October 2015

in this issue

Michigan Interscholastic Press Association

Adviser Watch 4

East Lansing HS publication becomes public forum 8

Advisers tackle summer internship 11

Summer Workshop Re-Cap 17

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

stet

Photo byMonica BradburnFenton HSDivision 31st PlaceNews/Feature Photo

OCTOBER 2015VOL. 41, NO. 1MIPAMSU.ORG

MIPA OFFICERS 2013-2014 UPCOMING DATESABOUT STET

October Fall Conference

November Middle School Conference

Fall Yearbook Spartan Deadline

March Judging Day

One Day Workshop

April Spring Awards & On-Site Contests

EXECUTIVE BOARDJeremy Whiting, PresidentShari Adwers, 1st Vice PresidentSara-Beth Badalamente, 2nd Vice PresidentMarilyn Hess, SecretaryBetsy van der Zee, TreasurerAva Butzu, TrusteeLibby Held, TrusteeTim Morely, Trustee Jayna Salk, TrusteePam Bunka, Yearbook ChairC.E. Sikkenga, Newspaper ChairRoger Smith, Video/Broadcast ChairJamie Flanagan, Digital Media ChairCOMMITTEESRod Satterthwaite, Legislative ChairStacy Smale, Student Advisory ChairChristina Hammitt, Hall of Fame ChairJulia Satterthwaite, JEA State Director & Past President

Stet is the newsletter of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association and is published online by the MIPA executive director and MSU students.

Send letters to the editor and advertising inquiries to mipa@msu.edu

21

10MIPA STAFF

Jeremy W. Steele, Executive DirectorChad Sanders, Workshop DirectorKelsey Parkinson, Conferences and Workshops

AssistantHaley Kluge, Communications AssistantRiley Anon, Contest and Membership Assistant

16

5

18

18

WHAT’S HAPPENING

www.mipamsu.org Twitter: @MIPAMSU

Michigan State UniversitySchool of Journalism 404 Wilson Road, Room 305East Lansing, MI 48824

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

MIPA to raise funds in Freep Marathon for Jeff Nardone Scholarship

The Michigan Interscholastic Press Association’s Detroit Free Press Marathon team raised more than $4,200 for the Jeff Nardone Scholarship, which helps high school students attend MIPA’s summer journalism workshop at Michigan State University.

The scholarship was established in memory of Jeff Nardone, long-time adviser of Grosse Pointe South HS’s The Tower and The Tower Pulse. Nardone died in 2013 after

a battle with lymphoma. He was 48.The team was led by Pete LeBlanc, media

adviser at Antelope HS in California.

Member schools collaborate on video project covering environmental issues

MIPA released a collaborative project of six of its member schools, whose video programs produced a program about environmental issues in Michigan.

The 23-minute video, “Our World,” was coordinated by Randy Scott of Davison High School and includes work from students at Davison HS, Lake Orion HS, South Lyon HS, Ovid-Elsie HS and Lapeer Ed Tech Center. To watch the full video, follow the link on mipamsu.org

Sandy Strall honored with JEA Lifetime Achievement Award

The Journalism Education Association recently named Sandra Strall a JEA Lifetime Achievement Award winner. She was also named a JEA Distinguished Yearbook

Adviser in 2003. Strall retired in June 2015 after advising

43 publications at Carlson HS in Gibraltar, Mich.

Her work has been honored through various organization across the country, including MIPA, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and the National Scholastic Press Association.

Strall was a long time instructor at the MIPA summer journalsim workshop.

Amanda Thorpe named Dow Jones Distinguished Adviser

MIPA adviser Amanda Thorpe was named as one of the four Distinguished Advisers from the Dow Jones News Fund in 2015.

Thorpe works as the adviser for Portage Community and Portage Northern HS. She

oversees the Portage Community Spitfire newspaper and website, in addition to teaching English and History.

Eight years ago, Thorpe founded Portage’s journalism program and has been honored for her efforts. She received MIPA’s Golden Pen award, Cornerstone

[SEE BRIEFS ON PAGE 10]Strall

Thorpe

Courtesy Photo/Betsy Pollard Rau

Casey Nichols and Pete LeBlanc , center, participated in Detroit Free Press Marathon events to raise money for the Jeff Nar-done Scholarship. They are pictured with Nrdone’s sons, Cal and Cy.

From where I stand, I can’t imagine a busier teaching gig than being a journalism adviser at the beginning of the school year.

I may be biased.But over the last couple

weeks, I’ve trained student journalists to be writers, photographers and videogra-phers. We’ve practiced in the field at two football games, an open house and a pep assem-bly. I miraculously repaired a video camera, but I admit that I could not resurrect a 50mm lens that broke apart after fall-ing in the parking lot. We just installed new computers in my lab and decked out our radio station with remote broadcast gear. My desk is a little more organized, but I still can’t find last year’s growth goals.

It’s hectic. I feel excited, stressed, anxious and exhaust-ed. But I know that MIPA advisers understand and share these feelings, certainly much more than other teachers in my school. We share the same types of meetings, lesson plans and professional development with our local colleagues. But our journalism friends teach the same content, run student staffs and help young journal-ists publish their work every year.

I can’t imagine still feeling this way at the beginning of the school year if not for restful and refreshing summer breaks. During these last few months, that took the form of getting

some awesome inspiration from rock-star teachers around the state. If you haven’t been to one of MIPA’s EdCamps, I highly suggest you check one out. Advisers – both fresh out of college and veterans of the classroom – share ideas, work through problems and travel to see other programs. I’ve found these meetups really helpful. We plan on having one more sometime in the fall. You should go.

