Stet Michigan Interscholastic Press Association

December 2008

Vol. 36, No. 1

www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu

INSIDE COVER PHOTOPhoto by Karen Maras, publication adviser from Cousino HS. Maras took this photo last summer for an assignment in Julie Price’s photojournalism course, and the class selected it as the top photo. Maras is in her ninth year of advising.

Journalism advisers take on internships

MIPA summer workshop review

5 9 14A look at Constitution Day at the State Capitol

4Ike Lea reviews Adobe Lightroom

2 ■ December 2008

Stet

Stet is the official newsletter of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, an agency of the School of Journalism at Michigan State University. Stet is published four times a year by the MIPA executive director and MSU students.

Send letters to the editor and advertising inquiries to mipa@msu.edu. The MIPA Web site is maintained by Cheryl Pell.

Web site: www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu

MIPA305 Communication Arts BuildingMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824-1212

Phone: (517) 353-6761Fax: (517) 355-7710

Special help by Alexis Bunka, MSU student

Jeremy Van HofDeWitt HS

The President’s Column

Dec. 12, 2008 Scholastic Partnership for the First Amendment

Feb. 20, 2009 Contest entries deadline

March 7, 2009 Judging Day, MSU

April 28, 2009 Spring Conference

July 13–31, 2009 Teacher Workshops

Aug. 2–6, 2009 MIPA Student Workshop

Take me to your leadership theory seminar

MIPA Officers 2008-2009 MIPA CalendarAbout Stet

W e all know that publica-tion advisers wear a lot of hats—too many hats it

seems at times. We bounce from being teachers, to coaches, to counselors, to friends, to parents, to enemies, to entertainers—and that’s just in the first 45 minutes of class. There is one thing that all advisers are all the time, though. No matter what role we happen to be playing at any given moment, we are always leaders; the dynam-ic organizations that we have all built need direction, and for that our publication staffs turn to us every day.

I am lucky, then, that my wife is in the midst of a graduate pro-gram emphasizing the concept of leadership. I have way more access than I ever thought I would need to a whole library of books about educational leadership, trends in leadership, leadership theory. In talking over her courses, I am often struck at how all that my wife is studying about systems thinking and organizational struc-ture really ties into the world of high school publications.

Take for example leadership theory. The main idea here is that there are a set number of types of leaders, each with different pur-poses and each successful in dif-

ferent ways. Political leaders are always leveraging for power, while human resources leaders take a more collegial approach and try to treat the members of their systems as resources. The model that seems to have the most prom-ise for a publications room is the notion of the structural leader. These leaders form a top-down hierarchy and tend to be very goal oriented. This is exactly what we need to teach our editors in chief.

The structural model is based on a set of questions, all of which our editors should be asking of themselves and their classmates every time there’s a staff meeting.

• Who is in charge?• What do we care about?• What needs to be done?• How do we decide what to do?• What are the skills of the staff

members?• How do we coordinate our

efforts?• What are the assets of organiza-

tions outside this publication?• How do we relate to other

organizations?• How do we measure success?• How do we grow?

Any student editor that can answer these questions clearly will be a leader that I would love to have on my newspaper staff. A

good student editor needs to be taught how to take control of a dynamic environment, and the best way for them to do that is to ask pointed questions that will get the staff thinking in the right direction.

Consider using the list of ques-tions above as an agenda for the next story-brainstorming meeting. Use them as a framework as the staff writes (or revisits) the staff manual. Thinking of making a new Web site for the newspaper? Encourage your students to use questions like these to shape the layout and content decisions that can often bog down the creation of a new system.

But, and it is a big but, do not consider yourself a structural lead-er. It is a great model for the stu-dent leader to follow, because they have a clearly defined set of goals that need accomplishing for every deadline. The goals of the adviser, though, are far more nebulous. Remember all those hats? We wear them because our students have needs that go far beyond the cre-ation of a newspaper or yearbook. So what roll should advisers play? Another leadership model—called symbolic leadership—fits much more snuggly around our huge,

Please see PRESIDENT, page 8

President, Jeremy Van Hof, DeWitt HS1st Vice President, Lynn Strause, retired, East Lansing HS 2nd Vice President, C.E. Sikkenga, Grand Haven HSSecretary, Kim Kozian, L’Anse Creuse HS North Treasurer, Brian Wilson, Waterford Kettering HS Trustee, Tim Morley, Inland Lakes HSTrustee, Sue Spalding, Quincy HSTrustee, Pam Bunka, Fenton HSNewspaper Chair, Julie Price, Haslett HSYearbook Chair, Lynn Strause, East Lansing HS Broadcast Chair, Diane Herder, Laingsburg HS Legislative Chair, Gloria Olman, retired, Utica HSWorkshop Chair, Betsy Pollard Rau, retired, H.H. Dow HS Middle School Chair, Jenny Birmelin, Orchard Lake MSHall of Fame Chair, Jeff Nardone, Grosse Pointe South HS Immediate Past President, Rod Satterthwaite, Dexter HSExecutive Director, Cheryl Pell, Michigan State University MIPA Office, Amy Brandt, Jon Vereecke, Jayna Salk, MSU students

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December 2008 ■ 3

Q What are five things that you absolutely can’t get through your school day without?

A My kids, yoga or meditation or juicing—all of which I do with my staff, my computer, my (adult) colleagues who support me, and

writing- some freedom for myself, and the next generation. Because we spend so much time at work, it needs to be a place you feel comfortable; where sound mental, physical, spirit and intellectual health is supported and you are able to be productive.

Q If you had to pick one, what is the craziest thing that you’ve done to get through to your students? Did it work?

A It all works, in hindsight. I think I talk to my kids through the lens of how much I love what I do. It is in some ways personal because this

is a world we are recreating. My wrath, as well as my passion, come off more as a lovingly serious big sister than very professional adviser. I work for the impeccable product, but we are family. We are all accountable, equals and fallible. But we each must bring our best. My kids have let each other know that there is “the other side” to crazy, fun, cool Craigy, which you do not want to see.

QYour school prints with the Detroit Free Press. Can you tell me a little about how that works?

A Ford Motor Company and the Detroit Free Press sponsor the High School Journalism Program. They have since 1985, and for six

months of the year, participating schools print one page in the DFP. This year we are moving to three print pages and a Web site with the other additions. It is a great program. They offer mentorship for advisers, internships and college money for the students, access to their CIC sys-tem and other things. One reason I wanted to add to their great program with public relations is that they do all of the layouts and the kids were just becoming good reporters but no other parts of the craft. My creating another paper has taught us more of the things needed to go from idea to publication.

