Blend | Fall 2012

blend Fall 2012 // Volume 7 // Issue 1 // Ball State Produced

eriC sparrow

anna kardokus

, DON T LET jennifer mcnames brian kaiser THIS HAPPEN TO YOU PG. 19

rachel hayes

harrison mcmarty

Chelsea prandato

penny mcCartney

Name, last name

drew taylor

Victor farrington

or This emili farmen

23 | JOURNALISM HIGH SCHOOL

Who has the Best Yearbook Printing and Binding in the world?

Is a Benny award in your High School Yearbook Future?

Friesens can help!

“The Talisman has worked to set the pace in the world of college yearbooks. Much of the publication's success is a direct reflection of the relationship we have with Friesens. Their attention to detail, superior printing quality and knowledge of the printing industry allows the staff to create a publication that exceeds all expectations. The Talisman is not a traditional yearbook, and we would not have been able to breakthrough that mold without a printing company like Friesens."

“The Benny winners represent the best our industry has to offer. This year’s entries were outstanding. There were entries from companies in 13 countries. Despite the fierce competition, Friesen Yearbooks, through hard work and dedicated craftsmanship, produced a piece worthy of the Benny.”

Michael Makin, President and CEO of Printing Industries of America

Katie Clark, Western Kentucky University Talisman - Genesis 2011 Advisor

We do.

Best quality. Best value.

1.888.324.9725

yearbooks.friesens.com

blend

welcome l brian hayes Earning a college education is pretty much a necessity in today’s job market.

Thinking about where you want to go and what you want to study can be quite daunting. Here are a few tips to help you navigate your journey to receiving a post-secondary degree.

Fall 2012 Volume 7 Issue 1 Blend Magazine c/o Department of Journalism Ball State University Muncie, IN 47306 SES DIRECTOR Brian Hayes

Start planning early. The earlier you start thinking about college the better!

Research universities and academic programs that interest you. Start looking at admissions requirements to see what kinds of HS classes and experiences you need to be competitive.

EDITOR Megan McNames EDITOR AT LARGE Tom Gayda BUSINESS MANAGER Megan McNames CONTRIBUTORS Claire Fahy Lindsay Grome Jenna Herr Liz Smith OFFICE STAFF Anna Kaiser Designers Emil Hefler Chelsea Kardokus Jennifer Prandato Blend Magazine is published by the Secondary Education Services office at Ball State University. E-mail the staff at blend.mag@gmail.com.

FOR NSPA Logan Aimone executive director Lindsay Grome community engagement director Kathy Huting contest/critique coordinator Marc Wood communications director Suzanne Taber administrative assistant Tahera Mamdani accountant FIRST AMENDMENT 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.

Brian Hayes is the director of Secondary Education at Ball State University. He is a former adviser of student publications at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. Hayes has worked professionally for several newspapers.

Interested in reading more?

Visit blendmagazine. org to read Brian’s full list of tips!

Time to up your game. Work with your high school guidance counselor to create an academic plan that will help you achieve your college admissions goals.

Most universities like to see honors, AP, dual-credit and STEM classes on applicant transcripts — but you have to do well in them! Many universities seek students with an average GPA of about 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

Think outside the classroom. In addition to academics, universities like to see that you are actively engaged in activities outside of the classroom. Athletics, performing arts, student government, clubs and community service experiences rank high on their list of extra-curricular endeavors.

SAT vs. ACT. During the spring of your junior year or fall of your senior year, you should plan to take one of these standardized college placement exams.

While most schools accept both tests, there are differences between the exams that are important to know. The ACT is more curriculum-based — meaning it asks more straightforward questions with definitive answers. The SAT, however, includes more general reasoning and problem-solving skills.

Apply early. Application deadlines for most schools range between November – January of the applicant’s senior year.

Universities generally send an admissions decision within 6-8 weeks. Don’t procrastinate — compiling your college application is a long process! Typical college applications require an application, letters of recommendation, a college essay, your high school transcripts, a portfolio (see page 8 for tips!) and an interview.

Apply for scholarships and loans. All too often, students don’t spend enough time researching possible scholarships.

Outside of the large scholarships typically associated with universities, private businesses and foundations, there are many department-level scholarships given within each institution for students majoring in a specific area. Check with the department office you are considering majoring in to see if they have incoming freshman scholarships. Additionally, the state and federal government provide the most popular student loans because they have low fixed interest rates. To be considered for state and federal aid, students (and parents) must complete a 5-page FAFSA — similar to a tax return. The typical application deadline for this type of aid is in early March.

Decision time. Once you have received your acceptance letters, you need to weigh your options. Which school is the best fit for you? Where do you think you have the most opportunity for success?

Since tuition, room and board can vary greatly from one college to the next, have you researched how much money you will need to borrow in student loans? These are important questions that should definitely be part of your decision-making process.

table l of contents 4 ask kim

13 how to: video basics

22 check out this newsroom

7 q&a: social media

16 how to: soundslides

26 covering recovery

8 how to: portfolios

19 corrections

29 nspa awards

Check us out online at blendmagazine.org

ask l kim

33 things to celebrate this year “ Greetings, Readers!

Wow! As I write this edition’s column, I realize I’ve been chatting with you for five years now. That’s cause for a celebration, so I’m going to combine the three related questions I received in the “Ask Kim” mailbag for this issue into a list of reasons to celebrate your involvement with scholastic journalism.

Kim Green directs the student publications at Columbus (Ind.) North High School. A 2006 Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Distinguished Adviser of the Year and 2011 JEA Yearbook Adviser of the Year, the publications Green’s students create are consistent award winners.

This list actually reflects the final exam I give my newsmagazine and yearbook staffs each year: “100 Things I’ve Learned in Log/The Triangle This Year.” Reflections of this sort remind us of what we do, how we do it, and most importantly, why we do what we do. Now, I’m not going to grind out a list of 100 reasons, but we’ll shoot for some creative alliteration and call this “Thirty-three Things to Celebrate in Your Journalism Life.”

Finding “your people” is one of the most rewarding experiences in any society. Belonging on a staff is important and it should be everyone’s priority to create a welcoming environment for all staff members.

Play is okay. Stopping for just a second to step away from the computer screen to seat dance or chair race or play a quick game of “Mad Gab” or “Hangman” works wonders to clear up glazed eyes and foggy brains.

Laugh in! See #2.

