quill & scroll spring 2014

1quill & scroll • spring 2014

Quill & Scroll

resumes and you

9 t ips from top teachers

6 steps to re imag ine med ia

p interest for staffs

publ ic records searches

S p r i n g 2 0 1 4

2 quill & scroll • spring 2014

University of Iowa Summer Journalism Workshopsiowajournalism.com

University of Iowa Summer Journalism Workshops

July 27-Aug. 1, 2014 • Iowa City, Iowa • @iowajournalism • Instagram: iowajournalism

For 62 years, the world’s most prestigious writing university has served the country’s best high school journalists. In 2014, we invite you to explore your

creativity. Join us for one of 13 dynamic workshops:

iowajournalism.com

YearbookiPhoneographyEditors-in-ChiefPhotojournalism

Broadcast JournalismAdvanced News WritersSocial Media Revolution

Advanced Graphic DesignSports Journalism on Steroids

Complete 5-Day Journalism WorkoutDigital Journalism and Video Storytelling

Culture Writing: Food, Fashion & EntertainmentOpinion Writing: Editorials, Reviews & Columns


in this issue4. Making Your Case - Candace Perkins Bowen

5. Principles Help Students Fail and Succeed - Mark Newton

6. Book Reviews - Barbara Bealor Hines

10. Reimagine Your Publication – Melissa Wantz

13. Top 9 Tips from 9 Top Teachers

16. Cruise Records – Frank D. LoMonte

18. Pinning Publication Success – Julie E. Dodd and Judy L. Robinson

Editor and Business Manager Vanessa Shelton

Executive Director, Quill and Scroll Society

Assistant Editor L.C. Graf

Junior, University of Iowa

Contributing Editors Julie E. Dodd

Professor, College of Journalism and Mass Communication

The University of Florida, Gainesville Bruce E. Konkle

Professor, College of Journalism University of South Carolina, Columbia

Book Editor Barbara Bealor Hines

Professor, Mass Communication and Media Studies, Howard University,

Washington, D.C.

ABOUT THE COVER: This photograph by Kylene Hammer for The Indian yearbook at Shawnee Mission North HS, Over-land, Kan., placed as a National Winner in the 2013 Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society Yearbook Excellence Contest, Feature Photo Division, Class A. Special effects were applied with Photoshop to highlight the center of focus for the cover. See the complete list of winners on the Quill and Scroll website quillandscroll.org, where a sampling of winning entries in a CD PowerPoint presentation can be ordered. Jostens co-sponsored the contest.

Quill & ScrollVolume 88 • Issue 2

Magazine of Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists

University of Iowa Summer Journalism Workshopsiowajournalism.com

University of Iowa Summer Journalism Workshops

July 27-Aug. 1, 2014 • Iowa City, Iowa • @iowajournalism • Instagram: iowajournalism

For 62 years, the world’s most prestigious writing university has served the country’s best high school journalists. In 2014, we invite you to explore your

creativity. Join us for one of 13 dynamic workshops:

iowajournalism.com

YearbookiPhoneographyEditors-in-ChiefPhotojournalism

Broadcast JournalismAdvanced News WritersSocial Media Revolution

Advanced Graphic DesignSports Journalism on Steroids

Complete 5-Day Journalism WorkoutDigital Journalism and Video Storytelling

Culture Writing: Food, Fashion & EntertainmentOpinion Writing: Editorials, Reviews & Columns

Keep in touch: quillandscroll.org (subscribe for updates) QuillandScrollSociety @QuillandScroll


Award application season is in full swing, and even if you’ve submitted yours by the time you read this, there will be others in your future. Whether they’re for scholarships or awards, ac-ceptance in honor or other programs, you’ll have plenty more opportunities to tell a selection committee just why you’re the one.

I read a stack of such applications every year while helping to name win-ners for several college scholarships. I also frequently write recommenda-tions for my own students at Kent State University, so let me share some tips from the other side.

1. Start with a good resume. Think about how to sum up your abilities and accomplishments to match the schol-arship or award you’re seeking. Make sure your resume is organized and at-tractive and captures YOU. (See sidebar for more details.)

2. Seek good recommendation let-ters. It should seem obvious to ask for these only from people who value your skills and abilities and know you pretty well. Yet, sometimes I wonder… Some-thing that sounds like a form letter and has few specifics about you makes the selection committee think your letter-writer ISN’T very impressed with you. Also, don’t ask for a letter and need it the next day. Allow enough time – preferably two weeks at least – and be sure your writer knows your deadline and any specific ways the letter should be addressed. Does it need to be in an envelope, sealed and signed across the flap? Should it be submitted online? Or will you be returning to pick it up and send it with your whole package?

3. Help those letter-writers. Even if it’s your newspaper adviser who prob-ably knows you better than your own parents do, give her a little help. Make sure she has your resume and remind her of any specific awards you have

won or projects you’ve completed suc-cessfully. Anecdotes will help her letter really convey you, and sometimes you might think of things she would be happy to use but might forget. Dates are good — when did you join the staff? Which summer did you go to journalism camp? How long were you business manager? Those details help, too.

4. Choose materials that show what you can do. If the application calls for them, choose samples of your work wisely. Some applications have direc-tions about how to mount and submit clips and how many to include. If yours is not specific, look for quality, not quantity — no more than five — and include a paragraph explaining why you chose each. Does it show how you were able to go outside your comfort zone and interview expert sources? Does it demonstrate a design challenge you met? Did you lead a team that put together an impressive package?

5. Plan ahead for a digital presenta-tion. An increasing number of applica-tions allow – sometimes even expect – you to have a website to display your work. Start thinking about that now, and set up a simple, attractive Word-Press site or similar. This is particularly useful if you’re a visual journalist or have any interactive graphics.