Q What advice would you give a new adviser? What have you found to be helpful?

AThere is really no such thing as “can’t.” There are people who want you to succeed and a million kids who need

you to succeed. You may have to get creative with finances or other things you did not anticipate, but you can suc-

ceed. Your support may not be in your building or in your family. Let’s face it, this is time-consuming work

and teaching other classes can be less work. There are other advisers at your disposal who will support

you so that you can get the best possible writing out of your kids. Know that you are not alone and your mission is so worthy.

Please see ADVISERWATCH, page 8

By Jayna Salk, Journalism Major, MSU

Craighead creates an outlet for student expression

ADvISerWatch

Lorena Craighead spent a week at MSU in July learning publication design and InDesign. Craighead teaches at Renaissance HS in Detroit and advises two student newspapers, The Stentor and Phoenix Rising.

4 ■ December 2008

StetNOTES NEWS&

Please see PHOTO, page 7

Having trouble finding your photos months later? Can’t find those important home-coming photos now that it’s December? Do you need a software package that

allows you to edit and enhance your photos with a simple, easy to use interface and will keep track of your images as well? Adobe heard the needs of digital photographers and has an answer; Adobe Lightroom.

What is Lightroom and why do you need it?This new software combines the viewing capabilities of Adobe Bridge along with

the image processing power of Photoshop and the capabilities of a true image database to help you keep track of images. Lightroom can process JPEG or RAW digital camera images and it contains all of the powerful image enhancement functions that you find in Photoshop. If you are shooting RAW format with your cameras, Lightroom lets you squeeze every bit of flexibility from a RAW file including highlight recovery and flex-ible white balance.

Adobe created Lightroom to help photographers keep track of their images and it is a true image database (what is also known as a Digital Asset Manager). It was built from the ground up to be a solution to the problem of digital photographers ability to manage thousands of digital image files. Lightroom also gives you powerful tools to view, crop, retouch, color correct, sharpen and output digital photographs for use in print or on the web. It gives you all of the tools that photojournalists need to prepare images for publications in a simple, easier to learn interface and also provides a great way to keep track of those hundreds or thousands of digital photographs that you are shooting.

The Lightroom workspace is divided into Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web modules that allow you to quickly edit and export digital photographs for either print, web or on-screen usage.

The Library module is used to import, view, sort and organize images and includes easy to use tools for keywording and adding copyright information to the imported images. For quick turn around, the Library module also contains a limited set of Quick Develop tools for image enhancement.

The Develop module includes all of the tools required to edit your images including cropping, color balance (white balance) adjusting brightness, contrast and sharpening. You can also perform outstanding grayscale conversions within the Develop module and version 2.0 of Lightroom adds non-destructive dodging and burning.

For your publication needs you can use the Export command within the Develop module to output your single images as PSD, TIFF, JPEG or DNG (Digital Negative) file formats for use within your publications. Keeping with its totally non-destructive workflow Lightroom creates a new file upon export that applies all of your edits to a copy of the original image file without changing the original file.

Need photos for a web page? Lightroom’s Web module allows you to create web ready content, single images or great looking web galleries for online image viewing.

Images must be imported into Lightroom before you can view and edit the images. During the Import process, Lightroom creates a preview image that remains in the Lightroom Catalog even if the actual image files are moved.

If you keyword all of your images as they are imported into Lightroom, you can easily locate images at a later date. Even without keywording you can search all of the images within the database using the creation date embedded within the metadata.

Another big benefit of Lightroom is that all edits and changes to every image are totally nondestructive. Lightroom’s structure prevents the original digital file that came off the camera from ever being changed. All edits are tracked in the Lightroom Catalog and the final edits are applied to a copy of the original image as it is exported for print or

cornerphoto

By Ike Lea, Lansing Community College

Applications are being accepted for Central Michigan University’s Lem Tucker Journalism Scholarship, a four-year scholarship totaling nearly $80,000, including full

tuition and supplementary awards for room and board. Named for CMU alum-nus Lem Tucker, an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist who worked for all three major television networks before

his death in 1991, the annual scholarship is awarded to a high school senior who demonstrates commitment to promoting the participation and success of minorities in print and electronic media and excellence in journal-ism. Deadline to apply is Nov. 30. For an application or information, visit http://www.ccfa.cmich.edu/ltucker.

Lightroom is Photoshop alternative

CMU accepting scholarship applications

Michigan folks reap awards at JEA/NSPA Fall Convention in St. Louis

PacemakersThe Squall, Dexter HS The Update, H.H. Dow HS

Pacemaker FinalistsFocus, Midland HS North Pointe, Grosse Pointe North HS vanguard, Stevenson HS

NSPA Best of ShowNewspaper 1–8 Pages First Place: The Tower, Grosse Pointe South HS Fourth Place: North Pointe, Grosse Pointe North HS

Please see AWARDS, page 15

Deadline to apply: Nov. 30

LEFT: Betsy Pollard Rau received the JEA Lifetime Achievement Award at the JEA/NSPA convention in St. Louis on Nov. 15. Rau recently retired from H.H. Dow HS. ABOVE: Jeremy Whiting received a $1,000 Future Teacher Scholarship Award from JEA. Whiting is working on his journalism certification at MSU.

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December 2008 ■ 5

Teachers take on internships WHAT IS THE INTERNSHIP PROgRAM?By Janet N. Medler, MPA Foundation

The MPA Foundation’s most recent partnership with MIPA, the Journalism Teacher Summer Internship Program, required a year-long effort to hammer out the details so that advisers (MIPA members all) could spend four summer weeks in Michi-gan newsrooms.

They wrote, edited, shot pix, interacted with editors and reporters, and returned to their classrooms this fall with an up-close and personal experience to share with their stu-dents—and administrators.

Their evaluations, and those from their supervising editors, chronicle the lessons they learned, not all upbeat, but all valu-able in becoming more effective teachers and advisers and presenting a realistic view of the business of journalism.

The program came about following MIPA executive director Cheryl Pell’s presentation to the Foundation board that culmi-nated with a wish list of joint projects.

The board voted to fund up to six internships; teachers must seek their own internships at MPA member newspapers, interview for the positions and meet the hiring newspaper’s requirements. No newspaper editors asked the candidates to take writing and editing tests!

Some of the expectations for the coming year are based on what was suggested from the participants.