Staff shirts unite staffs. Whether you make your own with white tees and markers or you design and order online, nothing says togetherness like wearing a shirt on deadline day or distribution day.

Seeing your adviser in staff shirts

4 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

Finding ‘your people’ is one of the most rewarding experiences in any society.

Belonging on a staff is important.”

is even better. In 2008-09, my yearbook staff’s theme was “The Power of One” with a focus on the devastating flood in June 2008. They even used brown ink throughout the book. When I saw the shirt design, I said I wouldn’t wear a brown shirt that read “I love P.O.O.” across the chest until I realized that the “poo” to which the proclamation referred was Power of One. The following year my news magazine staff switched formats and splashed in huge caps down the front of the white v-neck tee was “BIGGER THAN EVER.” True, but I also took it a little personally as I wore it on distribution days. Smiles on my kids’ faces made it all worthwhile.

Meeting deadlines gives you the edge over your non-journalism peers. Other classes get extensions and half credit for late turn-ins. Not exactly preparation for the future.

Journalists know deadlines are real and meet them with their best work within the time allotted.

Collaboration! Working together to create a great story package is what rocks journalists’ world. That shared vision and common goal stuff is really cool!

Celebrating birthdays is one of the best traditions a staff can have.

Hopefully, your staff has a tradition it upholds. If not, start one! Our kids look forward to wearing the felt hat

with the droopy candles, the blue and white feather boa and the cupcake sunglasses as they stand on a chair in front of the classroom while their staff-mates serenade them “loudly, obnoxiously and with raucous choreography” on their special day.

Everyone in your school has a story and that story matters. This mission statement leads you to meet and learn about people you would have never even looked at in the hallway. You help expand the world of your audience by telling these stories, and most important, you become a better person for getting to know all kinds of kids.

Do something fun as a staff. Have a movie night, host a bonfire and hot dog roast (and don’t forget the s’mores!), go bowling, attend staff members’ sporting events as a staff (wear your shirts!), form a trike team or other group as part of homecoming activities, challenge other staffs to “Red Rover” or dodgeball or tug-o-war.

Attend conventions, conferences and summer workshops. Save your money, ask for money instead of presents to put toward your trip, hold a yard sale. These opportunities can be pricey, but the experiences and memories are priceless ­— a pretty sweet deal.

And getting to hang out with other kids from around the area, the state and the nation who know what it’s

in your “Everyone school has a story and that story matters.”

like to be you is pretty empowering.

Learn a new skill. Try design. Take pictures.

Produce a multimedia story. Write a feature.

You’d be surprised at how much a fellow staff member appreciates someone who takes an interest in his or her work. Understanding all aspects of your media production makes you a more effective staff member, but more importantly, it makes your final media product among the best out there.

Take pride in your accomplishments. Recognition for your work is pretty sweet, so be sure to share your critique ratings, contest placings and state and national honors with local media.

Music soothes the savage beast. Create a playlist of every staff member’s favorite tunes. Put it on “shuffle” and listen respectfully. And, of course, seat dance when your song plays.

Belonging to a staff gives you the perfect opportunity to hone your interpersonal communication skills. You learn to ask if you don’t understand, to be assertive when contributing ideas and opinions, to compromise for the greater good, to listen rather than just waiting to speak and to resolve conflicts. All will help you navigate college and life beyond.

If you’re shy, you learn to pretend you’re not shy in order to interview the principal or the police chief or the senior who survived the car accident. It’s called compensation, and it’s a lifesaver.

Make your staff room a Safe Zone. No gossip, no mean people. You know what the bumper stickers say about Mean People.

You don’t want outsiders to think you talk about sources and make fun of pictures.

They won’t trust you with their stories if they believe you will ridicule them.

You believe that “please” and “thank you” are really magic words. They are.

is not dead.

“Journalism It’s evolving. And you

are just the sort of people to make it into something new and wonderful and relevant.

Facebook and Twitter really do generate excitement about your media. Last month, our editors posted the cover of the yearbook on Facebook to remind folks of the impending order deadline. It caused sluggish sales to surge with over 150 purchases in two days.

Kids commented on how cool they thought the cover looked — an added perk!

Leaders who ask kids on their staff what they want to do will get the most from their staff.

Leaders who understand that no kid on staff wants to suck at journalism will find out what is going on with the kid by asking rather than using the red pen and expecting a different outcome. These leaders, too, tend to get the most from their staff.

Breaking news is the most exciting experience a student journalist can have.

Ranking a close second is having the trust of administrators. Their respect for your credibility is powerful and empowering. It’s the best form of learning there is.

Kids in beginning journalism want to be you someday.

Recognizing that everything you produce doesn’t have to be funny or sensationalized but should speak to all kinds of readers is a good skill to work on perfecting.

My mom used to tell me “Leave your problems at the classroom door.” Excellent advice for student journalists, too.

When your mom says “It’s not all about you,” that’s excellent advice, too. On staff, it’s all about your yearbook, newspaper, website, broadcast program.

Being on staff truly does look good on college and scholarship applications.

Journalism is not dead. It’s evolving. And you are just the sort of people to make it into something new and wonderful and relevant. It is always going to be necessary to a democracy. Never forget that.

Being on staff is stressful. Learning to manage that stress rather than quitting staff to avoid it is the correct choice. But it’s cool knowing not everyone can hack it!

Knowing that “perception is reality” makes you consider every possible angle of what you produce. That’s a pretty mature skill set right there.

The bond with your adviser truly lasts a lifetime. As part of their gift on the last day, I present my seniors with a handful of Hershey Kisses and tell them the story about how I used to give my newborn granddaughter multiple kisses, whispering to her to put them on deposit for when she was far away from me. I tell them to do the same with these “kisses.” I still get emails, texts and Facebook posts from former staffers — even after several years! — telling me they had to have a “Kiss” that day to get them through a rough spot. Tough to make that kind of connection in just about any other class.

So, there’s the list of 33. As you can see, we could add 67 more and still not cover all there is to celebrate being involved in scholastic journalism. You try it. Make your own list, and share it with me at greenk@bcsc. k12.in.us. Maybe yours will appear in the spring issue of Blend. Better yet, make your own list and share it with your staff or adviser. Reflection is powerful.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 5

nspa l logan aimone

Go beyond the obvious As part of its Lightbox feature online, the photo editors of Time magazine recently showcased the work of Pete Souza, chief official White House photographer. This article included Souza’s comments on his work photographing the Obama Administration and the Obama Family and the photos that he’s captured since 2009.