I also need to plug the upcoming Fall Conference. It’s a great time for students to learn from some of the best advisers and profession-al journalists in the state. This year, we are excited to welcome Matt Rasgorshek as our featured speaker. He’s a fantastic broadcast journalism teacher from Nebraska who speaks with young journalists nationally. Besides working with students for 13 years, he also has a wealth of experience as a professional producer and director at KPTM Fox 42.

I wish you a great start to the new school year. There are a lot of fresh ideas I’ll be trying out in my classes, which will ensure I’ll stay busy. As a jour-nalism adviser, I’m sure yours are just as packed. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Heading back to school and busier than ever

Jeremy Whiting2014-2016 President

Ovid Elsie HS

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

It’s hectic. I feel excited, stressed, anxious and exhausted. But I know that MIPA advisers understand and share these feelings, certainly much more than other teachers in my school.”

“

Jeremy WhitingMIPA President

To see more about Matt Rasgorshek, check out page 13

MIPA events scheduled this fall with resources and experts to help advisers jump-start their new year

By Haley Kluge When Rachel Mercer walked into

Laingsburg HS on her first day, she was inheriting a program 40 years in the mak-ing. Filling the shoes of long-time adviser Diane Herder, she faced the challenges of establishing her own classroom culture, student relationships and individual teach-ing style. Now, a second-year adviser, she works closely with MIPA coordinating conference registrations, as well as advising Laingsburg HS’s newspaper, yearbook and video programs.

MIPA: How have you structurally adapted the program from previous years?

Rachel Mercer: Last year I stepped into the program and took over from Diane Herder for my first year teaching. The way she had run it, she had all of the publica-tions in one hour, and they did the news-paper and the yearbook. I only had 18 stu-dents last year in that one hour to do those two things, which was intimidating. But this year, our programs are really boom-ing. Now I have 30 kids in newspaper, 30 in yearbook, and two sections of video. [My staff size] doubled, which is cool. I’m so excited about having more time and more people. So now we can devote some more time to online, which was totally neglected last year and just making sure everything is super high quality.

How did you feel about taking over an established program?

I was really worried stepping into this program with the same adviser for 40 years to a place that was really well-established and really respected. I was nervous step-ping in that kids returning would be stuck in their own way and that I wasn’t going to

get to do things my way. But I found that kids were really receptive to me and my ideas. I think the best advice is to just bond with them and make sure your classroom culture is really positive and healthy.

How do you foster a healthy class-room relationship with your students?

We also do a lot of parties, a lot of cel-ebrations. We get really excited when the paper comes out, we celebrate holidays and make paper plate awards. I think the bond-ing just makes the production more fun.

When you have a good relationship with those kids, they want to work. They want to do well. And don’t be afraid to try new things. I was always very open with them, and I never tried to swoop in and say that,“This is the way it’s going to be now.” I wanted to be very open to the ideas because it is their publication. We came to decisions together, and I think they were more open to ideas than I expected them to be.

How did you become involved with MIPA?

I’ve been involved with MIPA since I was in high school at the Stoney Creek Source. I was an editor my junior and my senior year, and I remember going to the MIPA fall and spring conferences and be-ing so excited about it. I remember getting those awards and being so proud. It was just kind of second nature to continue with it. My student teaching was involved with it, and I just always wanted to be also. I just think it’s so great and so exciting to see kids get excited about their work. They get so

happy to win things, and it’s just really cool to see their work honored and displayed to others.

What’s the best part of being a publication adviser?

I love the day the paper gets delivered. It’s like Christmas opening the box. Seeing everything they did in print and getting excited about it and reading their stories and distributing it to other classes and see-ing other kids actually reading the paper. That’s so rewarding to me. But my favorite part is just the kids. I think I have a differ-ent relationship with those kids than with some other teachers. It’s more of a family environment. It’s totally different than oth-er classes. I can’t really explain it or why, but it’s awesome. The kids used to say that coming to the pub room was Christmas all the time. Last year a student told me that the pub room is her happy place. And that’s just so rewarding to hear. It’s awesome.

Mercer makesstrides

Looking Glass/Neve Golden Rachel Mercer (formerly Kozloski) assists newspaper student Victoria Keenan at Laingsburg HS. Mercer took over the Laingsburg publication program in 2014.

ADVISER WATCH

GETTING TO KNOW RACHEL MERCER2009 Graduated from Stoney

Creek HS

2013 Graduated from MSU with bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Journalism

2013 Student teacher at Utica HS

2014 Began advising newspaper, yearbook and video for Laingsburg HS

MIPA teams up with SPLC for New Voices coalition

The Michigan Interscholastic Press Association will help lead an effort to enact state legislation protecting the First Amendment rights of student journalists at high schools and colleges across the state.

MIPA’s executive board unanimously passed a resolution supporting New Voices of Michigan, which was launched with support from the Student Press Law Center following the passage of the John Wall New Voices Act of North Dakota earlier this year.

The effort aims to protect Michigan student journalists from a 1988 Supreme Court decision that significantly reduced their First Amendment rights. In a 5-3 opinion in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, the court’s majority said that schools could legally censor student expression in non-public-forum media for any “legitimate pedagogical purpose.”

Public school and college officials too often misinterpret the ruling as giving them unchecked authority to quash student voices and block legitimate news stories.