6. Include a cover letter if required. Some do, some don’t, but if yours does, avoid the corny, “I’m just what you’re looking for” approach. Tailor the letter to the award and explain how you meet and exceed their criteria – without in-flating your worth. Thank them for the opportunity to apply. Then double-check all names and addresses. Proof-read CAREFULLY for spelling, punc-tuation, grammar and typos. Let the letter (and application and resume) sit for a day, and then go back and check again.

A solid, professional approach, nicely organized with attention to de-tail should help you win those scholar-ships and awards — and definitely will help you realize just how much you have accomplished along the way.

MAKING YOUR CASE

By CANDACE PERKINS BOWENExecutive DirectorCenter for Scholastic Journalism

Resumes, recommendations and records demonstrate accomplishments

Put yourself on PaPer:

Writing a good resume

• Nameandcontactinformationpromi-nent Indicatewhetheraphonenumberisacellphone Checkyouransweringmessage

• Includeportfoliositeifyouhaveone• Startwiththebestexperiencerelatedto

thisaward• Reversechronologicalorder• Useconsistentstyleinsentencestruc-

tureandpunctuation• Tellwhatyoudidoraccomplishedfor

eachpositionyouheld• IncludeGPAonlyif3.5andabove• Describeproficienciesyouhave,not

classesyoutook• Followeducationw/awards&activities• Includescholarships,internorstudent

mediaawards,study-abroadexperi-ences,

• Addextra-curricularactivities Clubsandsports Volunteerwork,studentprograms

• Indicatereferences“Availableuponrequest”orlistonaseparatesheet

• Includepeoplewhocanattesttoyourprofessionalwork

• Providename,title,contactinfo,esp.email

• Makesureyouhaveadiverselistofreferences

• Norelatives,friendsorrecentgrads• Keepittoonepage,ifpossible• Usevisualpointsofentry,variedfont

size,butnotphotosorgraphics• Proofreadeveryword,everylinefor

grammar,spelling,syntax,style&punc-tuation

Tips from Jan Leach, associate professor, Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication and frequent resume workshop leader


Before classes began this school year, I wrote down my principles as a teacher/ad-viser. Sharing these with my students is how I started the school year in each one of my classes. More than anything, doing all this helped me define my style and personal ap-proach to teaching and advising. But, most importantly, sharing them with my students helped them better understand me as their teacher and adviser, and as a person.

THE PRINCIPLES:• Be good at everything. Be great at

one thing.• Seek perfection; catch excellence.• Communicate? Communicate.

Communicate!• Collaborate.• Critically think.• Create with creativity.• Be present. Make their day. Play.

Choose your attitude.• Little things matter. Take care of the

little things first.• Know your “why.”• Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose.• Be epic. Innovate.• Try. Fail. Repeat. Success.• Be organized.• Give yourself the time to be success-

ful. Meet your deadlines.• Make and maintain positive rela-

tionships with your sources.• Seek professional help. Develop your

own professional development.• Use your (our) voice.• Take advantage of the opportunities.

To better help my students and me under-

stand each other, our philosophies and work ethics, I had each of my students rank them 1-18. I am proud to say that at least one of my students selected one off the list as his/her top choice. I think that says something (though, to be honest, I’m not sure exactly what).

When I shared with my colleagues in journalism across the country and with my department members at school that I had done this, most frequently the response was, “Wow! What a great idea! I should do that.” My response was, “Yes, you should. It was an amazing — cathartic, even — experience.” To be honest, I also was thinking, “Why has this taken you — and, to be honest, me — so long to (1) realize, and (2) do?”

Our students deserve to know our “whys.” They need to know and understand why we choose to do what we do every day for them and with them. My “whys” as a journalism teacher/media adviser are rooted in how much I love the uniqueness of the routine. My attraction: The world is the same, but different every single day. Journalism is the same, but different every single day. Educa-tion, is the same, but different every single day. Students are the same, but different every single day. I like that I know the rules, but that in reality there are none.

Once my students better understood my “whys,” they had a better handle on my ap-proaches as a teacher, journalism teacher/media adviser and person. In the end, my go-to approach is to challenge them with high expectations.

When my students meet — and often exceed — these high expectations, their suc-cesses are also some of my greatest rewards. In short, their contributions and accomplish-ments — whether in my class, at home, in another class, in another activity, at work, in college, in relationships, in their places of employment — are, in some small way, mine, too. I have no doubt that what they have con-

tributed and accomplished in creating their student media will empower them later in life in whatever they choose.

Sometimes, like any teacher worth his or her salt, I wish I contributed more, accom-plished more. But then I realize it’s not my contributions or accomplishments that mean one thing. In fact, sometimes my greatest contribution is getting out of a student’s way.

As teachers, we often tell our students that they need to get off the ledge and try, or some version of that. Sometimes they will jump. Sometimes we will push them. They will fall. We are not their parachute. We are their tram-poline. After they hit bottom, we will be there to help them bounce higher and higher.

Sometimes our greatest accomplishments are not doing anything when a student fails. I believe one of my most significant challenges as a teacher/adviser is to help my students fail — and, consequently, how to deal with that. Failure means action and action means something (anything!) is happening. We are cheerleaders who empower students to act to get better with every task, every challenge, every day.

In the end, I believe empowering students is one of our greatest contributions and ac-complishments. Empowering students to create student media is a no-brainer. It is student media. It is their media. Perhaps my greatest contribution or accomplishment is to not only recognize their voices, but to em-power them with the skills and wherewithal to not only shout often and loudly, but elo-quently and responsibly, and without fear.

By sharing my “whys” and exploring theirs, I had hoped to find more ways to empower my students to achieve and ex-ceed not just my expectations, but theirs as well. In the end, I believe it worked. The ex-ercise wasn’t perfect — in fact, in some ways it failed. And, that is why I will do it again next year.