Deadline for applications for 2009 is March 27. Please see the MIPA Web site for the application.

Please see INTERNSHIPS , page 6

hen I first started with The Flint Jour-nal, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. For sure, I wanted writing experience. I just didn’t realize the

extent of the writing and reporting I’d be doing.

Over the course of four weeks I wrote maybe 25 stories. They included every-

thing from obituaries to in-depth pieces on topics like euthanasia in animal shelters and Michigan’s Right to Farm Act. My work appeared buried in the back of the news sec-tion, and it ran on the front page. In fact, in what was perhaps my internship’s crowning achievement, in one issue I had TWO front

page stories.It’s funny; in different ways, the

experience was both exactly what I expected and nothing I anticipated. Going into the internship, my hope was that I’d be able to gain some “street cred” with my students. You know … I could

say “Well, when I was working for the Flint Journal, this is what I did.…” And I really think that I will be able to do that. I can share what I’ve learned about inter-viewing, and writing on deadline, and how page layout works on a daily basis.

But at the same time, it was very dif-ferent from what I expected. I really didn’t think I’d be as busy as I was. And I didn’t know that I would actually come to be seen as valuable in the newsroom. I worked with three editors, and all three told me how much they appreciated the work I did. Maybe they were just being nice, but I really do feel like I was an important part of the Flint Journal last summer. I am now trying to figure out how I might be able to keep working as a journalist and also teach at the same time. It’s just what I need, really. More stuff to do.

But I love it. I mean, I really, really loved it. When I looked at a newspaper display box on a street corner anywhere in Genesee County and saw my name on the front page, I got goose bumps. When I got a phone call from someone who had read my story and wanted to offer another angle, they probably didn’t real-

W

Brian Wilson, newspaper and yearbook adviser at Waterford Kettering HS, spent a month at The Flint Journal last summer. Here is one of the front pages on which his byline appeared.

WHAT I DID OVER MY SUMMER VACATION

By Brian Wilson, adviser, Waterford Kettering HS

6 ■ December 2008

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ize that I was smiling on the other end of the phone. When I got kicked out of the county animal shelter because I was a reporter doing a story, I felt like Wood-ward. Or Bernstein. Or maybe just Geraldo, but it’s still cool.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of my four weeks was that I figured out that I really could do this for a living. I’m pretty good at it, I think, and I’m almost modest enough to not want to share that fact (but not quite). Till now, I’d never had any actual newsroom experience, and there was always a nagging doubt that I didn’t real-ly possess the very skills I was teaching my students. In the weeks leading up to the intern-ship, in fact, that was my biggest worry. I knew I could talk the talk, but could I write the write?

I also drew some conclusions that my students might not like. For instance, I learned that writ-ing a story in a matter of a couple of hours really is possible. I mean, there were days when I would start and finish as many as three full stories.

When I think about how most of my journalism students work on the same story for perhaps two weeks, I wonder what we can do to accelerate that process. Grant-ed, I was living and breathing my reporting all day every day, and they have many other responsi-bilities throughout their days, so it isn’t exactly the same. Still, I really want to think about ways to push my students on their sto-ries more than I have, without adding too much stress to their already-busy lives.

I also realized in my time at the paper that every story is dif-ferent. I don’t mean just the fin-ished product; I mean the meth-ods by which that story is devel-oped. Sometimes I would do every interview over the phone and write the story without ever leaving my desk (that was also cool—my own desk).

Other times I’d have to research deeply into topics with which I was unfamiliar. I’d go through archives of past stories on similar topics. I’d talk to other reporters about what they had written in the past. I’d use that

old (OK, not that old) standby, Google, to surf a particular sub-ject. Many times, I’d drive to a particular story location without much to go on, and my travels almost always worked out. This happened, for example, when I was writing about a guy who was reciting the Declaration of Inde-pendence on the steps of the Lap-eer County Courthouse on the Fourth of July. I had driven to Lapeer and was sitting in my car, just about to head back to the office, when I spotted two girls sitting on the courthouse steps. I felt like I already had enough information to do the story, but something told me to turn off the car and talk to the girls. It really just struck my interest, the juxta-position of these two modern-day teenage girls in jeans and flip-flops texting their friends as they sat on the steps of the oldest working courthouse in the state. It turned out, in fact, that they were history majors who had just come back from a trip to Greece. They gave me a series of great quotes about history and I painted them into the story’s lead. I always knew that there was a very strong visual element in the act of read-ing. But maybe I didn’t fully understand until this job that visuals are as important to the writer as they are to the reader.

And through it all, I came to the conclusion that I love to learn. That’s one way in which my teaching job and my journalism experience are very much the same. In both jobs, I absolutely love the fact that by the time I leave the parking lot at night, I know something that I didn’t know when the day began.

hey say those who can’t do, teach,” Ben Harwood said

as he reclined behind his desk at Seaholm High School. “I didn’t want to be one of those teachers.”

After a summer internship at Royal Oak’s Daily Tribune, the Birmingham Seaholm publications adviser proved that the age-old teacher adage warranted little truth.

After applying in April, Ben Harwood, was one of three teach-ers offered an internship through MIPA and MPA.

“I was nervous about writing for a newspaper again,” said Harwood, whose last print job was for a col-lege newspaper ten years ago.

Harwood chose the Daily Tri-bune in Royal Oak as the place was to reacquaint himself with print journalism.

Working from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday at a daily-circulated newspaper proved beneficial for Harwood, who was a general assignment reporter.

Harwood credited the Tribune staff with making his transition from adviser to reporter easier than he expected.

“There’s always a story some-where, some harder than others,” said Harwood. “But I was able to bounce ideas off editors and reporters and talk to people with more experience.”

“What I really observed was he just threw himself into the assign-ments,” said Elizabeth Katz, a staff writer working alongside Harwood during his internship “He was a breath of fresh air in the newsroom.”

Working at a daily paper, where the focus was on community cov-erage, Harwood said he could see parallels in coverage with the Highlander, the student newspaper

at Seaholm he advises. “There is a strong community

aspect [at the Tribune],” said Har-wood. “You are focusing on people and looking for unique personal story, just like a school paper.”

“By interning at a small, subur-ban daily newspaper that covers the people and events of such a vibrant area, Ben was able to get practical experience he may not have gotten at other papers,” said Payne.

Through all his experi-ences at the Tribune, Har-wood was able to take his redevel-oped writing, organization, and story development skills back to the classroom.

“It made me a better teacher,” said Harwood.