“The Hazelwood ruling opened the door for school officials to trample on the basic First Amendment rights of American youth,” said Rod Satterthwaite, who chairs MIPA’s First Amendment Committee and advises the student newspaper at Grosse Pointe South High School. “It’s time to stand up for our Constitution and close the loophole created by this judicial mistake. Our schools and colleges should be places that foster new voices without fear of being punished by an agent of the state.”

MIPA will work closely with the Student Press Law Center to support to the growing New Voices coalition and will help lead efforts to draft legislation and

lobby legislators.“There’s no doubt that robust, student-

led journalism programs can help schools across Michigan and the country improve academic standards through the practical application of writing, development of strong research skills, real-world use of technology and encouragement of civic engagement,” said Jeremy Steele, MIPA’s executive director. “But those educational goals are set back by censorship that silences student voices, squashes creativity and shuts down student-led efforts to identify and solve problems in their community.

“Over the years, too many schools have used Hazelwood’s precedent to ignore what’s good for education, and instead sought to censor any journalistic work that asks tough questions or strays from a school’s carefully crafted marketing image.”

MIPA’s executive board passes a resolution to support the organizations’ effort to protect students’ first amendment rights

“WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1988 ruling in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, is overly restrictive of the First Amendment rights of student journalists and leads to unwarranted censorship of legitimate speech and;

WHEREAS, robust, student-led journalism programs can help schools across Michigan and the country improve academic standards through the practical application of writing, development of strong research skills, real-world use of technology and encouragement of civic engagement, and;

WHEREAS, few language arts programs naturally are as well aligned as journalism to the aimed outcomes of Common Core State Standards, 21st Century Skills and

similar efforts to prepare youth for the modern workforce and to be good citizens, and;

WHEREAS, censorship — in the forms of prior review and prior restraint — is an educationally unsound practice that degrades the quality of a journalism program and damages a unique and powerful educational tool in a school, and;

WHEREAS, mainstream journalism education and professional journalism organizations regularly speak out in opposition to prior review of student media and;

WHEREAS, MIPA’s Code of Ethics, which outlines the rights and the responsibilities of student journalists, says, “Student media shall not be subjected to prior

restraints, review or censorship by school administrators, faculty, school board or any other individual outside the editorial board …” without legally defined justification, and;

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines that students do not check their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse door;

THEREFORE be it resolved that the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association supports the efforts of the New Voices of Michigan coalition to pass legislation protecting student press rights in Michigan and will actively work with coalition partners to see that such legislation becomes law.”

Approved by the MIPA Executive Board, Aug. 29, 2015

MIPA’s resolution to support New Voices

rain Communications is part-nering with Michigan State Uni-versity’s School of Journalism to support high school journalism

programs in Detroit high schools.The partners announced the program

Wednesday, Sept. 23, at a workshop for par-ticipating students and teachers at the MSU Detroit Center.

The Crain MSU Detroit High School Journalism Program will use journalism as a tool to enrich the educational experienc-es of students in Detroit high schools. The program will bring students at participating schools together with professional jour-nalists, MSU faculty members and MSU journalism students to produce a newspaper and news website about the issues affecting the students’ schools, their peers and the community.

Fourteen high schools and about 300 students are expected to participate in the program this academic year. Participating students print a newspaper four times each year with a section for each school, continu-ally post stories online throughout the school year, and learn how to research and publicize their stories through social media.

“Crain Communications is proud to support the Detroit High School Journalism Program, guiding, assisting and inspiring young minds to become critical thinkers, bet-ter writers and more actively engaged in their schools and community,” said KC Crain, Executive Vice President and Director of Corporate Operations for Crain Communi-cations and group publisher of the Automo-tive News Group.

The partnership with Crain, which will be led by Detroit-based Automotive News,

builds on the spirit of a program established in 1985 with support from former Detroit Free Press Managing Editor Neal Shine. The MSU School of Journalism took over man-agement of that program last year from the Detroit Free Press.

“The School of Journalism is proud to work with Crain Communications to carry on a strong legacy of high school journalism in Detroit,” said Lucinda Davenport, Director of MSU’s School of Journalism. “We look forward to continuing to give students an opportunity to get hands-on experience with writing and visual communication for print and online news. These students will sharpen the skills needed to be successful journalists and to be college- and career-ready for any field.”

As the lead sponsor of the program, Crain Communications will provide financial

Crain partnership brings Detroit schools to MIPA

CThe partnership between Crain and MSU to support journalism to allows greater involvement for participating students and teachers

Jeremy Steele/MIPA

Kianna Harris of Cody DIT takes notes of ideas for the name of a newspaper during a brainstorming session at the Crain MSU Detroit High School Journalism program kickoff.

support to help operate the program over a multi-year period. Crain journalists and staff also will work with MSU staff to assist students and teachers in creating high school publications at least four times per year. The company will be actively engaged with students from the story-planning process throughout production, including provid-ing meeting space for training and design sessions.

“At a time when the city is rebuilding and doubling down on its own future, Crain and Automotive News are investing in great journalism, continually pouring resources into our own news operations here in the city, and now creating the potential for more young journalists to work within our own walls,” said Jason Stein, Publisher and Editor of Automotive News.

In addition, Crain is committed to working with MSU’s School of Journalism to provide unique opportunities for Detroit stu-dents to practice journalism and to provide paid summer opportunities for Detroit high

school student journalists.“This partnership is another example of

MSU’s commitment to the city of Detroit and southeast Michigan,” said Prabu David, Dean of MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences. “We’re thrilled to work with our partners at Crain Communications to nurture the voice of student journalism in Detroit and to help students learn to use today’s communication tools with responsi-bility and confidence.”

