may 2011 upfront
DESCRIPTION
May 2011 issue of Upfront, TAJE newsletterTRANSCRIPT
UpfrontUpfrontTAJE
P.O. Box 5554Austin, TX
78763-5554taje.org
Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2011
Sheryl FloydPresident
Susan DuncanPresident-Elect
903.295.5031, ext. [email protected]
Cindy BerrySecretary
940.393.7231cindy.berry@
decatur.esc11.net
Mikyela TedderTreasurer
Pat GathrightConvention Director
Brenda SlattonAssistant
Convention Director210.442.0300, ext. 350
Sue JettAssistant
Convention Director210.363.5156
Dianne Smith-HarperWebmaster
Rhonda MooreExecutive Director
Cypress Falls senior Bianca Gomez was in her second period class, listening to the announce-ments, when she heard, “This year, Texas High School Journalist of the Year is Bianca Gomez.”
“It came as a complete surprise for me,” Go-mez said. “I nearly screamed for joy hearing that. I almost couldn’t believe it.”
Gomez has been a high school journalist for three years. She began as a reporter at Cypress Ridge High School before transferring to Cy-press Falls her junior year.
Adviser Lisa Van Etta named Gomez edi-tor-in-chief of The Wingspan although Gomez didn’t have much experience.
“It was her determination that convinced me to take a chance and offer her the position,” Van Etta said. “Bianca took advantage of every occasion to further her education in the world of journal-ism. She never complained about the long hours, arduous assignments or the laborious working conditions. She immediately began to fulfill my expectations.”
Gomez said she she didn’t become serious about journalism until her junior year.
“[That] didn’t leave me enough time to ef-ficiently grow as a journalist,” she said. “How-ever, I can say with confidence I’ve learned so much in those two short years — not only have my writing skills improved, but I can now shoot photos for almost any event and produce my own scripts whenever I’m assigned any broad-cast piece.”
Gomez said one thing she loves about jour-nalism is hearing the stories people tell her.
“I get to learn something new about that per-son I would have never even thought of had I not approached them,” she said. “Listening to someone talk is one thing, but it takes skill to pay attention and make a connection with someone to write the article.”
Gomez said broadcast projects are the hardest part of journalism for her.
“Talking is one thing, but it’s not the easiest task for me to accomplish,” she said. “I have a
speech impediment, and I have to constantly work at it day by day. Usually, I have to repeat my voiceovers, openings and closings at least two times because of my speech hindrance.”
Gomez plans to major in Convergence Jour-nalism at the University of Missouri.
“As a 21st Century journalist, I plan to not only write powerful articles, but to take breath-taking photos and possibly film my own broad-cast pieces,” she said.
After college, Gomez wants to pursue a career in journalism.
“It’s one of those jobs where every day is a new day, and the career itself is evolving as re-porters learn to become more capable of cover-ing any event in more than one way,” she said.
Gomez said she is an example of how anyone can become High School Journalist of the Year if they put their mind to it.
“I was able to win being that my competitors were three-and four-year journalists,” she said. “I may not have placed at the national level, but I know my journalism path hasn’t stopped here. It’s barely begun.”
Cy-Falls senior namedJournalist of the Year
Bianca Gomez
2 Texas Association of Journalism Educator May 2011
From the PresidentSheryl Floyd
TAJE President
Let’s end with a few presidential proclamationsYou are probably expecting a quiet
exit from my presidential experience. And, yeah, you won’t notice my ab-sence because I still have two more years to help support all of you as past president.
But before I pass the gavel over to Susan Duncan, I have several procla-mations I would like to make.
First, I declare a “Day of Apprecia-tion” for all of you who supported my efforts in recent years. I’m begging for-giveness in advance if I don’t thank you personally next time I see you, but I really could thank every member of TAJE, ILPC and JEA for their collective wisdom. And I bet you know who you are…feel free to celebrate with the treat of your choice.
Secondly, I declare “Journalism Teacher Queen (or King) Day” where all of your students must bow and kiss the royal AP Stylebook. Treat yourself to the Starbucks drink of your choice
that day! Pick any day besides a TAKS/STARR testing day, please.
I also proclaim “Thou Shalt Not Stress about Thy Budget Woes.” Please don’t let your district budget cuts get you down. We are resourceful and resil-ient. Let’s look at the positive side…we
can increase par-ticipation in our classes because so many other op-tions are limited for students. We
still someone who is up for being our lobbyist—anyone?
So, another year has come and gone. I proclaim “Thou Shalt Reflect on Thy Inner Self.” What were some of your lessons learned? Where will you im-prove next year? What was something that really jived with your kids that you know you will for sure do again? Which of Lori Oglesbee’s ideas will you borrow again?
And finally, I would like to declare a presidential pardon. Yes, I pardon you for forgetting to send in your applica-
tion for a free teacher summer work-shop (if you have taught for fewer than five years); I pardon you for hav-ing a bad day and showing “Finding Nemo” while finishing the yearbook; I pardon you for cursing under your breath for whatever reason (actually, you don’t really need a reason!); and I pardon you for neglecting the pot-ted plants, dog, cat, dust and signifi-cant family members in your life due to journalistic duties. You know those summers are there for making it up to them—OK, well, maybe the dust can wait.
