig the etries to a desigated spot ad shippig to/from judges. Carry-i cotests These cotests ivolve etries staff members brig to a evet. Judges evaluate the etries o site, ad studets receive the awards before they go home. 16

17 O-site/Write-off cotests These cotests ivolve a moderator who explais ad moitors a competitio i which studets produce the material to be judged there o site. Usually, judges evaluate the etries that day so awards may be preseted there; however, some associatios may choose to outsource the judgig ad mail the awards. The awards i this cotest are usually rakigs (superior, excellet, good, fair, etc.) rather tha literal places (first, secod or third), but directors may vary from that method if desired. Geeral istructios Decide which type of cotest you wish to develop ad ask other press associatio directors for their guidelies, categories ad istructios. These guides ca be modified. Work with state ad regioal scholastic press associatios to develop cotests already i place or ecourage participatio i ew cotests. Develop etry fees for the cotests based o how much you will have to pay judges (uless they voluteer) ad how much your studets ca afford. Mailig awards adds to the cost. Get a roster of judges who are experts i the differet categories they are to judge. Professioal media ad state press associatio members ca be much help ad will ofte judge without a salary. Directors may also pay advisers or oted scholastic press members to judge. Givig judges the criteria for evaluatig the pieces ad a time frame i which to complete their work helps. Most judges like at least three or four weeks before a deadlie. After the competitio deadlie, directors divide etries ito categories ad get them to the judges. It is helpful to have a assistat to help sort the etries whe they come i. Developig a folder for each judge that icludes a scorig sheet/booklet ad judgig criteria for each etry is good. These folders will be retured with the scorig sheets. Some associatios request that the judges retur the etries; some do ot. Agai, some associatios also offer olie evaluatios/judgig, which cuts back o paper problems ad shippig costs. Oce the judges tur i the etries, directors compile the results ad type the award certificates. Agai, havig a assistat or secretary to type the certificates is helpful. (Remid the judges about the deadlie ahead of time.) If certificates will be give i perso, directors ca sort them by categories ad put the awards i the same order as the typed list. Havig oe perso to read the list ad aouce the wiig ames ad iformatio while you preset the actual award to the studet works well. Directors should be sure to keep records of all award wiers ad post them olie or elsewhere so studets receive double recogitio. Note: Obviously, differet types of cotests require slightly differet orgaizatioal skills. Directors should ask advice about what works best from other directors ad do what is best for their ow orgaizatio ad studets. INITIATE DISCUSSION AND SHARE INFORMATION BY AARON MANFULL, MJE The JEA Digital Media Committee maitais the olie digital media resource, The site s goal is to help studets ad advisers i their olie jourey. Digital media icludes, but is ot limited to, websites, podcasts, blogs, broadcasts, social etworks ad multimedia. 17

18 The committee has populated the site with hudreds of posts ragig from those o legal issues associated with the Web to tips ad tricks o how to make the best olie presece possible. Users ca access the archives of the site by usig the search box foud i the right colum o the frot page. The site also cotais a map of high schools with a olie presece. Schools ot listed o the site ca be added to the map by sedig a to ifo@jeadigitalmedia.org. Oe of the most popular resources o the site is the Guide to Movig Olie. The committee compiled some of its most importat posts o the topic at Other guides iclude Guide to Broadcast ad Video ad Guide to Multimedia Tools. PROVIDE SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION FOR JOURNALISM STUDENTS Coectig advisers ad their studets to local, state ad atioal scholarship opportuities ad iterships is aother way state directors ca serve members. This is great iformatio to pass alog o a mothly or quarterly basis usig or regularly through Facebook. May opportuities have stadig aual deadlies. Below is a sample of scholarship opportuities adviser Aaro Mafull, MJE, provides for his studets as a sample of what state directors might compile ad share. [Note: Sample oly; all dates ad awards subject to chage.] Feb. 1 Emma Brow Foudatio Work/Study Program from the Emma Brow Foudatio Feb. 15 Jouralist of the Year (Sister Rita Jeae Scholarships) from the Jouralism Educatio Associatio Feb. 15 Wickoff Editorial Leadership Scholarship from the Natioal Scholastic Press Associatio Feb. 15 Jouralism Hoor Roll from the Natioal Scholastic Press Associatio Feb. 15 (for Juiors) Al Neuharth Free Spirit Scholarship ad Jouralism Coferece Feb. 28 Sigma Photo Scholarship Cotest for seiors Feb. 28 High School Essay Cotest from the Society of Professioal Jouralists ad the Jouralism Educatio Associatio March 1 PGSF Prit ad Graphics Scholarships from the Prit ad Graphics Scholarship Foudatio March 1 NABJ Scholarship Program from the Natioal Associatio of Black Jouralists March 1 Keep the Drive High School Jouralism Awards: Write to Drive Chage March 1 NPC Scholarship for Jouralism Diversity from the Natioal Press Club St. Louis, MO March 7 Project 21 Gamig Scholarship from the Missouri Gamig Associatio March 31 St. Charles Couty Arts Coucil April 1 Crazy Horse Memorial Jouralism Scholarship for Native America studets April 1 Curtis Keer Summer Workshop Grat through SSP of St. Louis. April 1 Bruce Scheider Studet Leadership Scholarship through SSP of St. Louis Feb. 1 Ball State Uiversity Igelhart Scholars Program May 1 Cuivre River Operatio Roud Up Scholarships May 10 Quill ad Scroll Scholarships Jue 1 St. Charles Commuity College Trustee Scholarships for Jouralism 18