Logan Aimone is the executive director of the National Scholastic Press Association.

Souza said that as he assembled the 100 images for this Lightbox feature that he wanted to create a portrait of the president to help people understand him. Souza had known the president since Obama became a senator in 2005 when Souza was working for the Chicago Tribune.

“I was looking for things that I knew that if he ever became President you would never see again,” Souza said in text accompanying the Time feature. “[Obama was] walking down a sidewalk in Moscow in 2005 and no one recognized him.

I realized that if he ever became President, you would never, ever see a photo like that again. The odds of becoming President are obviously pretty slim, but I knew he had the potential. And you can’t say that about too many people.”

What Souza recognized that day in 2005 — that something special was to come and Obama had the potential to be famous well into the future — made Souza begin to look for moments that would prove valuable in the course of history.

That’s exactly what student journalists need to do, too. Even as a photographer captures the action of a game or assembly or flirting in the halls, he or she can always look

6 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

This photograph by Mandi Ellsworth of the Spark at Lakota East High School in Liberty Township, Ohio, earned an honorable mention in the 2012 NSPA Photo of the Year Feature category. “Seek the behindthe-scenes moments that will help future readers to know what it was like on that day,” Logan Aimone says. See more photos from Photo of the Year on page 29. for the action that’s beyond the field and the obvious photos. Seek the behind-the-scenes moments that will help future readers to know what it was like on that day — at that moment at your school.

Look for the stories around school that have the potential to tell us as readers and viewers not just what’s important today but what might be important in the future. These are the observations, the moments, the glimpses that will prove valuable in the course of history as our memories fade – our impressions of the school change.

And advisers need to help students see these moments. Advisers know that moments change unexpectedly. Whether in triumph or tragedy, teach students to anticipate many situations. Doing so will

mean that unexpected won’t mean unprepared. Help students see beyond the obvious and to collect bits of observation, sideline images and off-hand comments before assembling a larger narrative.

Sometimes the narrative is not apparent even though students are in the middle of documenting it.

That’s why going beyond the obvious is so important. Some photos, quotes or stories are obviously important, while others may prove valuable only later. The challenge as a journalist is recognizing the potential in everything.

Find Pete Souza’s collection of images: http://lightbox.time. com/2012/10/08/pete-souzaportrait-of-a-presidency/#1

q & a l jonathan scott

Create a social media strategy In your opinion how has social media changed journalism?

It has changed it just in that social media makes journalism much more immediate. It makes information much more immediately available and immediately possible to mess up. It’s not the ‘24/7 news cycle’ so much now as it’s ‘information is here today and gone later today.’ Information is here this hour and gone the next hour and everything is just quick in passing. More and more information, more and more news is fleeting. So you just have to stay abreast of the trends and stay abreast of the news on the ground and hope that it is accurate reporting.

Jonathan Scott is the digital media manager at Indianapolis Monthly, an Emmis Communications magazine.

Q&A by Anna Kaiser. Kaiser is a senior secondary education student at Ball State University.

Interested in reading more?

Visit blendmagazine. org to read the full interview!

Why do you think it is important for schools to start using social media for their publications?

I think it is a very good idea, especially at the collegiate level and I would say it is good at the high school level as well. In high school, they are going to run into what their coverage is and what sort of hard nose news they are trying to put out over those social media channels, that might bump up against administrators in the school system and in the school itself, principals and such, telling them to just watch themselves and watch how they are wording things. It’s interesting at the high school level, how much dominance or how much pull the school administrators still have over coverage and content. So that will be important for them to remember and for them to also not be discouraged by.

There will always be checks and balances and there will be, if not administrators in high school, there will be editors to monitor the tone and voice in the content. The big deal, what will be the crux and the proof of them doing a good job will just be making sure that everything is accurate in their reporting.

Do you see more high school publications having Twitter and Facebook accounts?

I see where the high school or the school systems have Twitter and it seems to me high school publications are taking to Twitter and are taking to social media too.

I definitely think it is a great idea for high schools publications to be on Facebook, everyone is on Facebook. It is important to be on Facebook for student journalists so they can get their work out, their friends can see it and their extended family and contacts in other states can see it. It is good to get into Twitter. It always comes back to just resources. If you have limited resources,

choose the channels that work best for you, find what works best and what you have time for and do that. It may not be a bad idea over time for a student publication to have a social media editor.

What are some ways students can promote their social media sites to get more followers?

If you are new to social media, it can be a bit of a slog at first. It is about getting in touch with like-minded individuals, other student journalists and just other students period. It is about getting in touch with other entities, businesses, publications in their hometown and the city where they live and interacting with those.

Interact with the editors of the local paper, or any local publication — it is important to have those relationships. Ask them questions, make informed comments and send informed posts and informed tweets to them because I can’t emphasize enough the great networking contacts and sources you find via Twitter. It is very important to be communicative on social media, not just tweeting your own stuff, and ignoring everyone else’s stuff, but tweeting other interesting items, news items, items that are novel or just worth reading.

What advice do you have for students who want to go into professional journalism, especially working with social media?

I would say definitely stay abreast with the trends, see what is working and what’s not. It is important for [students] to be considering what the next thing is, what people are getting caught up with, what will be a fad or will be a long-standing useful tool for them to use.

Student journalists will want to go to websites like Wired Magazine and others that they respect who are in tune with those things, who are reporting on them and the viability of those media channels.

Anything else you would like to add?

To anyone who wants to work in journalism moving forward, who is in high school: The digital world, mobile apps, digital editions of magazines with rich content embedded like videos — that stuff is going to be a big part of what they have moving forward in their working life, in addition to social media. So it is going to be good to get a handle on that. Their lives as journalists are going to be very digitally focused moving forward no matter what they do.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 7

how to l create a winning portfolio

A portfolio is your chance to show employers, universities and scholarship committees your very best work. But if a scholarship committee or hiring manager can’t read your portfolio, or can’t tell what work in it was yours, they’re not going to waste their time trying to figure it out.

Arranging a portfolio in a sensible and easy-toread manner tells others that you understand the best way to present information. It also can get your work noticed and help you to stand out as a candidate. That’s important if you plan to go into any field, but especially in journalism.