The program will continue to work closely with the Ford Motor Company Fund, which annually since 1989 has awarded a college scholarship to one Detroit high school senior to pursue his or her aspirations in journalism.

Headquartered in Detroit, Crain Commu-nications is a privately held media company, which publishes a variety of trade newspa-pers and periodicals, including Automotive News, Crain’s Detroit Business and Adver-tising Age as well as the online publications, multimedia content and product extensions related to each.

At a time when the city is rebuilding and doubling down on its own future, Crain and Automotive News are investing in great journalism, continually pouring resources into our own news operations here in the city, and now creating the potential for more young journalists to work within our own walls.”

“Jason SteinPublisher/Editor, Automotive News

Michigan State University School of Journalism Editor in Residence Joe Grimm, left, talks with Jason Stein, publisher of Automotive News and other Crain staff members.

What doesthis meanfor MIPA?• The program will pay for

participating high schools in the city of Detroit to become members of MIPA. We expect 14 schools to participate this year.

• The program will help pay for contest entry fees for these schools and money to attend other MIPA events.

• Funding for scholarships for 10 Detroit students to attend the Summer Workshop is secured for the next five years.

• Funding is included to help Detroit teachers take the MSU online adviser classes in the summer.

• The Detroit Free Press has said it plans to continue its summer apprentice program - which is separate from the MSU-managed program.

• Crain has expressed an interest in creating a high school summer intern program that likely would draw from metro Detroit.

From the SPLC Student journalists at East Lansing HS

will now have editorial control of the school newspaper, Portrait, after last year’s policy of prior administrative review that students said led to censorship.

Earlier this month, principal Coby Fletcher, who had reviewed articles prior to publication for most of last year, recommended to the school board that the Portrait be classified as a public forum, which places editorial control in the hands of the student editors. The board unanimously approved his recommendation on Aug. 24.

“I think that by opting to make the newspaper a public forum, we give the students a more authentic experience,” Fletcher said in an interview. “There’s more weight on their shoulders as journalists. … When you give additional responsibility to students like that, they tend to step up.”

The 1988 Supreme Court decision Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier ruled that unless a high school newspaper had a clear “policy or practice” that established it as a public forum for student expression, school officials could censor material as long as there was a reasonable educational justification.

Fletcher said he wanted to make it clear “where the newspaper falls.” Portrait receives school funding, has a staff adviser and has some academic interest — all of which had made it a limited public forum, he told the board.

Fletcher said in his 10 years of public school administration, he had only requested prior administrative review once, and that was last year. He implemented the policy in late October, after the Portrait published an article that incorrectly claimed that teachers were not being paid during a teacher contract dispute. In a letter to the Board of

Education, the 2014-15 Portrait editors wrote that Fletcher had said the prior review would be to check for factual accuracy and writing quality and that he would not censor content.

But the editors, Stefan Lindahl and Evan Hoopingarner, wrote that Fletcher began to remove words like “beer” or “sex” from articles and took so long to review articles that the paper’s publishing schedule was affected. They also wrote that Fletcher told Hoopingarner to change the tone of a critical editorial. The students revised the editorial and printed the issue, but according to the letter, Fletcher was angry that he had not approved the new editorial and later, refused to meet with the editors.

Fletcher said he “wouldn’t say” the complaints were “entirely accurate,” but he didn’t want to give specifics.

“I had two student editors who weren’t happy with prior administrative review,” he said. “I can certainly understand that.”

He said now that the newspaper is a public forum, he expects students to “make more informed decisions” and it is clearer where the responsibility lies.

“If the newspaper last year had been a public forum, I wouldn’t have really worried as much about what went on in the paper,” he said. But last year, when the paper was a limited public forum, the school was giving tacit approval to its content, he said.

“When that’s the case, I may police that a little bit more than I might have otherwise,” he said.

Now that the Portrait is a public forum, school officials will have to follow the Tinker standard and only intervene in editorial content if it can be reasonably forecast to cause a “substantial disruption.”

The 2015-16 co-editors of the paper,

East Lansing HS paper becomespubic forumStudents granted editorial control of school newspaper after previous prior review

ARE YOU FACING CENSORSHIP?

MIPA IS HERE TO HELP!If your publication is dealing with prior review or censorship, MIPA

offers a variety of resources to help. For more information, check out

information on our panic button on page 12 or check out our website at

mipamsu.org. Other resources are avaliable through the Student Press

Law Center.

[SEE FORUM ON PAGE 13]

Back row: Nyla Shields (Cody), Jonice Sylvester (Cody), Kianna Harris (Cody), Chad Sanders (MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop director), Jalon Nelson (Communication and Media Arts), Joy Visconti (MSU Detroit High School Journalism program director), Ikeya Lake (Cass Tech), Jahaira Maxwell-Myers (Cass Tech). Front row: Brandy Blackwell (Renaissance), Arianna Smith (Renaissance), Kaelyn Collins (Cass Tech), Ariana Taylor, Renaissance (journalism freshman at MSU), Erin Jackson (Communication and Media Arts), DeAnna Howard, Cass Tech

Krishnan AnantharamanMelissa AndersAnonymous In Honor of Joe GrimmEmilia AskariLinda AustinDan AustinBonnie BucquerouxCynthia BurtonAndrea & Pat ByrneSteven ByrneJoie ChenNichole Christian