“I felt my students would be more apt to listen and respect their question.”

Now back to his full time job teaching, Harwood advises other educators to explore opportunities to further their teaching skills over the summer.

“I think all teachers should go out and do what they teach during the summer,” said Harwood. “I’m very thankful for the experience. I loved every minute of it.”

“Ben was an invaluable resource,” said Payne. “He applied a fresh approach to events that sometimes become second nature to our experienced staff and pro-vided an infusion of energy. We appreciated his work enough that we have already made plans to continue our association with him as a freelance correspondent.”

By Lanie Barron, Highlander News Editor

INTERNSHIPS, CONT. FrOM PAge 5

. . . maybe I didn’t

fully understand

until this job that

visuals are as

important to the

writer as they are

to the reader.

Ben Harwood, adviser, BirminghamSeaholm HS

SEAHOLM TEACHER INTERNS AT ROYAL OAK DAILY TRIBUNE

I think all teachers should go out and do

what they teach during the summer. I’m

very thankful for the experience. I loved

every minute of it.

“T

Stet

December 2008 ■ 7

tacey Hicks introduces herself each year to her newspaper class as a former jour-nalist who went back to school to become a teacher.

“Many English teachers in many schools teach journal-ism; but I am a journalist who teaches English,” she said.

This year when she stood in front of her Thor-napple Kel-logg High School stu-dents and uttered those lines, her journalism experience was a very recent memo-ry after par-ticipating in an internship opportunity through MPA and MIPA.

“The newspapers,

many of whom are in serious econom-ic trouble, receive free help for one month of the summer, which is nor-mally a busy time for them. The teach-er receives the benefit of learning how a professional publication operates,” Hicks said.

One of the provisions of the intern-ship was Hicks had to personally con-tact the paper she wanted to work for in order to set up the start and finish time of the experience.

Hicks contacted the Traverse City Record-Eagle last spring after she was notified her application was accepted, and worked there from June 16

through July 13. Even though Hicks lives in Middleville, she is originally from the Traverse City area and want-ed to be close to family there in the summer while she was working at the newspaper.

Hicks set learning goals for her experience, specifically the role tech-nology is playing in newspaper publi-cation today.

“Having first worked at a newspa-per in the early 90s, I was excited to see how technol-ogy was changing the newspaper business,” Hicks said. During her internship, she talked with the paper’s webmas-ter about how she organizes and formats the online edition of the Record-Eagle, and she also spent time with the production manager and learned the process of taking a paper to print.

As interesting as some of the tech-nical aspects of the newspaper busi-ness were, the highlight of her month was reporting and writing articles for the publication.

“A key point I was reminded of is journalism is an independent field, and that you are responsible for finding things out on your own,” Hicks said.

One thing her students will get out of her experience is a chance to see their teacher’s work critiqued by the editors at the newspaper.

“They ripped me apart,” she said, laughing. “But seriously, it was a great experience because it reminded me that if you get lazy with your writing, you will lose your skills. Writing is a craft that must be practiced and honed constantly in order to communicate effectively with the reader. You have to love the language and want to work to find the perfect word or phrase for the situation at hand.”

Hicks started passing on informa-tion to her students from her internship experience on the first day of class and plans to continue through the trimester.

“This experience has changed the way I teach the course. I am excited to share this with my students,” she said.

HICKS SPENT MONTH AT HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER IN TRAVERSE CITYBy Charity Bouchard, TKHS staff writer

Writing is

a craft that

must be

practiced

and honed

constantly

in order to

communicate

effectively

with the

reader. You

have to love

the language

and want to

work to find

the perfect

word or

phrase for

the situation

at hand.

Stacey Hicks,adviser, Thornapple Kellogg HS

S

web use. You don’t have to worry about a student editing the only copy of an image and then saving over the original image file.

What’s the difference between Lightroom and Bridge?Bridge is simply a viewer that does not keep track of images.

It will show you what images or files are inside a selected folder at that very moment. If an image is moved or removed from the folder you will no longer see that image using Bridge. Lightroom creates a preview of each image as it is imported and the pre-views remain in the database even if the actual digital image file is moved. Using Lightroom your image files can be located on several different hard drives and the program can still search and locate the desired image.

Remember that one advantage of Bridge is that it will show you other types of documents including InDesign page layouts, Illustrator artwork, PDFs, and even quicktime video clips. Publi-cation staffs that utilize InDesign for their page layouts will prob-ably want to keep a couple of copies of Bridge on your work-room computers so that you can still utilize Bridge as a media viewer. Bridge will run as a separate program from Photoshop and Adobe is developing the software to become the “bridge” that connects numerous pieces of software including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Final Cut Pro.

What’s missing? Lightroom is not meant to replace Photoshop. Unlike Photo-

shop, Lightroom does not contain the ability to create selections or layers. If you are creating infographics, photo illustrations and special effects you will want to keep a copy or two of Photoshop around to fulfill those needs.

My recommended workflow: Purchase a large external hard drive to use as the home base

for your Lightroom catalog and image files. (You can purchase 1TB drives these days for under $200). With a large hard drive you could use this as the main drive for Lightroom and backup all or your photographic images for an entire year.

If you have 10 computers in your publication workroom, I would recommend keeping Photoshop on a couple of those sta-tions for those jobs that require the selections, layers and effects that Photoshop provides. Consider changing your other worksta-tions over to Lightroom for simple photo editing tasks and the ability to keep track of your images.

Always back up the original images downloaded from your digital camera to a DVD. Those are your digital negatives and you need to have two separate backups, one preferably on DVD. Everything that I shoot gets backed up to an external hard drive and burned to DVD before I start editing images.

The biggest challenge for publication advisers will be making the initial switch to Lightroom, but in the long run you’ll see major benefits. Lightroom is much easier for students to learn than Photoshop. The interface is set up in a logical workflow and all of the tools and options are targeted towards photographic images. Lightroom is also less expensive than Photoshop. You can purchase Lightroom for under $100.00 under educational discount. Having a true image database to track your images will probably save you hours of hunting for photos and allow your staff to quickly access the required images.

For more info about Lightroom check out these websites:http://www.photoshopuser.com/lightroom2/http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/

PHOTO, CONT. FrOM PAge 4

8 ■ December 2008

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PRESIDENT,CONT. FrOM PAge 2

Q Has MIPA been helpful to you as an adviser?