PRINCIPLES HELP STUDENTS FAIL … AND SUCCEEDBy MARK NEWTON, MJEPresident, Journalism Education Association

Our students deserve to know our ‘whys’


BOOK REVIEWS

As platforms change, journalists are faced with keeping up with the new technology, while staying true to the principles of truth and accuracy in all they do. Providing content using the new media forms requires thought and precision. Books reviewed in this issue look at some of the developments and challenges with the new platforms.

While Facebook continues to be a popular social network, Wayne Breitbarth argues that LinkedIn has the capacity to be the most effec-tive tool to network, to build a brand and ex-pand professional and personal horizons.

Breitbarth has morphed from a business owner (M&M Office Interiors in Milwaukee, Wis.) to a LinkedIn advocate for individuals and companies looking to develop a compre-hensive strategy for using LinkedIn to increase sales, raise brand awareness, recruit employees and reduce recruiting fees, while discovering new markets for products and services.

For those planning on summer and full-time jobs, The Power Formula provides the steps for using LinkedIn to make the connec-tions that help ensure success. For those unsure of how LinkedIn works, this book provides help, beginning with the basic profile and breaking it down by sections. It explains key-words, researching companies, joining groups to finessing individual settings. Bonus online resources include information on reaching the best audience and determining who should be in your network.

For a journalist, it offers another skill to add to one’s professional toolbox.

BREITBACH, WAYNE. THE POWER FORMULA FOR LINKEDIN SUCCESS (2ND ED.). GREENLEAF BOOK GROUP PRESS. 2013. $1695

What really is Twitter and who cre-ated it? New York Times columnist and technology reporter Nick Bilton has writ-ten the ultimate book that explains it for the reader. And as you delve deep into the book, you will be caught up with the struggle between the four founders: Engi-neers who became rock stars in the tech-nology war.

Twitter in 2013 was an $11.5 billion business, but had a cast of characters that reads like a drama. And Bilton, in his best investigative reporting, used documents, internal emails and a wide range of sourc-es to document the evolution of this tech powerhouse, built on 140 characters.

The reader meets Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey, Christopher Stone and Noah Glass and follows their evolution as the power behind the “hatching” of Twitter.

What started with colleagues working for a podcast startup, Odeo, in 2005 grew at lightening (and painful) speed.

In its development, the reader learns about conference calls (Chirps) and visits by government officials wanting to learn about how to use Twitter to not lose elec-tions. There are Web chats and town hall meetings and VIPS (like Oprah and Dmi-try Medvedev, the president of Russia) ex-periencing their first “tweet.” And Barack Obama would have a Twitter Town Hall from the East Room of the White House, streaming to millions of Americans on the Web and on Twitter.

For all its achievements, the Twitter story has heartbreak and betrayal. Hatch-ing Twitter captures it all, and provides a better understanding about the inner workings of a technology startup.

BILTON, NICK. HATCHING TWITTER: A TRUE STORY OF MONEY, POWER, FRIENDSHIP, AND BETRAYAL. PORTFOLIO/PENGUIN. 2013.$2895

By BARBARA BEALOR HINES Howard University, Professor, Department of Journalism


$1695

LARSON, ELSIE AND CHAPMAN, EMMA. A BEAUTIFUL MESS PHOTO IDEA BOOK: 95 INSPIRING IDEAS FOR PHO-TOGRAPHING YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR WORLD, AND YOUR-SELF. POTTER STYLE. 2013.

$1799

If you aren’t a “Do-It-Yourselfer” or follower of popular culture, you may not be familiar with Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman, popular bloggers of all things fashion. The sisters have pub-lished a book filled with ideas and chal-lenges to help strengthen one’s photos.

Available in print and on Kindle, this is an introductory book for some-one with basic camera knowledge. From “Capture Your Favorite People,” to “Use Beautiful Lighting,” to “Chal-

lenge Yourself,” the sisters provide ways to select the right angle, lighting, and backdrop to create photos that will be-come family mementos and stand out online.

This is definitely a book that focuses on style, from its glossy cover to the use of color and size. If you’re looking for the best way to improve your news photos, this is not the book to read. But for sheer enjoyment, it’s colorful, cute, and an easy read.

$1799VAYNERCHUK, GARY. JAB, JAB, JAB, RIGHT HOOK: HOW TO TELL YOUR STORY IN A NOISY SOCIAL WORLD. HARPER BUSINESS. 2013.

While this book is intended for those seeking customers, it provides a knock-out punch for those looking to use social media for any kind of mar-keting. Today’s journalists working on non-traditional platforms have had to learn how best to market their stories or packages for maximum effect. This book offers a refreshing look at how to build relationships (translating re-lationships to mean readers or view-ers).

Vaynerchuk is a New York Times best selling author and owner of a con-sulting agency that works with Fortune 500 companies to develop digital and social media strategies and content. He has written a series of books that

helps businesses understand the ever-changing media landscape. This one uses terminologies from the world of boxing to help the reader understand how to break through the many media platforms and mobile devices people use today to receive content.

Focusing on storytelling, the au-thor shows how a story must change depending on the platform on which it is posted. He provides examples for the more popular platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linke-dIn, Snapchat, Google, Tumbler and others. He provides a valuable lesson for the person charged with develop-ing the content – and the editor who makes the assignments.

ONLINE: Yearbook Excellence Award Winners are posted, and entries for the

2014 News Media Evaluation accepted until June 15, visit www.QuillandScroll.org

Books continued on page 8


With summer approaching, what plans do you have for studying for the SAT or ACT exams? Preparing applications for college? Here’s how one family approached the standardized test challenge:

Think you are up for earning a perfect score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)? Or would you settle for a higher score? Deb-bie Stier, mother of high school student Ethan, decided she was going to help mo-tivate her son by studying with him for the exam. Her studying became an obsession: She took the SAT seven times in search of the perfect score.