Lucinda DavenportAshley DingesSteve EderM.L. ElrickJewel GopwaniBob GouldJoe GrimmDarrell HughesTanya IrwinKrista JahnkeDory Knight-IngramMarisa KwiatkowskiAbe KwokHelen Kwong

Cynthia KyleKevin LeeRenee LeeDarci McConnellShannon Shelton MillerMary OwenCheryl PellBrenda RiosEd RoncoBecca RothschildMelissa SanchezLisa SatayutMatt SchochSimone Sebastian

Angelique SoenarieMary Lou SongJamal SpencerJeremy SteeleJason SteinBrian ToddKimberly ToddDoris TruongJoy ViscontiCynthia WangSteven WilkeEsther WuGeri Zeldes

Thank you for supporting Detroit student journalists!Thanks to the generosity of the following donors, MIPA was able to provide 11 scholarships to students from Detroit high schools to attend the MIPA summer Journalism Workshop at Michigan State University. Addi-tional funds also were raised to charter a bus to bring Detroit students to the MIPA Fall Conference.

In its final year, the 2015 Reynolds High School Journalism Institute brought together 140 teachers from 41 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico for comprehensive hands-on journalism training. Two MIPA advisers; C.E. Sikkenga, Grand Haven HS and Kaitlin Edgerton, Madison HS, participated by completing online training before and after the Institute and joined discussions at ASNEChat.org.

“The online training and discussion forum are now open to any teacher who would like to enhance their skills and access resources,” said Le Anne Wiseman, director of the American Society of News Editors Youth Journalism Initiative. “We’re excited that many more teachers will be able to benefit from the program developed by the Institute.”

Edgerton found information about the Insitute through the Journalism Education Association and MIPA email blasts.

“When I applied, I really didn’t know what I was getting myself in to at the time,” Edgerton said.

Through the Reynolds High School Journalism Institute, teachers learned how to help students gain stronger reporting, writing, editing, multimedia, design and entrepreneurial skills needed to start or improve student news media organizations and understand the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and their rights and ethical responsibilities as student journalists.

Participants also developed lesson plans that are available at SchoolJournalism.org for anyone to use.

“The lesson plans and discussion forum at ASNEChat.org will help any teacher learn how to teach journalism,” said Wiseman. “The ASNE Youth Journalism Initiative staff is also available to help and answer any questions.”

Since the program’s inception in 2001, more than 2,340 secondary school teachers have completed the program. The program is administered by the American Society of News Editors Youth Journalism Initiative and was held at four locations in 2015: Arizona State University, University of Texas at Austin, Kent State University and University Missouri-Columbia.

“The week was very intense,” Edgerton said. “We did more than just sit inside a classroom. We got to work hands on, and I think that’s the best way to learn.”

The Institute was funded through a generous grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, which paid travel, housing and instructional expenses for the teachers, as well as optional continuing education credit. Teachers also received journalism textbooks and paid membership to the Journalism Education Association and their state or regional scholastic press association.

“It was so enriching,” Edgerton said. “I wish every adviser would be able to experience it.”

The Initiative invests in the future of journalism and democracy by providing resources and training in youth journalism; news, information and media literacy; and the First Amendment and civic education.

Reynolds High School Journalism Institute trains 140 teachersAll teachers now invited to complete online training, join discussion forum at ASNEChat.org and access lesson plans

[SEE BRIEFS ON PAGE 2]

Cyr

MIPA attendees at Reynolds High School Journalism Institute C.E. Sikkenga GRAND HAVEN HS

Kaitlin Edgerton MADISON HS

University’s Distinguished Alumni Award and Portage Public School’s “Above and Beyond” Award.

She is recognized with a $500 scholarship to be presented to a senior, a plaque at the National High School Journalism Convention and a complimentary online subscription to the Wall Street Journal.

Adviser recognized as Stockbridge Employee of Year

Elizabeth Cyr was named Stockbridge Area Educational Foundation’s 2015 Employee of the Year.

Cyr advises Stockbridge HS’s publication staffs, including the

newspaper, Uncaged; yearbook, The Panther and news website, Uncaged Student News.

Join MIPA’s Student Advisory Board

This year, one student from each MIPA member school is invited to join the Student Advisory Board. This board will give students a chance to voice their opinions about everything MIPA and engage in creating new activities for students.

The ideal canidate has attended several MIPA events in the past, is actively involved in their school’s publication and has time to contribute to discussions throughout the school year.

If interested, students should attend the meeting at the fall conference, and fill out the survey at http://tinyurl.com/MIPA advisory.

Yearbook Spartan deadline is Nov. 16

Yearbooks with fall delivery should be submitted by Nov. 16 for the Spartan contest deadline. The late deadline is Dec. 16. Entry forms are available at www.mipamsu.org.

Entries for the individual category yearbook contest submitted by Nov. 15 save 10 percent. Of course, ou can also send them in on the Feb. 16, deadline as well.

IT’S TIME FOR

MIPA CONFERENCESBe among 2,000 student journalists and advisers who flock to the Lansing Center to sharpen their skills. Bond with your staff, get pumped about journalism, find some inspiration and just have fun.

Students can attend interactive sessions while advisers can share ideas with others. Enter your best work in our carry-in contest. Awards will be presented at the end of the day.