PO RT FO LI Os

By Emili Hefler A quick guide on how to make a portfolio that will impress peers, schools and scholarship committees

8 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

Preface

Officiliqui optaqua epella ium quas ducid que quos quia quis doluptatas doluptia ped ut as a auta dolor autem. Aciae peres dolecer empEt pore vero mollitiunt utem verchil

Portfolio

laccuptatqui dolendia peliqui inctores ea volore litatur, cus, ulpa volupta nihite explit, ut oluptaspid modi ut eatisci magnis quasperibus ad ullum eumet ut adis dolor adia videbis cor ad eum que nimus dolorrum sit ipictur, sus.

Jane Smith

The cover page should be the first page of your portfolio. If you put your portfolio in a binder, the cover page would go in the front plastic covering.

This page should include two pieces of information: Title - You need to let people

know what they are about

to read, so on the cover

page you should include a

piece of information that

explains this. A simple

“portfolio” normally does the trick.

Your name - Not only is this

an important piece of

information so the reader

knows whose work they are

viewing, it is also important so

that people will know who

to give the portfolio back to

when finished with it.

tips & tricks

Nullupt aectia iustotate nos entum, quiderianim quia ide si net maio dolori consequamus, nis ea derferum quas inullecto molorestio. Im alibus ditatem.

Ici quid qui ut volorep eriaspe lenimus acilitas maios dera sectus is simolenim quidenis quo ommolorem re volupta a aliquibus, od elis anto officaborem inistiatio.

Acerore, autem fugia solupicias doluptatiste pedit digent audae voluptaturi quo ene nobis aliqui ipsant, solut inimi, vollatem nessintiur solorecus idebistia doles natio. Et volorestem que est, te maios

The preface , sometimes referred to as a personal statement, should address what the intent of the portfolio is.

If it’s for a scholarship, internship or admittance to a school, this is where you would explain why you deserve to get whatever you’re applying for and answer any questions they ask you.

ex. I think I deserve this scholarship because I am a hardworking individual...

If it’s just to showcase your work, this is where you would explain why you included what you did in the portfolio and what you hope the reader learns from it.

ex. In this portfolio I included my best work...

Much like in a publication, you want to start the design you want to carry through the whole portfolio on the cover page. Use the same font and color scheme throughout the whole document to create a more unified look, and give your portfolio a more professional feel.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 9

Table of Contents

Letters of

Recommendation

Preface..................................................01

Joseph Doe John Tompkins High School Adviser

Content................................................02 Recommendations...........................03 Resumé................................................04

Riley Monroe City League Rugby Coach

Awards..................................................05 Clips.......................................................06

The table of contents should tell anyone who’s looking at your portfolio what order the contents will be presented in. This makes it easier for them to know what they are looking at, and if they need to refer to something at a later point they can find it easier than having to remember what order things came in.

Even though the Preface comes before this, be sure to include it. Remember to also include the Table of Contents.

Page numbers are extremely helpful.

It is much easier to flip to a certain page than it is to a general area.

Just remember if you include page numbers on the Table of Contents, actually number the pages.

tips & tricks 10 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

letters of recommendation.

Generally, it is expected that you will have more than one letter of recommendation. Scholarship committees and schools normally require a minimum of two. Just remember that quality is better than quantity. Two well-written letters from people who know you well are better than ten letters from people who don’t really know you. These can be from any authority figure (i.e. teachers, advisers, coaches, family friends), just not from your family.

Be sure to ask people for letters well in advance of when you need them. They are more likely to write a better letter if they have more time. Also, let them know what they are writing a letter for and when you need it, and thank them for taking time to write it for you.

A cover page for the each recommendation is also helpful. It lets the person reading know who each letter is from and their relationship to you. ex. Mary Jean Allen || Journalism Adviser ‘09-’12

Resume

Awards

Awards: 2012 IHSPA on-site Copy Writing - First place 2011 JEA Feature Writing - Honorable Mention 2011 Joseph Bell Award for Excellence in Writing

Education: John Tompkins High School Publications: Newspaper: 2009-2012 general staffer Yearbook: 2009-2011 general staffer 2011-2012 editor-in-chief Software knowledge: Photoshop InDesign Illustrator Word Other: Local Paper: 2012 Guest column writer

You should have four sections on your RESUME. Education This section should include information about the high school you attended.

Publications This should include any school publications you worked on, the positions you held, and when you held them.

Software Knowledge This sections should list the programs you consider yourself a master in.

Other This section is for any journalismrelated things you have done outside of school.

tips & tricks

For awards, you should list any awards you’ve won for work relating to journalism. So, if you won a first place in track or a blue ribbon at the fair, you’d leave those things out.

If you want to show the award, be sure to include copies of the original documents, NOT the documents themselves. If you send your portfolio off for a scholarship, internship or school admittance, you’re probably not going to see it again.

If you don’t have documents of everything, have a list at the beginning that include the awards you do not have in the portfolio.

If you don’t have any journalismrelated awards, that’s fine. Just omit this section.

The people reading your portfolio are not going to go over it word for word, so try to keep it simple. It will be easier to understand and navigate if you do.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 11

Clips

A compilation of sample of my writing from a variety of sources (i.e.; my school newspaper, school yearbook, my local paper, as well as from writing competitions.)

State fair frenzy Dantiunt odis solupta nisimin non rem. Giaeria ndunto ent asit et adis am viti aborempe abo. Nam faceate litate porporestem quam, volo quam explit od et quid quam si ipienis tibus.

Nem inis ditatem culpa voluptae doluptiis int eum la sitasimi, ullaccust, qui teseque sequaerro veliquam dolupta in commolorum unt.

Um videllestia non rem que exerent.

Busam illabor possus ducipsam ad quo culparc itatibus auda voloribus sam volore molorio officte ndignimint ut que velleni quatiori quidus, offic tem adia quiantianis et autem

enihitia essi derion pellaut atistibus volorem reptati berum ea quaspicto et qui conse quias aditaer spicidenis quas sed quibusam la coreicius, que idist qui tem laborero ex et fugit, tempor solum laboreri niminvent liquos et am, sunt ut que sequi rero blame magnist oribus audit a si odis volo quaecto tatque necerio nsequides alit volligenti de iminciumet ullabor issitias desequam que seque verionsed qui consendi nonsequ ideliquia dolupit iorationsed ut ut aperfer natium ratateni coriat.