19 ENCOURAGE INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOLASTIC JOURNALISM WEEK BY ADAM DAWKINS, CJE Scholastic Jouralism Week takes place durig the last full week of February. How state directors ad their members help promote this week is etirely up to idividual members ad their media staffs with the hope that ivolvemet of advisers ad their studets will serve to raise commuity cosciousess regardig the beefits of scholastic jouralism. JEA s Publicity/Public Relatios chair works with a Scholastic Jouralism Week coordiator to pla ad promote activities, all of which will be featured i JEA commuicatios leadig up to ad durig the week itself. These activities iclude thigs like social media cotests with a commo hashtag (usually the SJW abbreviatio with the year, such as #SJW2016) with a specific theme for each year. The Scholastic Jouralism Week Twitter feed, shares ews, updates ad recogitio before, durig ad after Scholastic Jouralism Week activities. Ecourage studets to participate i the SPJ/JEA Essay Cotest, which rus from November through the ed of Scholastic Jouralism Week. More iformatio about the cotest, icludig theme ad submissio requiremets, is available at Use the resolutio template at created by Sta Zoller, MJE, to ecourage your school board, city coucil, couty board or eve studet coucil to declare the week Scholastic Jouralism Week i your area. Celebrate the week with your staff ad with your state associatio. A umber of activities are available for staffs of ay size or budget at These are a few of the possibilities shared i recet years from Sadra Coyer, MJE, ad Tom Gayda, MJE: With a focused effort Take some video of a deadlie. Post it olie via Facebook or Twitter to show the commuity what a scholastic publicatio goes through to share all the ews that s fit to prit, or to record the memories that make the year. Draw attetio to the week ad the school s staff with a portrait project. A creative lesso i the Sprig 2011 issue of Commuicatio: Jouralism Educatio Today gives 20 ways to take stuig portraits. Depedig o access to photography equipmet, studets could check out cameras for a day with a parter or group ad head out o campus to get their portrait take. The adviser could eve specify that their portrait be take with a cellphoe camera for a additioal challege. They the come back to the lab, upload their photos ad chose oe portrait of themselves that they feel ecompasses their persoality ad who they are. Share them as a staff ad the share them with your commuity. Mout them ad put each staffer s ame o his or her portrait. The, use a wall outside your publicatio office or a empty trophy case to display the photos. (Back issues of C:JET ca be ordered through the JEA Bookstore at this lik: Have a Amazig Race -style First Amedmet scaveger hut. Studets hide clues related to each of the five freedoms scattered aroud the school (e.g. speech clue hidde o the speaker). Kids have to fid, the go o to the ext clue. Prizes are give to the first three to complete. Pass out Newsies Night movie tickets. Show Newsies after school ad buy popcor to give away. The tickets are just quarter fliers but the kids will have to say oe of the freedoms of the First Amedmet to get i as well. 19

20 Hold a Meet the Press evet at your school. Sed ivitatios ad ivite staff ad admiistrators to a short afterschool evet. Buy cake, have soft driks available, have your etire publicatio staff i attedace ad schmooze it up. Sed thak you otes after the evet lettig those who atteded kow how much you appreciate their support. Promote yourself. Use this week as a special way to recruit. Sed out a celebratio packet to your feeder schools; sed some of your staffers dow with it. Create a brochure to advertise your program ad easy ways those i your commuity could get ivolved. Sed thak you otes to advertisers ad/or other people i your commuity who cosistetly help you. With a medium amout of effort Take a few miutes of your day durig the week to share a issue of Superma #706. This issue focuses almost etirely o Daily Plaet editor Perry White ad the problems he faces with eerily moder-day problems like decreased readership. The effort i this is to fid the actual issue. Have your studets tweet about the First Amedmet ad momets durig the week they thik about those freedoms. Celebrate the week by coductig short lessos o each of the five freedoms, oe each day. Have your studets coduct polls of the studet body about the five freedoms. Fid out what they kow ad educate them o what they do t kow. Ed the week with a pey drive for the Studet Press Law Ceter. Chage your profile pic o social media to the SJW logo. Write a status update durig the week about why you cosider scholastic jouralism to be essetial to your school, or why you cotiue to be a part of scholastic jouralism. Share your passio. Share your ispiratio. What keeps you goig? Ecourage studets to do the same. Have your staff atted the school board meetig durig the week. Pack the house! If possible, pla i advace to address the board about the value of jouralism i the curriculum ad the beefits of free ad resposible studet ews media servig the commuity. Prit posters for the week ad put them up all over your school the Friday eveig before so studets could come i to school ad see them at the begiig of the week. With just a little effort Set up morig aoucemets for each day. Have them either read over the itercom or broadcast via the school s radio or televisio program. Have your staffers wear their staff shirts or aythig ad everythig related to jouralism at least oce durig the week at the same time. Have your studets take a day to write a letter to your local paper about the importace of jouralism to them, the school ad so o. Do Somethig! Do t let the week slip by! Had out busiess cards with the First Amedmet o them o Moday. The, have your staff members head out ito the cafeteria durig luch oe of the days ad pass out cady to every kid who ca correctly recite (without their card) the First Amedmet. Have a party or special celebratio i class to recogize studet jouralists at your school. 20

