Year-End Banquets Inspirational

Planning a publications banquet at the end of the year when life is crazy enough without another event is a real leap of faith. However, many advisers and their staffs continue to promote a final celebration of the year.

I have enjoyed attending several publications banquets in the last few weeks. It’s fun to see the different approaches and traditions the schools establish. Some provide a formal banquet, and others create a party theme. Some name one Journalist of the Year while others name an All-Star Publications Staff or Top Seniors.

Advisers and/or editors provide reviews of the year that speak volumes about the worth of the publications experience. Jeff Dick, editor in chief of the Muncie Central Munsonian, mentioned two specific events that had built the character of his staff. The first was very positive. The staff covered the Clinton and Obama rallies next to professional journalists and reported the events extensively with news, features and opinion pieces.

The other event was a computer catastrophe that forced the staff to recreate all of their established templates and documents. The two experiences provided a great comparison of the agony and ecstasy of high school publications and the overall feeling of accomplishment that all kinds of circumstances can provide.

At each banquet there were healthy amounts of teasing and praise, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the worth of an 8 ½ by 11 inch sheet of paper. It may only cost a few cents, but when that sheet becomes a certificate that honors excellence or dedication, it makes the transition to a priceless document. Parents nonchalantly whisk away tears, and most recipients modestly try to hide the joy they feel despite a pride that is difficult to conceal and wonderful to observe.

At each school the students thank the advisers who have made the publications experience possible, yet I doubt that they can fully imagine the effort involved.

Thanks to each of you for the commitment you make to scholastic journalism in general and the many students who benefit from your dedication.

Note: In the photo above, editors Elizabeth Munroe and Elizabeth Robins each thank Ryan Gunterman for his expertise and patience as adviser for all the Bloomington High School North publications. Robins presented him with a publication of “The Last Lecture.”

An End-of-Year Checklist

Most advisers have an “end of the year list” they depend on to check off things to be done before summer really begins. I hope your list includes these IHSPA items:

4Newspaper Harvey entries due June 6 (almost a week later than usual)

4Plans to attend the 2008 IHSPA “Convergention” at Franklin College, October 16-17.

4A Newspaper Harvey cover letter description and registration forms can be downloaded from the IHSPA Web site by clicking HERE or you can find the same forms by clicking the “Membership/Forms” button on the left side of the IHSPA Home Page.

Remember: Submissions should be limited to one entry per school per category.

For the first time, we are requesting that a CD of all the entries be submitted in addition to tear sheets so that winning entries can be posted and shared through other media with the best quality possible. This is a transition year for this request, so if you can’t send entries in both forms that is okay; but we appreciate the effort to make this improvement for sharing the best work of our students.

4We’re playing with the word “Convergention” for the IHSPA fall conference after reading the feedback from last year’s event. We think advisers and students will appreciate the tweaking to keep traditional favorites such as on-site contests and publication critiques as we add “coffee with a pro” and longer workshop opportunities in an effort to help staffs converge new ideas and technology.

Specific convention materials will be mailed at the end of the summer, but we hope you will reserve the Oct. 16-17 as an opportunity for your staff to elevate the enthusiasm of a new year.

Please report changes in contact information as we start posting the membership directory on the IHSPA Web site to help IHSPA “go green,” use financial resources most efficiently, and provide updated information.

I look forward to attending several schools’ publications banquets over the next couple of weeks. I hope you can all find time to enjoy some of the moments of celebration as the year concludes.

The Rock Star State

It’s fun to be part of a rock star state.

Indiana’s high school newspaper staffs have had the opportunity to cover a major national election story up close and personal for the first time since 1968, providing them with an incredible educational opportunity to participate in the democratic process.

In addition to news coverage, student journalists have written features and opinion articles with a variety of angles relevant to teenagers. They have taken their own photographs and created pages with striking graphics and designs. Bloomington High School North devoted an entire publication to the primary.

Thanks to both the Clinton and Obama campaign staffs, students have been welcome to attend the rallies and town hall meetings as journalists. Advisers say their students have enjoyed the process of obtaining press credentials, working beside professionals and even putting in the extra hours required to report breaking news.

While some staffs have endorsed a candidate on their editorial pages, others have simply urged students to study the issues and if they are old enough, vote. All who have participated will remember the experience long after their student newspaper days have passed.

Anyone interested in viewing some of their work is invited to view sample pages on the bottom of the IHSPA Web site. Click Here to go to IHSPA's Home Page.