Fugitia tioreni tiurestiatem dent.

Oluptiis volore min cumque con cones ad erum autem reperum

I wrote this story about the state fair for my local paper. It was featured on the front page of the community section.

Clips are examples of your published writing, design and/or photography.

You don’t need to include all of your published work, just include what you think is your best work.

If you’ve worked for different publications try to include something from each so there is a variety of work that showcases your versatility.

You should try to have a minimum of five clips and a maximum of 12 clips.

On the cover for the clips section, you should give a general description for what is going to be in the clips section.

Include where each clip is from and what type of clips there will be (i.e. writing, design, photography).

tips & tricks 12 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

Clips can be just that: clipped. You do not have include a whole page from a publication if you just did a small part of it. Cut out what you did and glue it to a whole sheet of paper. If you don’t have enough originals to spare, copies are OK and so are pdf printouts.

Be sure to explain what you did on your clips.

ex. I collected the information

for and designed this sidebar.

It was published in my high

school newspaper.

To make your clips more professional you can use page protectors. Not only will this keep your binder more organized and clean looking, it will also help with wear on pages and prevent any of them from falling out.

Remember to check and double check your spelling and grammar. It is easy to over look a small spelling mistake, but a scholarship committee or school probably won’t.

how to l shoot your first video story

video basics

HOW TO shoot your first video

I

by Lindsay Grome

was a senior in high school when I decided I was going to be a broadcast journalist.

Excited about the opportunity to get out into the community, meet new people and tell some very cool stories, I had no idea how much work the term “journalist” would really involve. What I wasn’t prepared

for was the fact that not only would I have to use my talent as a writer, but I would also have to quickly become adept in the technology of producing a story — lights, camera, white balance.

It only took one bad backlit shot to ruin my first big break before I hunkered down to make sure

I wouldn’t screw up another story due to my lack of detail. In multimedia reporting, the words you write are just as important as the shots you choose to tell the story. Knowing how to do both will not only help you tell better stories, but will also make you stand out of the pack.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 13

What’s headroom?

When framing your subject, you want to fill the frame to make sure you don’t leave too much headroom. If you leave too much extra headroom, the subject will get lost and no longer be the focal point.

RIGHT

Too Much

Shoot until your heart’s content. Depending on whom you ask in the professional broadcast world, individual shots or clips of video in a package should be no longer than 3-5 seconds. Filling a two-minute story could require up to 40 good shots! That means you have a lot of shooting to do.

•

Remember the 180 degree line. When shooting, you must not cross the 180 degree line.

If you start shooting a subject from the front and then decide to go behind them to get a shot, this confuses the viewer.

You can shoot anywhere within the 180 degrees, but as soon as you cross it, it will become very difficult to edit

14 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

your video.

•

Next time try shooting creatively. Try a different angle or point of view you haven’t thought of before, such as from above the crowd or on the ground as someone is walking toward or away from the camera. These shots can make for great transitions and help keep the viewer’s attention.

•

Mix it up with wide, medium and tight shots. Some panning and zooming can make it interesting, but too much distracts the viewer.

•

Subject B-roll makes your job easier. Take some B-roll shots

of the subject you interviewed at a different angle from where you shot them — with wide, medium and tight shots.

These shots can be used when introducing a subject you’ve interviewed. Just watch out for jump cuts!

•

Be mindful of the headroom while framing your subject.

Too much and they won’t become the focal point of the shot.

focus FOCUS ON SUBJECT

Focus is key. It’s simple, but important.

If your subject isn’t in focus, your audience won’t be focused on your story. The best way to achieve a crisp focus is through manual zoom. Simply zoom in all the way to the subject’s face, focus your lens until you can see every wrinkle and pore and then zoom out to frame the subject for the interview.

There are no second chances. The time you put in now is absolutely worth it.

Aim to produce material you’re proud enough to post on Facebook to show your family and friends. You can’t take back the two minutes of air time you just filled and it will always be documented. Make sure it counts.

White balance. There’s nothing that can be more disheartening or ruin a good package more so than yellow or blue video. In order to avoid this, you must white balance.

Hold a piece of white paper in front of the subject’s eyes before shooting (this goes for interviews and B-roll) and press your white balance button. Clear video in a flash.

lighting Ugly SHadows

Much Better

learn to do it all Learn how to do it all.

So you want to be a reporter, or, maybe you’re a behindthe-camera kind of person.

So what? In order to be a better videographer, reporter, anchor or producer, you need to take a walk in the other’s shoes. Take the opportunity to report, shoot video, edit and produce stories because you’re going to need all of these skills to tell a good story or continue in the field.

Learn from others. Not exactly sure how to tell a good visual story? Take in and watch as much news as you can by the professionals. By simply being an engaged viewer you can decide for yourself what stories keep your interest and why and then emulate some of those shooting techniques into your own stories.

Practice, practice, practice. The only way to become really good at something is by doing it. A lot.

You won’t become a good videographer until you’ve shot in different environments, using different filters in various lighting with the best angles for creative shots and the perfect levels for audio. Check out the camera and start shooting. It undoubtedly will make you a better overall journalist.

always be ready

You never know when you’re going to need to get a photo or do an impromptu interview.

Always be prepared for the unexpected and bring equipment with you wherever you go just incase you can get some more information for your story.

Watch your lighting. If you’re shooting outside, shoot with the sun behind you and facing your subject.

If you’re shooting inside, don’t put your subject in front of the window — your back should be to the window. If you have filters on your camera, make sure you know which environments to use them in.

Lindsay Grome is the Director of Community Engagement at the National Scholastic Press Association. Prior to her job with NSPA she worked as an awardwinning television news reporter at PBSaffiliate Lakeshore News in Merrillville, Ind. She is a graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 15

how to l create multimedia slideshows

all you need to know about

SOUNDSLIDES

Soundslides is a tool that helps you build simple audio slideshows. It is perfect for student media because it showcases your photo stories in a fun, fast and easy-to-use way. This guide gives you step-by-step directions on how to make an effective soundslide from choosing the photos to uploading it to the Web. Download the program and get started!

before you start • Soundslides can’t edit photos or audio.

Make sure you have all your materials edited before you begin the project.

• Place all edited photos for the soundslide in one folder. Save them in JPG file format.

• Save your audio as an MP3.

getting started • Open Soundslides and name your project.