A Oh my god, yes! I love MIPA. I love the passion that Cheryl has always

brought. She has believed in our kids at Cody and rHS when others, including themselves sometimes, thought they did not have what it takes to be successful young reporters, photographers, layout designers, editors and business managers. I have taken students to a JeA Conference in Chicago, which was great too, but quite frankly, they prefer the personal touch of MIPA. I have learned so much from MIPA’s site, courses and colleagues. The kids have become ambassadors of their

communities and directors of their aspira-tions. We have all become better at what we do because of MIPA’s unwavering and creative support.

More about Lorena Craighead

When renaissance High School’s journalism adviser Lorena Craighead was teaching in New York through the Teach for America program, a career with jour-nalism had never crossed her mind. Now, over ten years later, she can’t think of a place she’d rather be.

Craighead’s roommate in New York, Dream Hampton, was the first female staff member at The Source magazine. Craighead was inspired by her to learn more about journalism as a hobby. Soon, she was freelancing for publications like

The Source, rap Pages and City View. When she moved back to Detroit after two years in New York, she stumbled on a way to combine her two passions.

“I was still freelancing in Detroit, but also doing teacher support packets for community theatre,” Craighead said. “I saw a need for improvements on our Detroit Free Press sponsored page at Cody High School. I went to the adviser, Dr. robbyn Williams, and offered to help. She saw I had passion for it and taught me a great deal of what I needed to know. I fell in love with high school journalism.”

Three years later, Craighead moved to renaissance High School to fill a jour-nalism and english position. When she started at rHS, her staff didn’t have InDe-sign, and they lacked the support to start a new school paper. Now, rHS has Adobe

products, and two student publications. “I can be very persuasive,” Craighead said.

renaissance High School prints its student newspaper, The Stentor, with the Free Press monthly. Two years ago, Craig-head and her students successfully start-ed Phoenix rising, another paper, which, according to Craighead, is unlike Stentor because it’s a “forum for student self-expression, and not a part of the existing curricula.”

Craighead can now appreciate the struggles she experienced with starting another program. “My favorite part of advising is that the students have always been willing to dream with me. [They are willing] to do great but arduous work and to see their accomplishments in print. I love that they are coming to embrace the honor and responsibility of student voice.”

“Caps for Sale” stack of hats. Symbolic leadership is all about ritual. The symbolic leader is less concerned with the actual value of any given activity, and more concerned with what the underlying meaning of an activ-ity is.

For example, my second-grade son had a school-wide book reading contest last year. The principal promised to sit on the roof of the school for an entire day if the students read a certain number of pages during the month of March. Is there any educational value in sitting on the roof? Absolutely not. The fact that the principal was will-ing to actually climb up there for a day and follow through on his plan, though, carried a lot of weight with the kids, the teach-ers and the parents.

Advisers need to embrace that type of leadership, because the culture and climate of the publications classroom is so critical to the productivity of the class. Without a positive atmo-sphere in the newsroom, it becomes impossible for even the strongest student editors to run an effective publication. That’s why we need to take specific steps modeled after the ideas of symbolic leadership.

• Create rituals• Have fun• Build traditions• Recognize accomplishments• Build humor into the daily

routine• Tell stories• Create a soul for the

classroom

One great symbolic leader-

ship idea is to become more involved in MIPA and its vari-ous events. Sure there are aca-demic benefits to MIPA’s con-ferences and contests, but more than anything else, MIPA allows students to put their roll as a student journalist into a greater cultural context. The annual bus trip to the fall conference becomes a tradition, feeding inside jokes and fun memories that add value to the day-to-day routine in your classroom. Stu-dents at MIPA events see other staffs bonded tightly together and try to mimic that by creating staff t-shirts, bringing signs and crazy chants to the awards cer-emony, building superficial rivalries with that school from Midland that wins all the awards—all elements of a cul-ture of symbolic leadership.

Implementing a symbolic leadership structure is not easy. When I moved to a new school

three years ago to create a new newspaper, no such structure was in place. I was new in the building and worried that if my new principal walked by and saw too many pizza parties or Connect Four tournaments, he would have second thoughts about the educational value of a newspaper program.

Because of that, I let the symbolic leadership roll fall away. Now I battle with the staff regularly, trying to get them to invest fully in the value of the newspaper as an entity and watching as my student editors struggle to get the staff writers motivated to work. If you find yourself in a similar situation, consider doing what I am plan-ning on doing next Monday: call off class, head outside, and play kickball. See if that makes it any easier to get enough kids to stay late the next time deadline rolls around.

ADVISERWATCH,CONT. FrOM PAge 3

Middle School Conference on Nov. 6Dressed in their staff shirts, students listen closely to the speakers. More than 450 students attended the sixth annual MiddleSchool Conference at the MSU Student Union.

MIPA office manager Amy Brandt passes out award certificates to students at the end of the morning. Students could enter their work into a contest that was judged that day.

Katherine Jones, a reporter for WLNS TV 6, listens to a question. Jones has helped with MIPA judging and speaks at conferences.

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December 2008 ■ 9

2008 Summer WorkShop revieW

Lauren McCarthy, Forest Hills Eastern HS

T he MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop held Aug. 3–7, at

Michigan State University attracted more than 480 students,

50 more than last year. Among many opportunities, students

got a chance to participate in an issues panel on the economy;

hear Karl Gude, former Newsweek information graphics editor,

speak about the joys of graphics; visit local television stations;

watch the Spartan football team practice; visit the Ingham County

Fair; see a movie that hadn’t been released yet; and interview cast

members of “Wicked.”

Combined with excellent instruction in the classroom (at least

that’s what the evaluations report) and fun after hours (loved the

Talent Show!), the workshop was another success.

Take a minute to look at the quality of work here as well as the

list of award winners. Then think about sending students to the

workshop next year, Aug. 2–6, for an experience they’ll never for-

get. They’ll thank you for it.

Cory Shattuck, Clarenceville HS

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Maggie Moore, Midland HS

Malorie Urda, Haslett HS

Caroline Hyslop, Fenton HS

Once again, Chad and I had the time of our lives at the workshop. Our theme was “Jump into Journalism,” and in so many ways, the workshop jumped!

The most amazing thing we saw all week was how the students jumped into everything—from their classwork to our challenges and most of all into the talent show and the closing. To see students up there dancing and participating in things that took a heck of a lot of courage made the week so worthwhile. And then there was that Dancing Queen thing at the end. You know it!

It was a blast and we hope all of you not only come back to us next summer, but bring two or three friends. I guarantee it—you’ll have the time of your life.