The resulting book, The Perfect Score Project, details her journey, with every-thing from test prep books to SAT gram-mar and math tips. She shares stories about her homemade flash cards and her colorful kitchen wall sheet of SAT tips. Her goal: To find the most effective way to study for the exam.

This is not the ordinary “How to Prepare for the SAT” book. This is written in a per-sonal, folksy style – some might say over-bearing. Throughout the book you learn

more about the author (and her family) than you probably need to know.

But Stier comes up with some im-portant recommendations for someone taking the exam: take full, timed practice exams using College Board material, prac-tice following the actual logistics (timing) for the exam, review mistakes with others and categorize those questions you missed or where you guessed the answers.

With chapters titled “The Perfect Do-Over,” “Back to the Future,” “The Fine Art of Bubbling,” “The Truth About Test Fatigue,” and “Supersize Me – The Skinny on Scores,” this is a book that parents and students can enjoy.

A related statistic: 1,647,123 members of the class of 2011 took the SAT. The per-fect score was 2,400. Despite her obses-sion, the book’s author didn’t reach that score.

$25 STIER, DEBBIE. THE PERFECT SCORE PROJECT: UNCOVERING THE SECRETS OF THE SAT. HARMONY. 2014.

And here’s a book that’s not to be forgotten, perfect for a personal or classroom library:

ZINSSER, WILLIAM. ON WRITING WELL, 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: THE CLASSIC GUIDE TO WRITING NONFICTION. HARPER PERENNIAL. 2006

$1599

This book is an evergreen title that needs to be in every classroom. Writ-ten by a life-long writer, editor and teacher, William Zinsser ‘s work should be shared by all. A prolific writer, Zins-ser is the quintessential cross-platform writer, with newspaper and magazine articles and books on topics ranging from baseball to music to American travel.

The 30th Anniversary Edition has added chapters on sports, writing about the arts, humor, and writing memoirs

and family history. The author said he “revised the book six times to keep pace with new social trends (memoir, busi-ness, science and sports), new literary trends (more women writing nonfic-tion), new demographic patterns (more writers from other cultures), new tech-nology (computers), new words and us-ages.”

Written in a clear and readable style, it’s a perfect reference for all. For many journalism and writing courses, it’s a staple.

www.niu.edu/comm

CommunicationDepar tment of

The foundation for your future.

Applications for the 2013-2014 year are available online at:

www.niu.edu/apply

Undergraduate emphases• Journalism•RhetoricandPublicCommunication

•OrganizationalandCorporateCommunication

•MediaStudies

Graduate emphases• Journalism•RhetoricalStudies• Interpersonal,Organizational,andPersuasiveCommunication

•MediaStudies

SummerJournalism Camps

Nationallyrecognizedstudentnewspaper,The Northern Star

NTC News TonightatourNorthernTelevisionCenter

InternshipsintheChicagomediamarket

StudentFilm and VideoAssociation


www.niu.edu/comm

CommunicationDepar tment of

The foundation for your future.

Applications for the 2013-2014 year are available online at:

www.niu.edu/apply

Undergraduate emphases• Journalism•RhetoricandPublicCommunication

•OrganizationalandCorporateCommunication

•MediaStudies

Graduate emphases• Journalism•RhetoricalStudies• Interpersonal,Organizational,andPersuasiveCommunication

•MediaStudies

SummerJournalism Camps

Nationallyrecognizedstudentnewspaper,The Northern Star

NTC News TonightatourNorthernTelevisionCenter

InternshipsintheChicagomediamarket

StudentFilm and VideoAssociation


I’d missed the meeting. Now, passing by one of my first-year journalism students in the hall during lunch, I could tell in an in-stant it hadn’t gone well.

“Hi, Renee,” I said.“Oh, hi, Mrs. Wantz.” She forced a smile.“How’d your interview go?”“Okay,” she paused and looked down at

the ground. “I’m disappointed, but it will be okay.”

“Did Camilla talk to you about being co-sports editor next year?” I asked, knowing the answer was yes.

“Yeah, she did. I’m really honored, but I turned it down,” she said. “I told her that if I can’t be news editor, I’ll just write for A&E next year. It’s what I wanted to do when I joined journalism anyhow, but I got put in news.”

I listened, nodding as she explained her reasoning: She had never played sports, didn’t particularly like watching sports and wouldn’t even know where to begin.

“I understand,” I said. “I appreciate your honesty, and I think you should do what you want, but would you at least like to hear why I thought you would be so great as a sports editor?”

She paused. “Um, sure.” This was my opportunity to save a tal-

ented student from her own short-sight-edness and disappointment. It was my chance to prevent our publication from los-ing a talented future editor. And so I took a deep breath and for the next two minutes standing in the busy hall, as girls and boys shrieked and jostled over their lunches and flirtations, I outlined a future that Renee, be-ing only 16, couldn’t see for herself.

It went something like this:*“As you know, one of the biggest things

to happen in the history of our school is hap-pening next year. We are adding 20 sports teams. We are going from zero to 100 miles per hour. Twenty new coaches, hundreds of new athletes. This is the biggest thing to ever happen to the Dragon Press, too. We have to create a brand new section and figure out how to cover everything. This coverage will probably result in more new readers for our site than anything else we ever do. People

will check sports scores and stories on the athletes and hopefully spend a few minutes clicking around to read the other articles. That means the sports section will be the most important driver of new readers to our site and will be getting the most atten-tion and will need the best people to man-age it. Someone like yourself, who is smart, organized and responsible. Someone who can create new procedures and lead people even when there is no path. Sports will need someone who works well with others, be-cause the job is too big for one person, and you would have a great co-editor in Brianna. You two would make a powerful team, back-ing each other up, collaborating together.

“You would not be going to every game or covering everything because you would be picking your own staff to manage and help. And, look, it’s not every year that an opportunity like this comes around, to start something new.