• Import your photos by clicking the big JPG button and selecting the file where you saved your edited photos.

• Import your audio by clicking the big SND button and selecting the MP3 file.

• Put your photos in an order that matches your audio by dragging and dropping the thumbnails on the right.

things to know • In Soundslides, the length of your MP3 file is how long your slideshow will be.

So, if your audio is three minutes and you have 30 photos, each photo will be displayed for 10 seconds.

• A good guideline for a soundslide is having one picture displayed for five seconds. Make sure you have enough material to produce an interesting slideshow and keep viewers engaged!

• Remember to click “save” often!

You don’t want to lose all of your hard work.

Make sure that all audio and photos match up because it will make your story better. To change the order of a photo, select it so that it’s in red and move it to your new location.

quick reminders • Keep your work organized so it is easy to locate.

16 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

• Name and remember all file names.

• Don’t forget to save and export the soundslides.

• The entire folder must be uploaded to the web.

• Keep the original folder so you can make changes.

changing timing

To change the timing of any photo, use your mouse to grab the border between two photos. Drag the line left or right to make a photo visible for more or less time. The wider the photo gets, the longer it will be shown. Likewise, the narrower you make the photo, the less time it will be shown. REMEMBER: Every time you change a photo it will effect the others around it.

captions, credits & headlines

check out these schools Look at these high school websites to get ideas for how your newspaper can use Soundslides to tell stories!

• The Rider Online, Legacy High School, Mansfield, Texas www.therideronline.com

To write captions for each photo, click the slide info tab. You can use the back and next buttons to move to the next photos.

• To write a headline or include credit information, click project info. To return to editing your slideshow’s image order, click the slides tab.

writing tips • Use an active voice, logical sentence structure and strong present-tense verbs.

• Rebel Rouser Notre Dame High School, St. Louis, Mo. www.rebelrouseronline.com

• High Tide Online, Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach, Calif. hightideonline.org

• Don’t exaggerate, generalize or use long words. Be simple and keep it direct.

• Don’t use proper names in headlines unless the name is wellknown enough to be recognized immediately.

• Hoofprint Walnut High School, Walnut, Calif. whshoofprint.com

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 17

publishing to the web • Download an FTP client, like FileZilla. FTP sounds scary, but it just stands for file transfer protocol, which really means “upload.”

• Export your Soundslides project by pressing command + E, making sure you know where it’s saved and what it’s called.

1

2 3

4

STEP ONE: Connect to an FTP server by entering the address in the “Host” box of the Quickconnect bar. You can get this information from your Web hosting company.

STEP THREE: On the left side, a list of files from your computer will appear. Click on your Soundslides project and, in the boxes below, the folders contents will appear.

STEP TWO: When you’re connected to the Web server, a list of files will show up on the right side of the window. Look for your main publication folder. It’s usually called” public_html” or something similar. Any item placed in the folder will show up on your website.

STEP FOUR: Select the “publish_to_web” folder made by Soundslides from the left folder (your computer) and drag it into the “public_html” folder on the right (the server). Once it appears on the right, it’s been uploaded and should appear on your site!

12 18 Blend | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

N O I T C E CORR NIGHTMERES I didnt know you were going to publish that

i never said that

why is my daughter's name spelled wrong?

why isnt my son in the yearbook?

how could you have got this wrong?

By Kim Green

IT IS THE MOST

DREADED PHONE CALL The dad who is upset with his son’s misspelled name or the mom who is livid over her daughter being misidentified in a photo.

If your staff hasn’t adopted and published a corrections policy, do it now! And make sure it is included with next year’s order form as well as published on your school’s website, in a letter placed inside the front of the book and even in the colophon of the book.

POLICY PARTs

An affirmation that the staff has worked very hard to be accurate, but that some errors, including misspelled names, unfortunately happen, and the staff sincerely regrets them.

An inspection statement declaring the book’s cover and inside pages were inspected when turned over to the student at distribution (that keeps kids from returning a damaged book expecting a replacement).

Refunds for yearbooks will be given with the return of the yearbook in good shape. No exceptions.

Stolen or misplaced books are not the responsibility of the yearbook staff and cannot be replaced; if still available, a book may be purchased at the “extra” price.

Don’t divulge the crack-and-peel option here. Use it only when the error is grievous (a senior’s first and last name transposed in the senior portrait section or a senior portrait omission which is clearly the fault of your yearbook staff ).

Do have a written process in place for such an error when the demand for correction occurs. Make sure administrators have a copy of everything, so they don’t promise something your staff can’t afford and shouldn’t have to deliver.

More important, commit yourself and your staff to alleviating errors by practicing solid, ethical journalism – always “double-checking the double-check” for both facts and names. Unlike a newspaper in which the correction should appear in the next issue with an apology, a yearbook doesn’t have that opportunity. It is a keepsake and an historical record to be visited and revisited over the course of many years — a time capsule of how it really was at your school during that particular year.

Because of this fact, I remind my yearbook kids every year that misspelled names are the same as if they were carved incorrectly on a tombstone; you just don’t do it!

20 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

a few tips

Yearbook Correction Options Crack & peels

tip ins

re� prints

re� funds

Doing Nothing

What they are:.

Stickers printed to any size that can be placed over a mistake, such as an incorrect name or an inappropriate photograph.

When to use them: When the mistake is smaller than a single page.

What they are:.

Whole pages that can be put in place of an incorrect page. Tip ins have little glue edges on the side of the page facing the binding. You’ll have to cut out the incorrect page and position the tip in’s glue portion as close to the binding as possible.

When to use them: When the mistake is an entire page.

What they are:.

Well, getting the whole book reprinted!

When to use them: If the mistake is the yearbook company’s error, reprints are often free. But, if the mistake is your staff’s error, expect to pay for the reprint and wait a while for the new books to come in. You’ll have to collect and return the first, incorrect print run. This is your lastditch, do-or-die option that you’ll want to avoid using unless you absolutely have to.

What they are:.

Returning money to advertisers or parents whose ads or senior ads were printed with an error.

When to use them: Well, this one’s up to you! If the error was the buyer’s fault, a refund is probably not in order. If a student designed the ad with the error, you might consider a refund. The best way to prevent having to give refunds is to have advertisers and parents approve proofs of their ads or ads a student designer made for them. That way, the responsibility for the error is on the person who approved the proof, i.e. not you.

What it is: Don’t fix the error!