Betsy Rau and Chad Sanders at the workshop closing

From Betsy Rau, workshop director

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December 2008 ■ 11

Kristyn Cormier Athens HS Opinion Coverage Opinion WritingJessica Tchoryk Chelsea HS Feature Coverage Feature CoverageCorey Shattuck Clarenceville HS Photo for Publication 1 Outstanding PortfolioNicole Geller DeWitt HS Multimedia Thing It’s a Multimedia ThingAlex Everard Dexter HS Bobby Hawthorne Experience The Bobby Hawthorne ExperienceKyle Oberle Dexter HS Youíre Designing the NP Outstanding Center Spread DesignEllen Busch East Grand Rapids HS Entertainment Coverage Entertainment CoverageKayce Hathaway Fenton HS Business Management Business Management and DesignCaroline Hyslop Fenton HS Illustrator and Info Graphics Most Sophisticated Graphic DesignerGriffin Haywood Findlay HS Sports Photo Best PortfolioZen Pace Flint Central HS Broadcast & VJ Broadcast and Video JournalismLauren McCarthy Forest Hills Eastern HS Photo for Publication 2 Outstanding PortfolioKirsten Schnackenberg Greenwich Academy NP Editors Editorial LeadershipDevin Zoltowski Grosse Pointe South HS Shoot First, Photoshop Later Best Photojournalism PortfolioMary Biglin Grosse Pointe South HS NP InDesign Mastery of InDesignMalorie Urda Haslett HS Photoshop Creative Techniques Photoshop Creative TechniquesTess Haadsma Lakeview HS-BC Taking Your NP to the Edge Best Edgy Story PackagingMaggie Sikkema Loy Norrix HS NP Advanced InDesign Outstanding Achievement in DesignAnne Brown Loy Norrix HS NP Editors Editorial LeadershipKira Boneff Mercy HS NP InDesign Outstanding DesignMaggie Moore Midland HS Photoshop Begins with Photo Outstanding PortfolioBailey McCarthy Riley Ogemaw Heights HS Multimedia Thing Itís a Multimedia ThingAlex McCarthy Portage Central HS Sports Coverage Strongest Sports FeatureEmily Ruff-Wilkinson Roeper School Bobby Hawthorne Experience The Bobby Hawthorne ExperienceMaria Guido Southgate Anderson HS Writing & Design Fundamentals Exceptional Effort and PerformanceEli Bergsma Thornapple Kellogg HS Broadcast & VJ Broadcast and Video JournalismLydia Belanger Traverse City Central HS Bobby Hawthorne Experience The Bobby Hawthorne ExperienceKeegan Mogg Troy HS Youíre Designing the YB Yearbook Graphic DesignBeth Nowinski Troy HS Complete YB Excellence in Writing and DesignKaitlyn Kent Waterford Kettering HS Taking Your YB to the Edge Outstanding Design and PackagingTiffany Priess Willow Run HS YB Editors in Chief Outstanding Classroom Work

WorkShop StudentS Who took home Some AWArdS

Name School Class Award Name

SPARTY WINNERS

Name School Class Award Name

ExCELLENCE WINNERS

We had some awesome workshop students last summer! We think all students are special, but the ones who won awards at the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop were rated top among their peers. A Sparty is the top award given at the workshop, and a Classroom Excellence Award is another high honor. Congratulations to all winners!

Continued on page 12

Jessica Pomish Andover HS Writing & Design Fundamentals Excellence in Writing and DesignJessica Ranke Andover HS NP InDesign Excellence in InDesignAshley Goldsmith Athens HS Photo for Publication 1 Excellence in Photo for Publication ISydney Edelman Avondale HS Complete YB Excellence in DesignChelsea Daum Avondale HS Photoshop Begins with Photo Excellence in Photoshop Begins with PhotoRianne Coale Boyne Falls Public Broadcast & VJ Excellence in Broadcast and Video JournalismCarlistie Massey Boyne Falls Public Broadcast & VJ Excellence in Broadcast and Video JournalismRachael Walton C. E. Byrd HS Photo for Publication 2 Excellence in Photo for Publication IIMegan Blue Canton HS NP InDesign Excellence in InDesignJiwon Bang Central Elementary Complete YB Excellence in The Complete YearbookGwendolyn Eder Chelsea HS Opinion Coverage Excellence in Opinion WritingAlyse Lindley Churchill HS Opinion Coverage Excellence in Opinion WritingJoseph Hardy Clintondale HS NP Editors Excellence in Lead WritingSara Krauss Cranbrook Kingswood Feature Coverage Excellence in Feature CoverageKari Decker DeWitt HS Illustrator and Info Graphics Excellence in InDesign SkillsLindsay Baker Dexter HS Taking Your NP to the Edge Excellence in Modular Design