“Imagine for a second that you are a senior and you are writing your essays for college or you are asking for a letter of rec-ommendation from me. Which sounds better: you spent a year writing movie and restaurant reviews for A&E or you helped create and lead a brand new section during the historic first year of the biggest change to ever happen to your high school? Almost anyone can write for A&E at their school paper. Very few people in the nation can say they helped create an entirely new section in their newspaper and helped cover history at their school. It’s an opportunity most teen-agers don’t have.

“I don’t want you to make a decision right now. I don’t want you to feel pushed into anything, and I will respect whatever you decide. Think about it overnight and let me know in the morning if you change your mind. Whatever you think is best for you, I will support 100 percent.”

I smiled at her and we parted. I was kick-ing myself a little, thinking that if only I’d made it to the earlier interview as planned, my 75 percent chance of persuading her to do a job she had no idea she actually wanted would have been 100 percent.

The next morning, as I greeted the jour-nalism students at the door, Renee paused at the threshold.

“I thought about it, and I decided I do want to be co-sports editor,” she said.

I held up my hand for a high-five.

“Good decision,” I said.

This “vision thing” is hard. It’s particu-larly difficult for teenagers because they lack experiences that lead to self-awareness and because they don’t yet have a fully opera-tional prefrontal cortex, the section of the brain that helps them plan ahead and imag-ine various outcomes. That part of the brain doesn’t fully mature, scientists now say, until the mid- to late-20s.

As publication advisers, we are in a priv-ileged position. We have working prefrontal cortexes and we have loads more experi-ence. Because we often coach these students for several years in a row, we can take the longer view with them. Part of our job then is to create a “story” that will convince them to step outside of their comfort zones so they can see, believe and accept the risk that change and growth usually entail.

But what about our own vision? Who is coaching us to take risks or leading us to opportunities that will help us grow? Probably nobody is painting a picture for you of your future success. Most of us are alone in our positions as media advisers. We occasionally spend time with other advisers at conferences, competitions or on listservs or social media, but mostly we are solitary captains at our school sites, charting our own courses and just hoping to navigate around or through the year’s storms.

Media take on the personalities of their advisers, however, for better or worse, so it’s a good idea to step back from the day to day and reflect on our attitudes, habits and the overall health of the organization we are leading.

The beginning of summer vacation is a great time to coach ourselves and do im-portant vision work, and so we might start by asking ourselves:

• What’s missing?• What should be cut to make room

for something new?• What growth do I want myself or

my staff to experience by next year at this time? How will I recognize it? What about two or three years from now?

These are big-picture questions that might lead to more anxiety and stress if we aren’t a bit rested, which is why it’s

REIMAGINE YOUR PUBLICATIONBy MELISSA WANTZ

President, CSPAA

Six steps to take this summer to give you a new vision


good to do vision work during the rush of the first weeks of summer, when our minds are unraveling from last year’s trials and tribulations and before mid-summer amnesia completely seeps in. Trying to do vision work just before starting the next school year doesn’t work well because our thoughts naturally turn to short-term needs: procedures, lesson plans, adminis-trative tasks, and it often becomes easier to follow last year’s path. Dreams need time to wander.

Vision work isn’t always intuitive. It might be relatively easy to answer the questions above but difficult to imag-ine a future where the answers become reality. Just like some of us are logistics champions, able to quickly create systems, spreadsheets and operations that run like clockwork, others can readily picture and inspire others to a different future.

When we desire change for our media or ourselves, we might dream it up first like this:

1. Think of a time in our lives when we experienced personal growth and felt the intrinsic reward that accompanied our success.

2. Picture, like a scene from a movie, a specific future scenario with our media kids that we want to experience. The scene would be detailed but very brief. We don’t worry about “how” this will happen, just

what it will be like when it does happen. 3. Identify a specific positive emotion

we have experienced and “pin” that feel-ing to the scene we imagined above.

4. Rewind the scene and imagine it again, feeling the emotion it carries.

5. Keep that “ideal” picture and that “ideal” feeling in our mind and allow our-selves to long for it.

6. Return to this scene throughout the summer whenever our mind begins natu-rally to look ahead to the new year. It be-comes a beacon we return to throughout the years until it comes true.

Five years ago I was just starting out and had little idea how to create a success-ful student publication from scratch. Of course, I immersed myself in advice from experienced advisers and researched what successful, established staffs do and look like. Knowledge is power. I also admit that because I’m competitive and insecure, I dreamed of plaques on our classroom wall and trophies on the counter, and they eventually came. But I also created the fol-lowing scene in my head:

I’m sitting at a table with some of the school’s most passionate, intelligent, opin-ionated students as they thoughtfully de-bate the merits of an editorial decision as if their futures depend on it - on their own time, either at lunch or after school. Time given willingly, eagerly. Me, watching like

a proud coach, chiming in once in a while with advice based on experience and per-spective they lack, letting them find their way toward truth, justice and a sense of their own power. Me, feeling a quiet rush of joy about having created the space for this to occur where none previously existed.

That exact scene happened this year, and it was a rush - worth every second of frustration, anxiety that came with my many mistakes over five years of advising.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work,” said French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery. “Rather, teach them to long for the endless immen-sity of the sea.”

In addition to all the other things we do as advisers, leading a media staff can be about cultivating a “longing” for something greater and more important than what our students can imagine for themselves. Their own immense sea. And ours, too.

* In addition to my normal enthusiasm for journalism advising, I may have been highly caffeinated that February day.

Names of students have been changed.

VERODISCBoston University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.

Summer Investigative Journalism WorkshopSet yourself apart by learning investigative reporting at Boston University this summer. Learn from award-winning journalists and BU staff. Don’t wait, apply today!