When to use it: Yearbooks are student publications. If you have included an affirmation in your book, letting the reader know that some small errors are inevitable, you may decide the error is not that big of a deal.

paper Talk Newspaper staffs should always print corrections in their next issue if the mistake was made in print.

Your staff should create a policy about where the corrections go. Generally corrections are run in the section where the original mistake appeared.

When writing a correction, it’s not necessary to reprint the original mistake, only to identify what the nature of the mistake was. If you misspelled Jerry Deane’s name, your correction might look like: In the October 22 edition of Blend, Jerry Deane’s name was mispelled.

Name of Publication sincerely regrets the error.

If you left a name out of a list of award winners, your correction might read: In the November 11 edition of Blend, Sarah So-and-So’s name was not included in a list of Gold Star Award winners. So-and-So was the recipient of a Gold Star Award in October.

If your mistake was published online, you should correct the mistake in the article. Explain the change at the end of the article. If you accidentally wrote that Sara Jones won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics, but she really won a silver, change the story to say silver. At the end of the story, print: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Sara Jones as a gold medalist at the Summer Olympics.

If your mistake wasn’t factual but rather contextual, where a piece of information could have been taken out of context or misconstrued, you’ll want to print a clarification, not a correction.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 21

CHECK OUT

THIS NEWSROOM

The staff of The Broadview give us a look at life in their San Francisco High School. ÂŤ

22 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

A Saturday workday begins with editor-in-chief Claire Fahy and design editor Rebecca Siegel mapping the state of the paper on the whiteboard while Madeleine Ainslie starts work on a graphic in Adobe Illustrator. The staff spends one Saturday a month putting the paper to bed. Photo by Jewel Devora/The Broadview

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 23

Classroom Technology With a laser printout of Page 1 in hand, editor-in-chief Claire Fahy makes final corrections before packaging the page and creating a PDF for the printer. Saturday workdays get most of the paper finished, then it “cools” until Monday, when proofing takes place. Photo by Jewel Devora/The Broadview

Check out the Broadview newsroom Claire Fahy & Liz Smith Editors-in-Chief Footsteps echo through the Main Hall as staff members file through the empty school and up the marble stairs into the dark computer lab. The drone of computers powering up accompanies the din of early Saturday morning chatter. This is Broadview Work Day. As each journalist occupies her familiar seat, Adobe InDesign is opened and the template is downloaded from the server.

Photos are curved, fonts are selected for feature stories and phones buzz with last-minute interviews. The general atmosphere of pressure from deadlines is alleviated by fits of

laughter and breaks from the computer with parent-supplied lunches of sushi, chicken wings, potato wedges and iced tea.

From the outsiders’ perspective, coming in to school on a Saturday might seem like social suicide, but what they don’t realize is that these days are some of the best days of the school year.

Work days serve not only as designated time in which the paper is cranked out, but it also serves as staff bonding. Returning staff members cite the community and camaraderie that is built between reporters and editors as the main reason for their desire to continue on staff.

This scenario repeats itself six

times a year as one Saturday is carved out of every staffer’s busy schedule and set aside for work exclusively on the print edition of The Broadview. These days entail intense work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. filled with writing, re-writing and page layout. Lots of page layout.

Eight to 16 pages are mocked up on a whiteboard a couple of weeks earlier, laid out with stories and pictures needing to be completed and put on each page. But this isn’t the only work done ahead of time. Throughout the production cycle staffers have been maintaining our Web presence through Twitter and Facebook posts and up-to-theminute stories on our website.

Convent of the Sacred Hearth High School has an enrollment of 200 students. The Broadview has been named a finalist in the Newspaper 24 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

Saturday Workdays

During a critique of the printed paper, second-year staffer Alice Jones explains errors to cub reporters Shannon Lum and Jamie Hum-Nishikado. Juniors who enroll in journalism for the first time take J1 with the senior staff, so they rely on the senior staffers to get them up to speed.

Photo by Jewel Devora/The Broadview Everyone works toward the revered smiley face that denotes a finalized packaged page. The wall of plaques from previously won All-American, Crown and Pacemaker awards remind everyone of the standard that must be met.

In between serious periods of intense page layout and copy editing, stories from Friday night escapades are exchanged with gossip of who’s dating who. We are an all-girls school.

At Work Day, everyone has a specific job to do.

Our Web and photo editor tweaks The Broadview Online and selects which photos best aid in telling a story through multimedia.

Our illustrator works meticulously on her newest cartoon. She is responsible for the creation of both the editorial cartoon relating to a news story in the edition as well as a comic strip about school life.

Our design editor carefully lays out

infographics and stages photo illustrations, making sure the pictures that accompany the high-quality writing are up to the Best of Show standard we have previously set.

Editors-in-chief help rookie reporters — some who have just joined a few days earlier and have no previous exposure to journalism — finish their copy. The editors then begin preparing them for the time they will have pages of their own to layout, mapping out the functions of InDesign and Photoshop as well as describing the rules concerning picas and picture curving. The editors do this while directing the symphony that is our staff.

Ideally, the paper is done at the end of Workday, but the reality is that we’ll be working down to the second before the finished PDFs are transmitted to the printer by 5 p.m. on Tuesday. There will undoubtedly be last-minute additions such as a photo or sports score.

The Broadview is a full-time job, and we love it.

Web Presence Throughout the production cycle staffers post updates to Twitter, Facebook and The Broadview’s online news website, broadview.sacredsf.org.

“

Work days serve not only as designated time in which the paper is cranked out, but also as staff bonding.”

Pacemaker Awards Broadsheet 8 pages or fewer category three times, most recently in 2012. Winners will be announced at the 2012 Fall JEA Convention.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 25

OUR STORY

COVERING RECOVERY Story by Jenna Herr • Photos provided by Mary Crane

R

ebuilding plans, grand openings, split campuses, new classes; how did Joplin High School student publications manage to cover it all? After the deadly May 22 tornado, the 2011-2012 school year was one of the busiest years for Joplin Schools.

The Spyglass newspaper and the Joplimo yearbook were both hit heavy with stories and events to cover due to the tornado. Not only were they competing with professional journalists and national news stations, but the publications had to make the decision of whether to revolve their work around the tornado, or remind JHS students that regular-day high school life still existed.

“We had to find that balance — that peace — between the pages of The Spyglass for people. We had to learn to convey messages through the articles we ran. Yes, it’s really sad that this building in Joplin was destroyed after being here for over 50 years.