OCT. 21FALL

CONFERENCE

REGISTER NOW and get more information atmipamsu.org

NOV. 10MIDDLE SCHOOL

CONFERENCE

Advisers take on summer reporting internshipsBy Haley Kluge

When the bell rings on the last day of school, most teachers are excused from their structured daily routine. However, Rochester HS adviser Julia Satterthwaite traded one job for another when she enrolled in the Mich-igan Press Association’s journalism adviser summer internship program.

Through the program, Satterthwaite spent four weeks working as a reporter for The Oakland Press.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect when I showed up,” Satterthwaite said. “It ended up being really great.”

Offered during summer breaks, the program was created to allow journalism advisers a chance to work hands-on in the journalism industry. Advisers then take their experience back to the classroom, where they can implement it into their curriculum.

“Journalism is constantly evolving and I think part of my job is to stay on top of that,” Satterthwaite said.

In addition to Satterthwaite, two other Michigan advisers participated – Harry

Courtesy Photo/Rod Satterthwaite Julia Satterthwaite interviews a Channel 7 news station employee and her husband about contacts for “The Bachelor” auditions at Fifth Avenue in Royal Oak, Mich. on July 9. Satterthwaite worked as an intern for The Oakland Press during the summer. [SEE INTERN ON PAGE 13]

Press the panic button for censorship help from MIPA

ABOUT THE

AUTHORRod Satterthwaite is the newspaper adviser at Grosse

Pointe South High School.

He coordinates MIPA’s mentor

program for new advisers and is the

active Legislative chairman. He

previously advised the newspaper at

Dexter High School, where his students’

publications have won awards

including the Spartan, the

Pacemaker, the Gold and Silver

Crown, Dow Jones Newspaper Fund

Distinguished Adviser and The

Robert F. Kennedy Journalism

Award. He’s been teaching for 24

years and advising publications for 20.

Rod SatterthwaiteGrosse Pointe HS

TIPS & TRICKS

MIPA’s legislative chair, Rod Satterthwaite, adviser of Grosse Pointe South HS’s The Tower, is in the process of creating a Web resource for journalism programs facing prior review, or other legal action. According to Satterthwaite, the panic button will be designed to help students and staff determine what action to take in a given scenario. We talked with Satterthwaite about the origins and outlook of the new resource and what it means for MIPA member schools.

MIPA: What exactly will the panic button look like once implemented?

ROD SATTERTHWAITE: The panic button is literally just that: a visual button on MIPA’s website that any adviser or student can “push” to make MIPA, Journalism Education Association and the Student Press Law Center aware of censorship or prior review issues at their school. These could be issues that are actually happening or issues that are likely to happen, such as if an administrator threatens to censor an article but hasn’t actually done it yet.

MIPA: How did the concept for a panic button come about?

JEA’s Student Press Rights Commission already has a panic button on its website to make them aware of prior review or censorship issues, and we thought it would be good if MIPA had a similar thing. One, it helps the MIPA board to get a handle on prior review/censorship issues in the state. Two, it helps the SPRC coordinate the help of national experts in the event of a Michigan situation. The main goal is to make the MIPA board aware of these censorship/prior review issues and then help us coordinate a response to help students and advisers with them.

MIPA: What are some of the resources that will be made available via the panic button?

The main concept is, as soon as the button is pushed, I (as MIPA legislative chair), Jeremy Steele, the SPRC and the SPLC are notified. Then, in a systematic way, we reach out the student or adviser, get more information and the coordinate the best response on the state and national level for the situation at hand.

MIPA: Are there any instances in which your staff would have benefited from this resource in the past? If so, are these instances part of the reason the panic button came into fruition?

We’ve certainly been faced with our share of

censorship threats, mainly from those outside the school system interestingly enough. In fact, just a couple weeks ago, a series of parents threatened to “lawyer up” against the paper for a story that wasn’t even written yet. So as an adviser, I think any time I can get help from student press law experts and bounce ideas off those who have been in similar situations, I will feel more at ease than I would without such support. This idea didn’t come from my experiences, but it did come from my experiences as MIPA’s legislative chair and knowing that there often are censorship or prior review situations within the state that I didn’t know about until a long time after they happened.

MIPA: In a perfect world for student journalism programs, a panic button might not be necessary. Why you feel as though making this resource was an idea whose time had come?

Too many good advisers and too many excellent student journalists are either threatened with administrative action or self-censor stories because they are afraid of what an administrator might do. I think many of these people feel alone and aren’t sure how to proceed. So the panic button becomes a way for MIPA to help its members and its member students. And that’s what we should be about as an organization, first and foremost.

MIPA: What are some of the first steps for a journalism program facing outside pressure for censorship? Which step is the panic button?

I think the first step in any situation like this is for the adviser to realize the situation usually isn’t theirs to deal with and encourage their students to call the Student Press Law Center and get their advice. The second step would be to hit the panic button.

MIPA: What are some practices that might help to keep journalism programs and their surrounding communities from heading toward censorship without holding back on reporting or journalistic activity?

The key here is effective communication among all stakeholders: students, advisers, administrators and community members. It’s important that student leaders on publications staffs go out of their way to show adults that they value communication, feedback and dialogue and want to learn to become

[SEE PANIC ON PAGE 13]

Katopodis, Hamtramck HS, and Danielle Alexander, North Farmington HS.

“I was working 11-12 hours day because I found that I couldn’t stop because I enjoyed it,” Satterthwaite said.

During her internship, Satterthwaite covered events like the Oakland county fair and “Bachelor” auditions in Royal Oak, and wrote stories that required her to interview congressmen, politicians, authority officials and citizens.