Visit http://necir-bu.org/summer

New England Center for Investigative Reporting


About the Program The Dow Jones News Fund will select one National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year, four Distinguished Advisers and several Special Recognition Advisers based on their work during the 2013-2014 school year.

The winning teacher receives a plaque, a pin and addresses journalism educators and media professionals. A graduating senior will win a $1,000 scholarship.

Added benefits:3a newsroom laptop computer 3a column in Adviser Update3a district substitute teacher per diem3a year of free Poynter webinars

3a digital subscription to The Wall Street Journal.

Distinguished Advisers win: 3$500 scholarships for seniors3a free Poynter Institute webinar 3a digital subscription to The Wall

Street Journal.Special Recognition Advisers receive

plaques, a digital subscription to The Wall Street Journal and a free Poynter Institute webinar.

How to ApplyWe seek those with at least three

years’ experience who have been honored as lifetime achievement, state or regional winners by local, state and regional groups. Professional media and press associations are invited to forward candidates from their competitions. The nominee must complete the application in five typed pages.

And submit:3Up to three letters of support 3An updated résumé3A high-quality color head shot of at

least 180 dpi on photographic paper3Six sets of two issues of

newspapers, newsmagazines or printouts of Internet editions published during the 2013-2014 school year

Application packages must be postmarked by July 9, 2014, to: Dow Jones News Fund, Inc. P.O. Box 300, Princeton, NJ 08543 By courier: 4300 Route 1 North, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852 Phone: 609-452-2820

[email protected] form at Programs at

https://www.newsfund.org

Selection Process An advisory panel will review the applications. It will weigh each teacher’s service in local, state or national organizations, personal awards, the quality of their students, their philosophy and approach to student press rights and ethics. Applicants are also asked to identify an issue they would like to address as Teacher of the Year.

The teacher with the highest score is selected Teacher of the Year, the four teachers with the next highest scores are named Distinguished Advisers. Special Recognition Advisers are chosen for their good showing against the criteria listed above.

Winning teachers will be guests of the Fund at the Advisers’ Luncheon during the National High School Journalism Convention in Washington, Nov. 8, 2014.

D O W J O N E S N E W S F U N D , I N C .

Thanks to the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, The Wall Street Journal.

and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies

Visit hilite.org/streisel for Mr. Streisel’s presentation at the National High School Journalism

Convention in Boston.

Photo by Bradley Wilson

Be a Journalism Rock Star

2014 National High School

Journalism Teacher Awards Program

2013 DJNF Teacher of the Year Jim Streisel

of Carmel (Ind.) High School speaking at the

National High School Journalism Convention in Boston.

Photo by Bradley Wilson


TOP 9 TIPS FROM 9 TOP TEACHERSWhen it comes to running a successful journalism classroom, these nationally acclaimed teach-ers know what they are doing. Each of them has a piece of advice, or a well-honed way of life, to share. Here are their secrets to success.

“I start every year off reminding my yearbook students that they are the most important student in the school… they are the memory keepers.”

In fact, Green makes it her students’ mission to keep everyone’s memories.

“Everyone has a story, and every story matters, and it’s their jobs to find those stories and tell them.”

KIM GREEN, COLUMBUS NORTH HIGH SCHOOL, COLUMBUS, IND. JEA 2011 YEARBOOK ADVISER OF THE YEAR

1

“It all starts with a positive regard for each student and thinking that each stu-dent is capable of something amazing.”

Nichols tries to put all her students in the driver seat.

“It absolutely has to be student focused and student led… that’s where the learn-ing comes in — when they are empow-ered.”

SARAH NICHOLS, WHITNEY HIGH SCHOOL, ROCKLIN, CALIF. JEA 2010 YEARBOOK ADVISER OF THE YEAR

3

“Expose them to great design, great stories, and empower them to create the product themselves.”

Todd emphasized the importance of letting the students do the work.

“I think it’s all about empowering and trusting the kids.”

CINDY TODD, WESTLAKE HIGH SCHOOL, AUSTIN, TEXAS. JEA 2012 YEARBOOK ADVISER OF THE YEAR

2

YEARBOOK

By BRIANNA JETTQuill & Scroll Staff

Tips continued on page 14


“You have to set high expectations… you want excellence,” Dunaway said.

And when shooting for excellence, sometimes that means telling the students to go back and re-work something.

“You have to be willing to say no. There’s a difference between censorship and no.”

MICHELLE DUNAWAY, FRANCIS HOWELL HIGH SCHOOL, ST. CHARLES, MO. 2012 JEA DISTINGUISHED YEARBOOK ADVISER

“Spend more time on inspiration than on the minutia of details,” Rogers said.

Success also depends on the newspa-per reaching outside of the classroom, he added.

“Make it be something that is part of the culture of the school.”

JONATHAN ROGERS, CITY HIGH SCHOOL, IOWA CITY, IOWA. DOW JONES NEWS FUND 2013 DISTINGUISHED ADVISER

5

4

NEWSPAPER

“I LIKE THEM BECAUSE THEY GET STUDENTS IN A NEWSPAPER CLASS, AT LEAST FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, TO THINK ONLY ABOUT JOURNALISM,”

Jim Streisel, 2013 Dow Jones News Fund National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year

“I THINK THEY’RE GREAT, AND THE YEARS I HAVE KIDS DO THEM YOU CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCE,”

Matthew Schott, DJNF 2013 Distinguished Adviser

“SUMMER WORKSHOPS WILL REALLY PREPARE

STUDENTS TO GO INTO THE NEXT YEAR,” Jonathan Rogers, DJNF 2013

Distinguished Adviser

“SUMMER WORKSHOPS ARE A GREAT WAY TO GET A HEAD-START ON THE NEW YEAR,”

2012 JEA Yearbook Adviser of the Year Cindy Todd

“I THINK SUMMER WORKSHOPS ARE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYONE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM,”

Sarah Nichols, 2010 JEA Yearbook Adviser of the Year

“THE MINUTE WE STARTED SENDING EDITORI-AL TEAMS TO SUMMER WORKSHOPS WAS THE TIME OUR KIDS STARTED PRODUCING THEIR BEST STUFF,”

Kim Green, 2011 JEA Yearbook Adviser of the Year

Summer workshops play a key role in student journalism development, and are recommended by these esteemed media advisers.