12 ■ December 2008

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Samantha Chalut Fenton HS Photo for Publication 2 Excellence in Photo for Publication IIAmanda Alfaro Fenton HS Sports Photo Best Cheerleading PhotosLauren Zepeda Fenton HS Entertainment Coverage Excellence in Entertainment CoverageKatie Trinko Findlay HS Photoshop Begins with Photo Excellence in Photoshop Begins with PhotoRachel Karas Flushing HS Taking Your NP to the Edge Excellence in Taking Newspaper to the EdgeKatie Altman Garden City HS Feature Coverage Excellence in Feature CoverageRian Dawson Grosse Pointe South HS Taking Your NP to the Edge Excellence in Taking Newspaper to the EdgeLiam Zanyk McLean H. H. Dow HS Illustrator and Info Graphics Coolest Looking GraphicKeara Hanlon H. H. Dow HS Shoot First, Photoshop Later Image ExcellenceMatt Radick Howell HS Youíre Designing the NP Outstanding Design PortfolioErinn Colmenares Howell HS Writing & Design Fundamentals Excellence in Writing and DesignGabriella Gonzalez Howell HS Entertainment Coverage Excellence in Entertainment CoverageKaitie Ferguson Howell HS Entertainment Coverage Excellence in Entertainment WritingEmily Jones Inland Lakes HS Taking your YB to the Edge Excellence in DesignJonathon Morley Inland Lakes HS Sports Photo Best Football and Hockey PhotosElizabeth Brown Ithaca HS Taking Your YB to the Edge Excellence in Modular DesignTyler Zuker Ithaca HS NP Editors Excellence in Editorial LeadershipMichael Williams Jackson HS Bobby Hawthorne Experience Excellence in WritingMarion Hester Lake Orion HS Sports Photo Best StorytellingLaura Sliva Lakeview HS-BC YB Editors in Chief Excellence in Theme DevelopmentAshley Davis Loy Norrix HS Sports Coverage Excellence in Sports WritingEmily Wilkins Mercy HS Taking your NP to the Edge Excellence in Taking Newspaper to the EdgeErin Fitzpatrick Mercy HS NP InDesign Excellence in InDesignStephanie Yascolt Midland HS NP Editors Excellence in Editorial LeadershipNate Zemanek Midland HS Bobby Hawthorne Experience Excellence in WritingShannon McKeel Niles HS Sports Coverage Excellence in Sports WritingNelson Burton Okemos HS Illustrator and Info Graphics Uncanny Knowledge of Ethanol IssuesParker Banas Okemos HS NP InDesign Excellence in InDesignElizabeth Anderson Okemos HS YB Editors in Chief Excellence in Theme ConceptAndie Shafer Okemos HS YB Editors in Chief Excellence in Theme ConceptLizzy Rinner Okemos HS Photoshop Creative Techniques Excellence in Creative StorytellingSalman Rajput Pioneer HS NP InDesign Excellence in InDesignSheelagh Straub Plainwell HS Broadcast & VJ Excellence in Broadcast and Video JournalismRachel Chastain Rochester HS Feature Coverage Excellence in Feature CoverageVera Donaj Rochester HS NP Advanced InDesign Excellence in Advanced InDesignJohn Stanczak Roseville HS NP InDesign Excellence in InDesignHaley Landgraff Seaholm HS Youíre Designing the YB Excellence in Youíre Designing the YearbookKate Murray Seaholm HS Youíre Designing the YB Excellence in Youíre Designing the YearbookAbbie Genautis Seaholm HS NP Advanced InDesign Rising StarPeter Mayhew Seaholm HS Multimedia Thing Excellence in TwitterJosh Cohen Seaholm HS NP Editors Excellence in Editorial LeadershipHailey Watkins Stevenson HS Multimedia Thing Excellence in iMovieSara Rosenthal Stevenson HS Multimedia Thing Excellence in iMovieJack Hagen Traverse City Central HS Opinion Coverage Excellence in Opinion WritingElise Kaufmann Traverse City Central HS Shoot First, Photoshop Later Image ExcellenceSierra Porter Traverse City HS YB Editors in Chief Excellence in Design and GraphicsConnor Kostrzewa Traverse City West Senior HS Multimedia Thing Excellence in TwitterAng Evanowski Utica HS Youíre Designing the YB Excellence in Youíre Designing the YearbookStephanie Carson Utica HS Photoshop Creative Techniques Excellence in Visual VarietyBetty Buynak Waterford Kettering HS Youíre Designing the NP Outstanding Design PortfolioSarah Griffin Waterford Kettering HS Photo for Publication 1 Excellence for Photo for Publication IKayla Grogan Waterford Kettering HS Business Management Excellence in Business Management and DesignRachel Reed Waterford Kettering HS Business Management Excellence in Business Management and DesignElisabeth Robinson Waterford Kettering HS Complete YB Excellence in The Complete YearbookMiranda Fleming Willow Run HS Business Management Excellence in Business Management and Design

Name School Class Award Name

AWArdS, cont.

To see photos of the workshop, visit the MIPA Web site at http://www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu/events/workshops.

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December 2008 ■ 13

Griffin Haywood, Findlay HS

A faded blue box sits in the corner of a room, empty, aside from a few sheets of paper, dirt

and pieces of gum. This is the extent of the Ath-ens’ recycling program.

With celebrities sporting “green” products and politicians promising to reduce Carbon emis-sions—80 percent by 2050—one would think people would get a little more passionate about the project. In short, global warming occurs when Carbon is emitted into the air. The temperature gets higher, creating a whole mess of problems for this and future generations to deal with; it’s in the best interest of the people to do their part in sav-ing the planet. It doesn’t matter what it is or who does it, but the program needs to step up.

As mentioned, Athens has a “recycling pro-gram.” A box is distributed to each class, where it’s hardly used for its intended purpose, and is collected again by the environment class some odd months later.

The cafeteria, which ironically collects the most garbage, is the only room that’s never gotten a box. Thousands of kids come through the lunch-room everyday and countless pop/water/Pow-erAde bottles get chucked into the black hole of a garbage can. Scattered throughout the hallways, one can find a giant pop bottle, where students should be depositing their empties; the problem here is that it only allows pop bottles.

And there are the trays; Athens uses dispos-able lunch trays. Instead of getting recycled, the trays end up strewn across the floor in shoddy attempts to make a “basket.”

Another contributing factor is the lack of buses

for the neighborhoods facing and backing up to the school. Students who live here either walk or drive—and in the Michigan weather, most end up taking the family car. Everyone within the square mile drives a car to and from school.

According to the Georgia EDP, an average car releases over 115 pounds of pollution a year; a small truck or SUV weighs in at about 164 pounds a year. The Athens student body tally reaches almost 2,500 students, and most drive to school every day. Factor in the staff members who have a car in the parking lot as well. Do the math.

Anyone in opposition to getting a better school recycling program will say that it’s too expensive. They claim that it’s such an exaggeration anyway, why put money into something that isn’t even happening?

Anyone in favor knows the answer to this. Yes, absolutely put money into keeping the planet clean. Even if it is a hoax, what is the harm in “going green?” This place is home and experts say it will pay off in the long run. The recent Pixar film, WallE, predicts the world’s future if people don’t pull their act together—everyone will end up in outer space.

So, will it be outer space, or a new pro-gram? If money is the reason the school is hold-ing back, set up a few fundraisers; Troy is an affluent community and it won’t take much. A few extra bus routes, reusable lunch trays, and some plastic recycling bins are all the school needs to make a statement about the current predicament.

Editorial Piece for Opinion WritingBy Kristyn Cornier, Athens HS

Dear MIPA:

I am so grateful to have received a full schol-arship to MIPA camp this past summer. I was told about the improvements I

would see in my own writing and the writing of my fellow staff members before I attended camp, but I truly had no idea how immense that change was going to be.

Every day in class I felt I was constantly learning, which is a nice change from some of the boring classes I have to take at my high school. I was enrolled in the Newspaper Editors class, and I now appreciate everything I learned there. As I was writ-ing an article for the first issue of The Comets' Tale, I noticed drastic advancements in my writing tech-niques. I no longer saw the story as something broad, but almost by habit, found the angle to take allowing my story to become more personal and interesting. I now understand the never-ending developments I can pursue to better my writing.