Well, that’s it. My presidential duties are officially over. It has been a blast, and I am so incredibly blessed by all of you. I am also incredibly lucky to have served this organization. My hope is for all of you to continue to fight for scholastic press rights and for press freedoms. While you are at it, grow in the skills we all need to survive in our digital world. Your kids will thank you. And I thank you.
Susan Duncan—here’s the gavel!
TAJE presented the following scholarships at the ILPC convention in Austin April 10:
Bianca GomezCypress Falls HS
Houston$1,500 Bill Taylor
Memorial Scholarship
Kaitlin Schmidt Pleasant Grove HS
Texarkana$1,000
Bobby HawthorneScholarship
Wynne DavisCypress Creek HS
Houston$1,000 Jim Davidson
Memorial Scholarship
Christine NguyenCypress Creek HS
Houston$1,000
DeWitt C. Reddick Memorial Scholarship
Taylor EspinosaJersey Village HS
Houston$1,000
Julia JeffressMemorial Scholarship
TAJE scholarships presented at ILPC in April
Summer workshop scholarships:Brittany Abiakam
Lidia HerreraAlief Hastings HS
Houston Angelica Garcia
Laurie PriftisJehadu Abshiro
Rowlett HSRowlett
Monica GarciaJersey Village HS
Houston
May 2011 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 3
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Holtberg named Administrator of the YearArnie Holtberg, headmaster at St.
Mark’s School of Texas for 18 years, was named Administrator at the ILPC awards ceremony April 10.
Holtberg was nominated by adviser Ray Westbrook. His nomination packet included letters from seven former edi-tors of the St. Mark’s newspaper and yearbook as well as one from Robert Decherd, chairman of the board, presi-dent and CEO of Belo Corporation, a St. Mark’s alum.
In his letter of nomination, West-brook said Holtberg was his students’ most ardent champion when they took on serious and provocative issues.
“In the 10 years I’ve been with St. Mark’s, my editors have taken proba-bly 15-20 story proposals to Arnie, and he has never once turned them down,” Westbrook said. “In fact, in almost ev-ery occasion, he has encouraged the editors or complimented them on the staff’s decision to present the story.”
Holtberg helped provide the jour-nalism program with a 5-room publi-cation suite and state-of-the-art tech-nology as well as offices for student editors. The program has grown to 100 students, which is approximately one-third of the entire upper school.
“His hands-on approach always pushed us to take the paper to the next level, and his trust and belief in Mr. Ray Westbrook no only was well-placed but was an important and crucial decision to make scholastic journalism at St.
Mark’s as significant of a program as the Science, Math, English and Athletic Departments,” Frankie Shulkin, editor-in-chief of the 2004-05 ReMarker, said.
Bryan Block, editor-in-chief of the 2006 ReMarker, said Holtberg’s respect and the staff’s admira-tion of him gave them a real responsibility that they took serious-ly.
“He treated us as men with important jobs, and we knew we had to live up to the expectations such a great man had for us,” Block said. “Mr. Holt-berg’s respect for our publication, and re-spect for us in leader-ship roles on the staff as mature and respon-sible adults, gave us all the motivation we needed to perform to the best of our ability.”
Stories that were encouraged for pub-lication included a long-form feature on the career of school's first African American graduate (Class of 1964); a story of student who doesn't cel-ebrate Christmas because of his athe-istic views; a four-page section on ho-mosexuality; a story on the boys' side of teen pregnancy; and a story on an
alumnus's experience as a member of the Duke lacrosse team when three players were falsely accused of sexual aggression.
Sloan Rudberg, 2010 editor-in-chief of the Marksmen, said the greatest
benefit of working with Holtberg was the way in which he treats staff-ers as student journal-ists.
“When questions of ethics or journalistic principles arose that re-quired his input, he was accessible and under-standing of our view-point,” Rudberg said. “Mr. Holtberg created a strong relationship be-tween the administra-tion and the journalism program."
Dean Itani, 2011 ed-itor-in-chief of the Re-Marker, said Holtberg simply trusts the jour-nalism program.
"He doesn't ever ask us to show him all the pages before they are printed but simply trusts us to come to him in advance with any topic that might be a little sensitive or provocative," Itani said. "His presence is powerful, but his words are more so. When students see his name beside a quote, they read the quote twice."
Mr. Holtberg’s respect for our publication, and respect for us in leadership roles on the staff as ma-ture and responsible adults, gave us all the motivation we needed to perform to the best of our ability.
Bryan Block2006 ReMarker
editor-in-chief
ATPI to host summer workshop for advisers July 13-16 in CommerceThe ATPI Summer Workshop for In-
structors will be held July 13-16 at Texas A&M University in Commerce.
The $250 registration fee covers the workshop, all lunches, dinner on Wednesday and Friday evenings and other fun items. Teachers who have at-tended the Summer Workshop in the past who bring one new person with them this year can register both indi-viduals for $225 each.