SUMMER JOURNALISM WORKSHOPS


“The biggest thing for me is giving students a sense of ownership and responsibility for what they’re doing.”

Once students feel the publication is their re-sponsibility, Streisel said they become advocates for it.

“If you can foster that in a classroom, that’s the key.”

JIM STREISEL, CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL, CARMEL, IND. DOW JONES NEWS FUND 2013 NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM TEACHER OF THE YEAR

“I think one of the things that’s helped a lot is being open to students of all abilities and personalities.”

Manfull maintains an open-door policy. But on top of that, he suggests advisers tackle one big thing a year, instead of everything at once.

“See the program as something that isn’t going to change overnight.”

AARON MANFULL, FRANCIS HOWELL NORTH HIGH SCHOOL, ST. CHARLES, MO. DJNF 2011 NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM TEACHER OF THE YEAR

“I try to teach my kids to be curious.”Harris has even gone out and taken

notes during her students’ interviews so she can teach through comparison and example.

“I hope that I’ve helped them learn how to think.”

CHARLA HARRIS, PLEASANT GROVE HIGH SCHOOL, TEXARKANA, TEXAS. DJNF 2013 DISTINGUISHED ADVISER

“The biggest thing I do, and I think most of the good teachers I know do, is I try to give them a very good basic founda-tion for what they want to do.”

After the foundation is established, Schott lets the students be creative.

“Then giving them the freedom to be curious about what is going on in the school and to their friends.”

MATTHEW SCHOTT, FRANCIS HOWELL CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, COTTLEVILLE, MO. DJNF 2013 DISTINGUISHED ADVISER

6

7

9

8

Photos contributed by advisers, respectively


Ever been to one of those newsroom story-planning meetings where you can hear yourself scraping the bottom of the idea bar-rel? Let’s write another column about the lame homecoming theme. Let’s take another survey about school spirit. Let’s run another page of photos of people wearing (fill in this year’s fashion fad, which will be next year’s “what were we thinking”).

Here’s a radical idea: Put some news in your news. The kind of stories that profes-sional newspapers and TV stations ought to be telling about your school, except they only seem to show up when somebody’s caught with a gun or there’s an outbreak of menin-gitis.

Every journalist – no matter what level of experience – should make time for a public-records scavenger hunt. Every state has an open-records law (sometimes called a “free-dom of information law”) that gives the pub-lic – no matter what age – the right to see and copy records kept by government agencies.

That may sound like a snooze – govern-ment records? Ugh! But it doesn’t have to be. Public records are how reporters from Flori-da’s Sun-Sentinel won a Pulitzer Prize, prov-ing that off-duty police officers were regularly causing crashes by driving 100 mph or more on personal errands.

Knowing how to get and use public re-cords turns good reporters into great ones. And having a reliable public document is your best defense if you’re ever threatened with a lawsuit – in most states, you can’t com-mit libel if your information was truthfully reported straight out of a government record.

Don’t know how to get started? Here are five tips to supercharge your reporting:

Crunch the numbers. The budget for the school, or the district, can be overwhelm-ing, a blur of statistics and jargon that cry out for context. Don’t be intimidated. Read the budget like a challenging novel with buried subplots waiting to be unearthed. Budgets tell stories.

How so? What the district decides to cut

or add tells a story about the district’s priori-ties. Don’t look at a number as just a number – look at it as an invitation to ask questions. So, we’re spending $1 million less this year on utilities? How? Did the schools become more energy-efficient – or are we just running the heating and air conditioning less, so the buildings are less comfortable?

Dive into the DOE. Want to know how many states let schools discipline kids with paddling – and how often paddling is actual-ly used? Need to find out the average number of books in school libraries? The U.S. Depart-ment of Education keeps count of all these facts, and much more.

The DOE’s National Center for Educa-tion Statistics (nces.ed.gov) is bursting with information that can help you deepen your reporting with hard facts. It’s okay to write a column saying you think class sizes at your school are growing way faster than they should be – but it’s better to back it up with the numbers that prove your point.

Dive into the DOE – again. Your state Department of Education, like the fed-eral one, keeps count of just about anything count-able. You need to find out how often students get expelled – and why? What types of weapons kids have been caught bringing to school? It’s all in there – and it’s usually available online without even sending a writ-ten request.

Both the U.S. DOE and each state edu-cation department maintain websites where you can search state-, district- or even school-level data. But for really specific questions you can’t answer online, you may need a written request. For that, the SPLC has a fill-in-the-blanks template that will customize a letter to the state you’re targeting: http://www.splc.org/legalassistance/foiletter.asp.

Know the players. There are limitless sto-ries begging to be written, if you know who’s keeping the records. For example: School cafeterias, like off-campus restaurants, get inspected for safety. So do school buses. Re-porting on safety problems is public-service journalism at its best. But you may not find those inspection reports quickly on school grounds. You may need a letter to (or a visit to) a different agency, like (for cafeterias) the state or county health department, or (for buses) the state police or state motor-vehicle

agency. And don’t overlook the courthouse – stu-

dents have discovered amazing stories just by running the names of their school, superin-tendent and school-board chair through the index of lawsuits (many of which are now searchable online).