“There’s a thrill of walking into an inter-view situation to say ‘Hey, tell me who you are and why you are here.’”

By the end of the internship program, Satterthwaite published nearly 200 pieces of

work – 65 online, 52 print (14 front page), five photo galleries and two videos.

“The internship program is valuable for both parties (the newspaper and adviser),” Oakland Press local news editor Julie Jacob-son Hines said. “Julie did stories for us, and in turn, she got to learn about the journalism business in a real way that a classroom can’t teach.”

After the internship, Satterthwaite was able to bring her new knowledge to her classroom.

“It was single-handedly the best profes-sional development I’ve had,” Satterthwaite said. “It’s the best hands-on learning. I would strongly encourage any journalism adviser to try it.”

Sophie Steiner and Hudson Brett, could not be reached for comment. But they told the Lansing State Journal that they were happy about the decision.

“This is something specific that we’re very happy to have, because no one can interpret it differently,” Brett told the paper.

Hoopingarner, the former editor who also spoke at the Aug. 10 board meeting, said he was optimistic for the future of the Portrait.

“I am glad to be leaving the Portrait in the hands of new editors who seem to have a much better working relationship with the high school administrators than I did,” he told the board.

There is currently a campaign in Michigan — New Voices of Michigan — to lobby for a state law that will guarantee press freedom for student journalists in public schools and colleges. (The Student Press Law Center has been involved with the campaign.) Currently, there is no state-level legal protection for student journalists in the state.

On Twitter, New Voices of Michigan applauded Fletcher “for appreciating the importance of uncensored student voices.”

“I’ve been surprised by the number of people who have been surprised that a principal would recommend” giving the students more editorial control, Fletcher said.

“I think we have the impression that if we clamp down, we’re more likely to get what we want,” he said, but he said he thinks that when students are given “more freedom and more responsibility,” both parties will get more out of the experience.

[SEE FORUM ON PAGE 8] [SEE PANIC ON PAGE 12]

[SEE INTERN ON PAGE 11]

better journalists. It’s also important that publications have carefully crafted editorial policies that show how they deal with controversial issues, conflicts of interest and ethical dilemmas.

MIPA: Student journalists don’t win every free speech case. Why do you feel it is important to let students make their own mistakes journalistically without implementing censorship or prior review?

Education’s primary focus should be on creating intelligent, ethical young people capable of advanced levels of critical thinking. If, as educators or community members, we tell students we know what is best for them or convey the message that their voices don’t matter, we destroy all credibility we have. We often learn as much or more from our mistakes as we

do from our successes, so it’s important we allow students the freedom to deal with real issues in real ways with real consequences. Anything else is criminal. MIPA: Finally, can you elaborate on how you hope the panic button is received by journalism programs and what kind of benefit you hope students and advisers gain from it?

I hope students and advisers will realize they are not alone, that MIPA is hear to help them and that they can overcome censorship and prior review. At the JEA conference in San Diego, I heard a fellow adviser say, “You can’t lead through fear. You can only lead through courage.” I hope the MIPA Panic Button helps give those facing censorship and prior review the courage to fight for what’s right and challenge overreaching, authoritarian administrators.

Nationally recognized broadcast and online journalism adviser Matt Rasgorshek will be the featured speaker at the 2015 MIPA Fall Conference.

Rasgorshek is the broadcast and online adviser at Westside High School in Omaha, NE. His publications have received state, regional and national recognition. Westside Wired has been honored as Nebraska’s top high school online publication. Warrior Television has been recognized as one of the nation’s top broadcast programs.

This past year, Rasgorshek was recognized as a Distinguished Broadcast Adviser of the year by the Journalism Education Association as well as as one of the country’s top journalism advisers by the Dow Jones News Fund.

Prior to teaching, Matt worked behind the camera as a newscast director, producer, videographer and editor in local affiliates in Omaha and Phoenix. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, running and playing golf.

Top-broadcast adviser to be featured speaker for 2015 fall conference

2015 SPARTY AWARD WINNERSMIPA SUMMER JOURNALISM WORKSHOP

The Sparty Award is the summer workshop’s top award.Excellence Awards recognize outstanding work in each class.

Sarah Barney, Stockbridge HS Advanced Yearbook Design

Elyse Vorndran, Bishop Dwenger HS Beyond the Basics

Madison Ganir, East Leyden HS Broadcast Boot Camp

Julia Masson, Mercy HS Broadcast Boot Camp

Kelly Krajewski, Lakota East HS Entertainment Coverage

Taylor McPhail, Grand Ledge HS Feature Coverage

Lauren Hoffman, H.H. Dow HS Illustrator & Information Graphics

Liz Bigham, Grosse Pointe South HS InDesign for Newspaper

Taylor McCrackin, Grand Ledge HS Money Matters

News Editors Class News Editors

Simone Rhodes, Mercy HS Opinion Coverage

Julia Quinn, Midland HS Shoot Like a Pro

Anthony Cardamone, Chippewa Valley HS Sports Coverage

Madison Grunow, Fritport HS Sports Photography

Lauren Excell & Elise Martin, Hindsdale Central HS Taking Your Newspaper to the Edge