All workshop participants will re-
ceive a certificate for hours earned.
Participants can stay at the Holi-day Inn Express in Commerce, less than five minutes from the campus. The hotel has free wireless internet access to all of the rooms. The rate at the Holiday Inn is $85.99/night plus 7
percent city tax. Make sure you bring your state sales tax exemption form in order not to pay the 6 percent state tax. Rooms must be reserved by June 22 with a credit card. Contact the Holiday Inn at 1-903-886-4777 to make reservations. Tell them you are with the ATPI group.
The classes to be offered include Ac-tion Photography, Digital Video, Digital Processes, Online Media Bootcamp and Road Trip. For more information, includ-ing full class descriptions, go to atpi.org.
El PasoOdessa/Midland
Lubbock
Amarillo
Wichita Falls
DallasFt Worth
WacoTyler
Beaumont
Houston
Corpus Christi
Brownsville
Austin
San Antonio
I
II III
IVV VI
VII
4 Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2011
Regional representatives to meet with BoardRegional workshops
are planned for members in August and September.
Workshops will include lunch, and participants will receive a certificate for in-service credit.
For more information, contact your regional rep-resentative. The represen-tatives and their e-mail addresses are as follows:
Region ILaura SmithCanyon HS1701 23rd St.Canyon [email protected]
Region IILeland MallettLegacy HS1263 North Main St.Mansfield 76063817.299.1169mallett@therideronline.
com
Region IIICharla HarrisPleasant Grove HS5406 McKnight Rd.Texarkana [email protected]
Region V Theresa Proctor McNeil HS 5720 McNeil Dr. Austin 78729 512.464.6405 theresa_proctor@
roundrockisd.org
Region VILaura NegriAlief Kerr HS8150 Howell Sugarland Rd.Houston 77083281.983.8484 ext. 267- School832-465-9150 - Home
[email protected]@yahoo.com
Region VIIKelsey MartinMemorial HS101 E. HackberryMcAllen [email protected]
Regional representatives will meet with the Execu-tive Board in June. Members with questions or concerns for the Board should contact their regional representative by May 31.
Short itemsThe 2011 Fall Fiesta convention
will be held Oct. 22-24 at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio.
Speaker forms are on the website. Members are urged to sign up to present a session at the convention.
The earlybird registration deadline is Sept. 22, and the hotel deadline is Sept. 22.
Convention dates set
Time to renew membership
Invoices for TAJE membership for the 2011-12 school year have been mailed.
Members should check the invoice to see when their membership expires. Those who do not need to renew TAJE membership this year may use the in-voice to join JEA, ATPI, PIEA or SIPA.
Members who need to join JEA may do so through TAJE. TAJE receives a rebate from JEA for each member who joins JEA through TAJE.
Clip contest winners announced
Certificates for clip contest winners were mailed to schools in February.
A complete list of winners can be found on the TAJE website at taje.org.
Short itemsWorkshop openfor registration
TAJE and ILPC have teamed to offer a new media workshop for advisers Aug. 1-4 at McCallum High School in Austin.
A firm commitment from at least 10 advisers is needed by May 25 for the workshop to be held.
The workshop would consist of two 2-day workshops back-to-back. The first two days would cover building a website, and the second two days would cover multimedia components, including how to edit audio for pod-casts and how to put together audio
slideshows. Advisers could opt to at-tend for two days or all four days.
A flier and registration form are available on the TAJE website, taje.org.
May 2011 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 5
Signature of TAJE member nominating
Purpose: To recognize individuals/staffs whose initial risk-taking efforts and subsequent experiences (whether wholly successful or not) to expand the scope and capability of Texas scholastic journalism benefit others who follow their lead.
Eligibility: Those who endeavor to “push the envelope” of conventional scholastic journalism to new venues or methods.
Entries must be postmarked no later than June 5, 2011.Mail nomination forms to:Rhonda MooreTAJEP.O. Box 5554Austin, TX 78763-5554
Name of Nominee:
School:
Please explain this individual’s contributions to the field of journalism on a separate sheet of paper. Include examples of how he/she has helped to improve scholastic journalism in Texas and how these improvements have benefitted others. Attach this form and send both to the TAJE address.
Trailblazer Award Nomination Form
Signature of TAJE member nominating
Purpose: To note outstanding contributions to scholastic journalism by persons/organizations not directly involved in the daily instructional process (i.e., outside the classroom).
Eligibility: Those whose instruction, service and/or assistance, financial sponsorship or per-sonal dedication and advocacy toward the betterment of scholastic journalism in Texas deserves recognition.
Entries must be postmarked no later than June 5, 2011.Mail nomination forms to:Rhonda MooreTAJEP.O. Box 5554Austin, TX 78763-5554
Name of Nominee:
Business/Organization:
Please explain the contributions of this individual/organization to scholastic journalism on a separate sheet of paper. Attach this form and send both to the TAJE address.
Friend of Journalism Award Nomination Form
6 Texas Association of Journalism Educators May 2011