Get support. The Education Writers As-sociation, which provides training to help journalists understand and effectively cover current topics in education, offers free mem-berships to student journalists – all it costs is an email. The EWA has a library of story ideas and reference materials online at www.ewa.org that are free for its members, and offers briefings where journalists (including students) can ask prominent policy-makers about trends in education. They have a direc-tory of experts on different education topics who’ve agreed to be available for interviews. (They’ve even got online tips about how to make sense of that mind-numbing school budget.)

And of course, the Student Press Law Center maintains a constantly updated online library of self-help tools at www.splc.org in-cluding legal guides, podcasts, archived maga-zine articles and other reference materials to help you chase down the story you’re after. The SPLC’s Tumblr, splc.tumblr.com, provides inspiration by showcasing outstanding work that student journalists have done using public records. Maybe yours will be next.

Covering serious topics that non-student readers will recognize as important is a boost for your college and career portfolio, and for your chances at recognition at awards time. It’s also a highly effective form of “censorship insurance.”

The stronger the journalism, the more “censor-proof” the publication. Journalism that will stand up to the skeptical eye of a school board member – or, in the worst case, a federal judge – is the easiest to defend if the writer, editor or adviser is targeted for retali-ation.

And finally, research pays off when it comes time to sit down at that blank screen and start writing. If you’d like to become a better writer, start by being a more thorough researcher. Once you can speak with expert knowledge of a subject, you’ll be amazed how much more easily the words flow.

By FRANK D. LOMONTEExecutive DirectorStudent Press Law Center

CRUISE RECORDS


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Some people like and use Idea Boards to provide a spark when they need inspiration.

They cut out photos, fonts and de-signs from magazines or newspapers that spark their imagination. These are then saved onto a bulletin board that’s in an obvious place for moments when they need ideas.

Pinterest is like a virtual Idea Board except that it does not hang on the wall.

Whatever you “pin” to this virtual bulletin board is saved in “the cloud.” The value of this social media platform rests in the ease with which you can pin and then share your “boards” with oth-ers. And others can easily find you by using the Pinterest search engine.

You can pin photographs, videos, graphics, quotes, and even articles.

You can set up a Pinterest account for free, as long as you are 13 or old-er. Once you set up your Pinterest ac-count, you create “boards,” which are categories of topics that you want to pin for your site.

After you have created your Pinter-est account, you can set up the option of having Group Boards, where you in-vite specific others to be part of a group that pins on a shared board. Group Boards could be a helpful strategy for a

media staff. The adviser can set up the Group Boards and then invite the staff to pin on selected topics or themes. This can lead to talking about the ma-terials you’ve collected for further idea development.

Once you have pinned something, it is to your advantage to use recogniz-able tags and keywords to identify what you pinned so others can easily find it.

When you can, pin photos of things that are on your media web-sites. Pinterest gets indexed frequently by Google and other search engines, which makes it easier for others to find

your online publication. More views of your publication is a good thing.

Avoid, if possible, uploading an im-age to Pinterest because that makes it easy for people to take without iden-tifying the owner. Instead, upload a photo or illustration first to your on-line media site or your blog, then pin the image from your blog or media site. That leads people to your site and can help to reduce copyright violations by others of your media.

The easiest way to “pin” something is to install the “Pin It” button on the dashboard of your Web browser. Then

INNINGPUBLICATION SUCCESS

Collecting and sharing great staff ideas with Pinterest

By JULIE E. DODD University of Florida journalism professor JUDY L. ROBINSON Digital technology specialist


when you are surfing the Web, you can click on your “Pin It” button and add the item to one of your Pinterest boards.

Here are some possible Pin-terest boards that you could cre-ate and some Pinterest resources: COLORS

Using color is a great way to cap-ture readers’ interest and to develop a personality for a media outlet. With online media, you don’t have any bud-get considerations for including color. And most print publications try to generate enough income to print at least a portion of the publication in color.

Pinterest can help in those staff discussions and individ-ual decisions about color use.

PANTONE http://www.pinterest.com/pantone-color/

Pantone is one of “the” names in conversations about colors. Pan-tone provides color wheels and color palettes to help in color selections. You can even see what the latest col-ors are. (By the way, Radiant Orchid is Pantone’s 2014 #coloroftheyear.) FONTS

Check Pinterest for boards that are about fonts. You’ll be able to compare fonts and even find free fonts that you can download, such as http://www.pin-terest.com/emilydugan7/free-fonts/PHOTOGRAPHS

Pinterest has hundreds of boards of wonderful photography. However, just because a photo is there to be pinned doesn’t mean it is yours to use. It could inspire your staff photographers.ARTICLE PINS

You can pin articles to create what Pinterest calls “your own Pinterest reading room.” Pinning articles is a great way for you to “Pin now, read later.” With your shared Pinterest ac-count, you can pin stories to share with the staff. Pinterest added this option in September 2013.

You can pin stories you identify in

your own reading or you can go to the Pinterest board of media outlets and click on the “Pin It” button on the site’s Pinterest site. Media outlets with Pin-terest accounts include The New York Times, Fast Company, Rolling Stone and Mashable.RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

Pinterest has “Teachers on Pinter-est” - http://www.pinterest.com/teach-ers/

The site is described as: “A pinspir-ing place for teachers to find and share creative ideas.” The site has boards for elementary grade levels and middle school and a few high school-level subject boards, including Journalism - http://www.pinterest.com/teachers/journalism/.

Remember that whereas the Idea Board that was on a bulletin board was just in your classroom or study, the Pinterest boards are on the Web for all to see (unless you make them private). But that also means that your Pinterest inspirations and your ability to “pin” an inspiring idea can be with you far be-yond the media staff classroom.

Purchase New “Principal’s Guide to

Scholastic Journalism” for $5, visit

QuillandScroll.org


QUILL & SCROLLOfficial Magazine of theInternational Honorary Societyfor High School Journalists100 Adler Journalism Bldg., Room E346Iowa City, IA 52242-2004

quill & scroll spring 2014

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