Ethan Cartwright, Utica HS Taking Your Website to the Edge

Robert Swetlic, South Lake HS Taking Your Yearbook to the Edge

Ella Colbert, Midland HS The Bobby Hawthorne Experience

Sarah Sims, Grand Ledge HS The Upstart

Annie Barker, Okemos HS Writing & Packaging the News

Malcolm Mosley, Birmingham Groves HS Writing & Packaging the News

Erin Mitchell, Troy HS Yearbook Editors-in-Chief

Sophia Grusnis, John Carroll HS Yearbook Kickstart

Brianna Gomez, Stockbridge HS You’re Designing the Newspaper

2015 EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERSHannah Kightlinger, Stockbridge HS Development of Translucent Designs

Trenton Sabo, Oxford HS Innovative Theme Logo Design

Samantha Sharland, Grand Ledge HS Exceptional Mod Modifications

Julia Michalik, Lake Orion HS Excellence in Environmental Portraits

Lauren Thom, Grosse Pointe South HS Excellence in Shooting on Deadline

Reagan Wilson, Fenton HS Fearless Shooter

Gabrielle Hall, Ovid-Elise HS Excellence in Sports Shooting

Elizabeth Crawford, Grand Blanc HS Broadcast Boot Camp

Ethan Davenport, East MS Broadcast Boot Camp

Eve Madill, Dewitt Broadcast Boot Camp

Deanna Przybylski, Oxford HS Broadcast Boot Camp

Emma Stiefel, Lakota East HS Broadcast Boot Camp

Lauren Wilson, Lakota East HS Broadcast Boot Camp

Ben Ackley, Mason HS For the Record, Excellence

Bailey Boerman, Rochester HS Entertainment Excellence

Katy Johnson, Lakota East HS Entertainment Excellence

Bo Brueck, H.H. Dow HS Feature Coverage

Kathleen Carroll, Grosse Pointe South HS Feature Coverage

Felicie Jones, Loy Norrix HS Feature Coverage

Caden Koenig, Dexter HS Feature Coverage

Elannie Laureano, Rauner College Prep Best Illustrations

Victoria Negron, Lakota East HS Best Design Sensibility

Madison Pasche, Midland HS Best Data Visualization

Foster Stubbs, Bloomfield Hills HS Most Compelling Infographic

Molly Gadola, Haslett HS Best Bio Box

Malaya Hayes, Dearborn HS Best Sports Page Design

Sydney Hughes, Mercy HS Best Spirit

Emily Collick, H.H. Dow HS Most Dedicated Business Student

Vita Simmons, Utica HS Excellence in Class Participation

Clayton Barker, Loy Norrix HS Excellence in Writing

Erykah Benson, Grosse Pointe South HS Most Improved Writer

Maria Broecker, Rochester HS Excellence in Opinion Writing

Madeleine Pugh, Grand Ledge HS Best Storify

Laura Albrant, Fenton HS Excellence in Photography

Cassy Landes, Fruitport HS Excellence in Photography

Sydney Rader, Lakota East HS Excellence in Photography

Melissa Tousley, Fenton HS Excellence in Photography

David Greenberg, Glenbrook North HS Excellence in Sports Coverage

Hussein Murray, Rochester HS Excellence in Sports Coverage

Michael Reimer, Lakota East HS Excellence in Sports Coverage

Samantha Strouse, Grand Ledge HS She’s Got Talent

Rachel Walker, Southfield HS Will You Please Come Join My Staff?

Katherine Vernier, Midland HS Edgiest Redesign

Lauren Pankin, Sydney Simoncini, Gabrielle de Coster & Jennifer Maiorana; Grosse Pointe South HS Edgy Planning

Sheallyn Mandle & Riley Wilson, Fenton HS To the Edge and Beyond

Aidan Menchaca, Jack Silberman & Jack Wroldsen; Bloomfield Hills HS Broadsheets Can Be Edgy Too

Aubry Fisher, Nicole Meszer & Kristen Smith; Eisenhower HS Taking Your Yearbook to the Edge

Katie Birecki, Mercy HS Blog Excellence

Nicole Chow & Hope Ma, Athens HS Taking Your Yearbook to the Edge

Chloe Niepoth & Lindsay Lampman, Bellaire HS Taking Your Yearbook to the Edge

Aliyah Austin, Grand Haven HS Excellence in Journalistic Writing

Maia Donahue, H.H. Dow HS Excellence in Journalistic Writing

Shannon McGlone, Grosse Pointe South HS Excellence in Journalistic Writing

Bailey DeLaere, Eisenhower HS Excellence in Website Customization

Ariana Taylor, Renaissance HS Excellence in Tweets & Rock ‘n’ Roll Journalism

Sean Vichinsky, Divine Child HS Excellence in Website Mastery

Jalon Nelson, Communication and Media Arts HS Best News Reporting

Helena Nitschky, H.H. Dow HS Best Photo Composition

Chelsea Smith, Southfield HS Dedication to Practice of Excellent Journalism

Claire Kinloch, Grand Ledge HS Outstanding Theme Package

Sarah Michalik, Lake Orion HS Outstanding Theme Package

Celia Walkowicz, Haslett HS Outstanding Theme Package

Rachel Benington, Haslett HS Caption Creator

Torrie Hutter, H.H. Dow HS Most Effective Lead

Piper Nugent, H.H. Dow HS Helping, Leading, Learning

Blaise Easton, Jackson HS Best Alternative Story Form

Linsley Snider, Eisenhower HS Best Sports Page

Megan Werner, H.H. Dow HS Best Redesign

This year, they reported the true story. The 2015 MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop at Michigan State University allowed over 300 students to practice the skills in their journalism toolkit. For more photos,

check out the MIPA Flickr page at www.flickr.com/mipamsu.

[TRUE]BASED ON A

STORY