Since camp ended, I have also observed a huge change in our staff all together. Not only has everyone's writing improved, but our communica-tion skills have greatly improved as well. The news-paper staff has become more organized due to the new techniques we learned at camp. It seems as though many of the previous kinks have effortlessly worked themselves out, allowing us to have an organized, responsible staff.

Thank you again for the generous scholarship I received.

Sincerely,Ariel Black, Editor in Chief, The Comets' Tale

Grand Ledge student expresses gratitude

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More than 175 people gathered at the Capitol steps in Lansing on Sept. 17,

Constitution Day, for “Student Voices: Celebrating the First Amendment,” a rally co-sponsored by the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, the MSU School of Journalism and the Detroit and Mid-Michigan chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Mary Beth Tinker, one of the plaintiffs in the US Supreme Court’s Tinker v. Des Moines decision, delivered the keynote address. Other participants included Katy Dean, plaintiff in the Dean v. Utica decision; Sen. Michael Switalski, sponsor of a student press freedom bill currently sitting in committee in the state senate; Carol Koenig of the ACLU; and Warren Watson from J-Ideas. In addition, the winners of the Student Voices essay contest read their winning essays.

This is the inaugural year for this event meant to raise awareness of student rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment.

Constitution Day brings 175 to the steps of the State Capitol

Mary Beth Tinker, plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court Tinker vs. Des Moines decision, was the keynote speaker at the event. She signed autographs for students afterwards and answered questions from attendees.

Allie Shiner, a student at Waterford Kettering HS, sang the Star-Spangled Banner at the opening of the event.

MIPA president Jeremy Van Hof honors the four essay contest winners. From left to right: Vivianna Arcia, Everett HS, 1st Place Winner; Bethany Davis, Mason HS, 2nd Place Winner; Alice Perrault, East Jordan HS, Third Place Winner; and Nor’risha Lawson, Southeastern HS, Fourth Place Winner.

Adding to the excitement of the First Amendment event was the jazz band from Laingsburg HS. Under the direction of Mark Wells, seen here playing the trombone, the band played several songs before the event and even played an impromptu “Happy Birthday” to the Constittution at the urging of Warren Watson from J-Ideas. Photos by Julie Price, adviser, Haslett HS

BETSY + BUSINESS BIG

BUCKS*

Betsy Pollard Rau advised the nationally acclaimed Update at H.H. Dow High School in Midland, Mich.

MICHIGAN STATE U N I V E R S I T Y

School of JournaliSmcelebrating 100 years

of journalism education in 2009

You’re running a small business, you know. And you never really thought that’s what you’d be doing. You just like journalism. You try to avoid math at all costs. “The Business Side of Scholastic Journalism” is a three-credit grad class taught by Betsy Pollard Rau that will help you make sense of all the business management stuff you need to know. You’ll learn how to make money, manage your accounts, choose and work with your printer, incorporate sound marketing principles, acquire more advertising dollars and more.

Class starts Jan. 26 and ends May 8. To register or for more information, please contact Cheryl Pell at pell@msu.edu or call (517) 353-6761 or visit www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu.

BONUS:IT’S ALLONLINE

Write-Off Contest Award Recipients

Alyson Halpert, Community HS—Superior, Newswriting

Dylan Cinti, Community HS—Honorable Mention, editorial Writing

Charlotte Berschback, grosse Pointe South HS— excellent, Feature Writing

Julia Mogerman, Community HS—Honorable Mention, Feature Writing

Lauren Powell, grosse Pointe North HS—Honorable Mention, Feature Writing

Tara Kerr, Stevenson HS—Honorable Mention, Feature Writing

Adam Crane, Waterford Kettering HS-—Honorable Mention, Sports Writing

Mira Fishman, Community HS—Honorable Mention, review Writing

emily Biegas, grosse Pointe North HS—excellent, Commentary Writing

Dan Dickson, grosse Pointe South HS—Honorable Mention, Commentary Writing

Cayla Van Hulle, Stevenson HS—Honorable Mention, Commentary Writing

Chris Cain, Community HS—excellent, Copy editing/Headline/Caption Writing

Austin Murtland, North Farmington HS—Superior, Newspaper: Layout

Kristin Nagel, North Farmington HS—excellent, YB Copy/Caption: Sports

Anna Petoskey, North Farmington HS—Honorable Mention, YB Copy/Caption Writing: Student Life

Jonathon Morley, Inland Lakes HS—Superior, Yearbook Sports Photography

Allison Correll, Community HS—Superior, Photography Portfolio

emily Jones, Inland Lakes HS—Honorable Mention, Photography Portfolio

AWARDS,CONT. FrOM PAge 4

Newspaper 9–12 Pages Sixth Place: The Murmur, Waterford Kettering HS

Newspaper 13–16 Pages Third Place: The Update, H.H. Dow HS

Newsmagazine Sixth Place: Northern Star, North Farmington HS

Yearbook 1–224 Fourth Place: Nexus, Inland Lakes HS Eighth Place: Brecksonian, Breckenridge HS

Yearbook 225–274 Seventh Place: Ambassador, Stevenson HS Ninth Place: Aurora, North Farmintgon HS

StetMIPA/School of Journalism 305 Communication Arts BuildingMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824-1212

Mark your calendar for the contest deadline: Feb. 20, 2009

1 Sara-Beth O’Connor, the newspaper adviser at Grand Ledge HS, could very well be MIPA’s biggest fan. When she graduated from MSU two years ago, she purchased her

“MIPAROX” license plate for her car because she said she loves MIPA. “MIPA got me into education and journalism, and it’s everything I believe in,” O’Connor said.

2 Erin Hill, director of the high school program at the Detroit Free Press; Pam English, adviser at Cass Tech HS; and Jessica Haynes, MSU journalism intern at Cass Tech HS, take a minute at the MIPA Fall Conference to pose for Jacqueline Clark of Southeastern HS.

3 Sue Spalding, adviser at Quincy HS, was in charge of the critiques at the MIPA Fall Conference. Although it can be a thankless job matching up staffs with “critiquers,” folks on both sides of the table find it to be a valuable conference service.

4 It’s easy to find smiles like this student’s at the conference. More than 2,000 students and teachers attended the annual event on Oct. 23, at the Lansing Center.

PARTINg SHOTS

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