21 PART 3: WHAT INFORMATION CAN ASSIST STATE DIRECTORS AND THEIR MEMBERS? State directors should have a uderstadig of the various JEA programs ad committees as a way to help coect advisers to the resources they wat ad eed. This sectio will provide a overview of various JEA groups ad activities as well as some geeral iformatio available at JEA CORE MISSION AND CORE VALUES The Jouralism Educatio Associatio supports free ad resposible scholastic jouralism by providig resources ad educatioal opportuities, by promotig professioalism, by ecouragig ad rewardig studet excellece ad teacher achievemet, ad by fosterig a atmosphere which ecompasses diversity yet builds uity. The orgaizatio s core values are Pedagogy, Advocacy, Iovatio, Commuity ad Excellece. CURRICULUM JEA educates teachers o how to educate studets. Never has this value bee more well addressed tha it is today with the additio of the JEA Curriculum Iitiative. I July 2013, the Jouralism Educatio Associatio bega work o its curriculum iitiative, creatig lesso plas across 11 cotet areas, complete with learig outcomes, assessmets, evaluatio guides, models ad aligmet to stadards icludig the Commo Core ad Partership for 21st Cetury Skills. Natioal leaders i these 11 skill areas developed early 200 weeks worth of lessos to complemet high school jouralism classrooms across the coutry. Helpig them were dozes of other JEA members, professioals ad 21

22 studet jouralists who voluteered their ow ideas, materials ad examples to beefit scholastic media advisers. Because o two scholastic jouralism programs look the same, the curriculum is desiged to be flexible for the ed user. Each module is preseted i multiple time-frame optios, allowig teachers to choose the cofiguratio that best fits their circumstaces ad philosophies. As importat as this electroic resource is, it s merely a portio of the curriculum iitiative. Just as importat is the ogoig commitmet to keepig the curriculum curret ad dyamic by providig updated lesso plas ad examples that reflect the ewest treds ad techology. Natioal curriculum leaders collaborate with other JEA committees such as Certificatio to esure that the orgaizatio is at the forefrot of defiig 21st cetury media educatio. They showcase their curriculum ad lessos at atioal covetios ad cofereces, icludig JEA Advisers Istitute. Ad they host olie chats to discuss implemetatio of these lessos ad coordiate discussio of best practices to guide future developmet. The curriculum ca be accessed at This resource is a beefit of membership ad is a vital tool for state directors i the recruitmet ad support of members. COMMON CORE AND 21ST CENTURY SKILLS BY GARY LINDSAY, MJE With curret challeges i educatio such as emphasis o stadardized tests, decrease i fudig ad restrictios o graduatio requiremets, JEA lauched ew efforts i terms of advocacy to keep sustai ad improve scholastic jouralism i geeral. Aligmet with two major movemets i educatio has become a JEA priority: Commo Core State Stadards ad Partership for 21st Cetury Skills. It s importat for state directors to kow about these orgaizatios ad their sigificace i how teachers frame the coversatio about the essetial role of jouralism i the high school classroom. Commo Core The Commo Core State Stadards are part of a state-led effort to give all studets the skills ad kowledge they eed to succeed. The laguage arts stadards emphasize writig, research, media/techology ad the ability to preset complex iformatio. Sice this aligs perfectly with what studet jouralists do o a daily basis, the goal is to promote jouralism as the ew Eglish ad show how high school publicatios meet these stadards. The JEA curriculum icludes lessos with learer outcomes from the major 11 skill areas of the jouralism classroom; state orgaizatios also are workig o curriculum-mappig iitiatives. Directors should check with their state Departmet of Educatio to get ivolved persoally or collaborate with a state press associatio i these efforts. Partership for 21st Cetury Skills This orgaizatio is focused o 21st-cetury readiess ad emphasizes the four C s: critical thikig ad problem solvig, commuicatio, collaboratio ad creativity/iovatio. This has take differet forms i each state, sometimes i coectio to Commo Core State Stadards as they are developed. P21 has catalyzed a atioal movemet to improve educatio by icorporatig 21st-cetury readiess ito state educatioal systems. 22