But on the bright side, we had won the football game last Friday. It’s all about what you make it,” said Taylor Camden, editor of The Spyglass last year.

With now time sensitive and extremely

26 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

relevant events, the publications had to adapt a balance. Joplimo yearbook editor, Shelby Norvell, had to make the decision to stray away from tornado-related events for her publication. The students of JHS will always remember the May 22 tornado, but it did not define their school year.

“Student publications, besides being a key communication piece between the multiple campuses, became a normalizing feature. It wasn’t just about debris removal and challenging aspects of recovery in a community. We could also talk about student achievements in sports, clubs, and competitions. It helped us to define what the normalcy needed to be and should be for any high school student, in light of the fact that we had extenuating circumstances,” said Mary Crane, yearbook and newspaper adviser.

With three different campuses three miles apart, giving equal coverage to all locations became difficult. While a Lip-Dub video was being filmed by famous producers at the 1112 campus, students at Franklin Tech were also learning the basics of welding or construction. Each staff was put in the middle

The northwest side of Joplin High School after the May 22, 2011, tornado that killed more than 160 people in Joplin, Mo. Pictured is the iconic Joplin High School sign before it was altered to read “Hope High School� later in the summer. The campus was deemed irreparable.

Before and after panoramic photographs of the department store where Joplin High School has temporarily relocated. Construction of the new permanent high school began May 22, 2012, and is expected to be finished in time for the 2014-2015 school year.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 27

“ At the 2012 graduation ceremony, special speakers were President Barack Obama and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.

Spyglass staff prepare the December issue. All students were issued laptops.

Media coverage continued as students resumed activities. Photo by Shelby Norvell

“

Our town, the people in it, and the loss we all experienced weighed heavier on our hearts than the drive that forced us to push on with The Spyglass. But, we did it anyway. I couldn’t be more proud.”

— Taylor Camden, 2011-2012 Spyglass editor of multiple demands, and flexibility took on a new definition.

“As the editor, it was my job to weed through stories and decide what our targeted audience would want to read. We didn’t cover every rebuilding in Joplin or every feature of someone who had a story to tell. We covered what we thought was important to our readers,” Camden said.

Though The Spyglass was extremely important to the staff, staying on task in the midst of recovery was a challenge, Camden said.

“Our town, the people in it, and the loss we all experienced weighed heavier on our hearts than the drive that forced us to push on with The Spyglass. But, we did it anyway. I couldn’t be more proud,” Camden said.

The publications were also something the students could turn to for a sense of normalcy. They looked forward to a new issue of The Spyglass, and the yearbook coming out at the end of the year. With national news crews constantly filming at school, top journalists interviewing students, the news provided in the schools’ publications became important to JHS. Reading about results from last Friday night’s football game became bigger, because for just a quick moment, the media

spotlight was forgotten.

“I think last year was my personal recovery effort ... This year is a little bit different; there has been a momentum shift in that way. It’s been nice to not feel like we are in the media spotlight all the time, but there’s still a lot of things we have to cover,” Crane said.

The tornado also caused a change in audience for the two publications.

In the past, it had been targeted toward students and faculty. After the tornado, it was targeted toward members of the community and nation, as well.

“We were covering the same stories as national news and it was really intimidating thinking that we had to compete with them. Obviously, we didn’t stand a chance against big time, hot-shot professional journalists that work in those large, respected newsrooms. But our hearts were in it and if you read our stories and compared them to national news stories, you could see the difference of depth,” Camden said.

Yes, Joplin had earned its spot on the map. But to the student publications, it was still the hometown of 2,000 high school students, making history and recording that history.

And by doing so, reminding students regular life still exists.

Jenna Herr is a senior at Joplin High School and a two-year veteran of The Spyglass. She is planning on majoring in journalism when she graduates.

Student publications, besides being a key communication piece between the multiple campuses, became a normalizing feature.”

28 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

— Mary Crane, Joplin High School newspaper and yearbook adviser

Portrait

Katie Cowart

Photo

of the year

The Prospective, Bryant HS Bryant, Ark.

2

201

s t s i l a in

F

Portrait

Miranda Gibbs

The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS Prairie Village, Kan.

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 29

Sports Reaction Shelby Tauber

The Lion, McKinney High School/McKinney, Texas

News Photo

News Photo

News Photo

Jag Wire, Mill Valley High School Shawnee, Kan.

Feather Duster, Westlake High School Austin, Texas

Hornet, Bryant H Bryant, Ark.

Carly Granato

30 | Blend Magazine | Fall 2012

Barrett Wilson

Grace Finle

The Picture of the Year contest is co-sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association.

In 2012, the contest yielded a total of 1,317 entries.

Entries were judged based on technical quality, artistic value and journalistic content.

Sports Reaction

Sports Reaction

Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East HS Prairie Village, Kan.

The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest Shawnee, Kan.

Danielle Norton

Kate Jacobson

More s r e n n i W

e at onlinazine.org mag

d blen

o

Portrait

High School

Inkblot, Communications High School Wall, N.J.

ey

Mike Desocio

Fall 2012 | Blend Magazine | 31

National Scholastic press association 2221 University ave Se, Suite 121 minneapolis, mN 55414

NoNprofit org.

U.S. poStage

paiD permit 314 twiN CitieS mN

Blend is published by the Secondary Educational Services office at Ball State University.

NSPA is mailing complimentary copies of Blend to its members as a benefit of membership.

Since 1921

We help your staff improve.

Feedback:

Critiques for publications and websites are a valuable teaching tool for both the new and veteran adviser or student.

Exposure to trends:

Through our annual Best of the High School Press book, and online galleries of awardwinning work, students see and learn about the best work being done by their peers throughout the country.

Competitions:

Participation by students in NSPA’s national competitions for staffs and individual students promotes intellectual growth, academic excellence and a healthy, competitive spirit.

Networking with peers:

By attending an NSPA convention or workshop, participating in our Facebook fan page or following us on Twitter (@nspa) you’ll gain a network of like-minded students and advisers whose ideas and opinions are at your disposal.

Honors and recognition:

Receiving an All-American rating, a Pacemaker, an NSPA scholarship or other national award boosts staff morale, builds selfesteem, fosters pride in the school and helps recruit new staff members.

Join or renew online at nspa.studentpress.org