Cripe Inducted Into Hall of Fame

Many of Dennis Cripe’s colleagues and family members gathered at DePauw University Saturday, April 12, to celebrate his induction into the Society of Professional Journalists’ Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

SPJ recognized Dennis for his 37 years as a journalism educator who has taught a variety of courses for students and teachers and for his many contributions to the Indiana High School Press Association for the past 16 years promoting high school journalism programs and addressing First Amendment issues throughout the state.

The photo above was published as part of a special centennial edition of Dennis's family newspaper, The Review-Republican, in 1954. Dennis, lower left, wrote sports for the paper while his brother, Doug, was the paper's photographer. Dennis's grandfather bought the paper and his parents kept the weekly paper in the Cripe family for more than 50 years.

To read Dennis’s speech and see local news stories about the event, click the following links:

•Dennis's acceptance speech
•Additional coverage on the IHSPA Home Page

Symposium Takes Statehouse By Storm

Despite an ice storm that cancelled travel for many, almost 200 people attended the 2008 First Amendment Symposium at the Indiana Statehouse March 4. In addition to popular features introduced for the 2007 program, this year’s symposium recognized the finalists for Student Journalist of the Year and winners of the David Adams First Amendment Project competition.

It was wonderful to see so many students recognized for their successes at the nucleus of the state’s government.

David Ong, North Central High School, was selected as the 2008 Indiana High School Journalist of the Year; and Elizabeth Munroe, Bloomington High School North, was named first runner-up. The other finalists were Sophia Bairaktaris, Lake Central High School: Sarah Owens, Richmond High School; Whitney Smith, Floyd Central High School; and Shannon Veerkamp, Greenwood High School.

All finalists had the opportunity to meet each other and Governor Mitch Daniels prior to the program.

Lake Central High School publications staffs were awarded first place in the David Adams First Amendment Project competition. In addition to a special issue of the student newspaper that focused on the First Amendment, the staffs organized a school-wide T-shirt campaign to increase awareness and importance of the First Amendment. Profit from the T-shirt project was donated to the Student Press Law Center.

Bloomington High School North placed second in the David Adams contest with a special First Amendment edition of the North Star and a community forum about the First Amendment that included journalism and civic students from the Bloomington area.
Floyd Central placed third with a 16-page First Amendment publication; and Muncie Central received Honorable Mention for a continuing newspaper feature about the First Amendment headlined “Gimme 5.”

The amount of time and creativity staffs devoted to the First Amendment projects gave the new competition an impressive debut that honored David Adams’s support for student expression.

Symposium Is At YOUR House

The Indiana High School Press Association is celebrating the First Amendment again at your house—the Indiana Statehouse.

When the First Amendment Symposium debuted last year, the planners knew it had the potential to be a special event; but it was difficult to determine whether many people would attend something new and untested. It wasn’t hard to imagine 300 empty chairs and boxes of leftover programs and refreshments.

However, at 4:00 p.m. on March 6, 2007, approximately 300 high school students occupied most of the 300 chairs. Silence reflected the respect they felt in a special place for a special event as they watched Governor Mitch Daniels walk through the rotunda toward the North Atrium to share his thoughts with them about the importance of the First Amendment.

Leading with the governor set the bar high for the rest of the 2 ½ hour program, but everyone rose to the occasion to present awards, speeches, and tributes, that informed, entertained and inspired. At the end of the program, several people of varying ages described the experience with the same word—“Awesome.”

Consequently, there will be the First Amendment Symposium: the sequel. This year’s program has evolved with the same enthusiasm as last year’s event but with more confidence that people will attend. Popular segments including student speeches, essay contest presentations, and a panel of First Amendment/Scholastic Journalism professionals will return to the line-up; and two new elements will be added: First Amendment Project Awards and the announcement of Indiana’s Student Journalist of the Year.

This year’s First Amendment Symposium is March 4 from 4-7 p.m.; and once again it’s at your house, the Statehouse, an Indiana symbol of your responsibility to understand and protect your First Amendment.

Principal, Editors Seek Common Ground

A controversy about an article in the Franklin High School student newspaper took on a life of its own last week and became a major news story. Unlike similar situations where players have drawn a line in the sand, this time the student editors and the principal took a breath and met to discuss their differences and seek solutions.

Both the principal and the editors brought mutual respect and a commitment to listen and find common ground to the table. The result is a team effort to establish a process for covering controversial topics that includes a variety of credible sources and feedback without compromising the students’ freedom of expression.

The job isn’t finished, but the willingness to agree to disagree about some issues and still work together for a positive result is established.

The best educational moments are multifaceted. This was one of those moments. Everyone involved had the opportunity to explore the practical application of journalistic issues…and conflict resolution. The Johnson County Daily Journal has done a good job of covering this issue if you'd like to check it out.