Stet
INSIDE
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Ike Lea reviews Adobe Lightroom
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Michigan Interscholastic Press Association December 2008 Vol. 36, No. 1 www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu
Journalism advisers take on internships
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MIPA summer workshop review
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A look at Constitution Day at the State Capitol
COVER PHOTO Photo by Karen Maras, publication adviser from Cousino HS. Maras took this photo last summer for an assignment in Julie Price’s photojournalism course, and the class selected it as the top photo. Maras is in her ninth year of advising.
Stet The President’s Column
Take me to your leadership theory seminar
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Jeremy Van Hof DeWitt HS
e all know that publication advisers wear a lot of hats—too many hats it seems at times. We bounce from being teachers, to coaches, to counselors, to friends, to parents, to enemies, to entertainers—and that’s just in the first 45 minutes of class. There is one thing that all advisers are all the time, though. No matter what role we happen to be playing at any given moment, we are always leaders; the dynamic organizations that we have all built need direction, and for that our publication staffs turn to us every day. I am lucky, then, that my wife is in the midst of a graduate program emphasizing the concept of leadership. I have way more access than I ever thought I would need to a whole library of books about educational leadership, trends in leadership, leadership theory. In talking over her courses, I am often struck at how all that my wife is studying about systems thinking and organizational structure really ties into the world of high school publications. Take for example leadership theory. The main idea here is that there are a set number of types of leaders, each with different purposes and each successful in dif-
MIPA Officers 2008-2009 President, Jeremy Van Hof, DeWitt HS 1st Vice President, Lynn Strause, retired, East Lansing HS 2nd Vice President, C.E. Sikkenga, Grand Haven HS Secretary, Kim Kozian, L’Anse Creuse HS North Treasurer, Brian Wilson, Waterford Kettering HS Trustee, Tim Morley, Inland Lakes HS Trustee, Sue Spalding, Quincy HS Trustee, Pam Bunka, Fenton HS Newspaper Chair, Julie Price, Haslett HS Yearbook Chair, Lynn Strause, East Lansing HS Broadcast Chair, Diane Herder, Laingsburg HS Legislative Chair, Gloria Olman, retired, Utica HS Workshop Chair, Betsy Pollard Rau, retired, H.H. Dow HS Middle School Chair, Jenny Birmelin, Orchard Lake MS Hall of Fame Chair, Jeff Nardone, Grosse Pointe South HS Immediate Past President, Rod Satterthwaite, Dexter HS Executive Director, Cheryl Pell, Michigan State University MIPA Office, Amy Brandt, Jon Vereecke, Jayna Salk, MSU students
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ferent ways. Political leaders are always leveraging for power, while human resources leaders take a more collegial approach and try to treat the members of their systems as resources. The model that seems to have the most promise for a publications room is the notion of the structural leader. These leaders form a top-down hierarchy and tend to be very goal oriented. This is exactly what we need to teach our editors in chief. The structural model is based on a set of questions, all of which our editors should be asking of themselves and their classmates every time there’s a staff meeting. • Who is in charge? • What do we care about? • What needs to be done? • How do we decide what to do? • What are the skills of the staff members? • How do we coordinate our efforts? • What are the assets of organizations outside this publication? • How do we relate to other organizations? • How do we measure success? • How do we grow? Any student editor that can answer these questions clearly will be a leader that I would love to have on my newspaper staff. A
About Stet Stet is the official newsletter of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, an agency of the School of Journalism at Michigan State University. Stet is published four times a year by the MIPA executive director and MSU students. Send letters to the editor and advertising inquiries to mipa@msu.edu. The MIPA Web site is maintained by Cheryl Pell. Web site: www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu MIPA 305 Communication Arts Building Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1212 Phone: (517) 353-6761 Fax: (517) 355-7710 Special help by Alexis Bunka, MSU student
good student editor needs to be taught how to take control of a dynamic environment, and the best way for them to do that is to ask pointed questions that will get the staff thinking in the right direction. Consider using the list of questions above as an agenda for the next story-brainstorming meeting. Use them as a framework as the staff writes (or revisits) the staff manual. Thinking of making a new Web site for the newspaper? Encourage your students to use questions like these to shape the layout and content decisions that can often bog down the creation of a new system. But, and it is a big but, do not consider yourself a structural leader. It is a great model for the student leader to follow, because they have a clearly defined set of goals that need accomplishing for every deadline. The goals of the adviser, though, are far more nebulous. Remember all those hats? We wear them because our students have needs that go far beyond the creation of a newspaper or yearbook. So what roll should advisers play? Another leadership model—called symbolic leadership—fits much more snuggly around our huge, Please see PRESIDENT, page 8
MIPA Calendar Dec. 12, 2008 Scholastic Partnership for the First Amendment
Feb. 20, 2009 Contest entries deadline
March 7, 2009 Judging Day, MSU
April 28, 2009 Spring Conference
July 13–31, 2009 Teacher Workshops
Aug. 2–6, 2009 MIPA Student Workshop
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AdviserWatch
Craighead creates an outlet for student expression By Jayna Salk, Journalism Major, MSU
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What are five things that you absolutely can’t get through your school day without?
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If you had to pick one, what is the craziest thing that you’ve done to get through to your students? Did it work?
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Your school prints with the Detroit Free Press. Can you tell me a little about how that works?
My kids, yoga or meditation or juicing—all of which I do with my staff, my computer, my (adult) colleagues who support me, and writing- some freedom for myself, and the next generation. Because we spend so much time at work, it needs to be a place you feel comfortable; where sound mental, physical, spirit and intellectual health is supported and you are able to be productive.
Lorena Craighead spent a week at MSU in July learning publication design and InDesign. Craighead teaches at Renaissance HS in Detroit and advises two student newspapers, The Stentor and Phoenix Rising.
It all works, in hindsight. I think I talk to my kids through the lens of how much I love what I do. It is in some ways personal because this is a world we are recreating. My wrath, as well as my passion, come off more as a lovingly serious big sister than very professional adviser. I work for the impeccable product, but we are family. We are all accountable, equals and fallible. But we each must bring our best. My kids have let each other know that there is “the other side” to crazy, fun, cool Craigy, which you do not want to see.
Ford Motor Company and the Detroit Free Press sponsor the High School Journalism Program. They have since 1985, and for six months of the year, participating schools print one page in the DFP. This year we are moving to three print pages and a Web site with the other additions. It is a great program. They offer mentorship for advisers, internships and college money for the students, access to their CIC system and other things. One reason I wanted to add to their great program with public relations is that they do all of the layouts and the kids were just becoming good reporters but no other parts of the craft. My creating another paper has taught us more of the things needed to go from idea to publication.
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What advice would you give a new adviser? What have you found to be helpful?
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There is really no such thing as “can’t.” There are people who want you to succeed and a million kids who need you to succeed. You may have to get creative with finances or other things you did not anticipate, but you can succeed. Your support may not be in your building or in your family. Let’s face it, this is time-consuming work and teaching other classes can be less work. There are other advisers at your disposal who will support you so that you can get the best possible writing out of your kids. Know that you are not alone and your mission is so worthy.
Please see ADVISERWATCH, page 8 December 2008 ■ 3
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By Ike Lea, Lansing Community College
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NOTES
Michigan folks reap awards at JEA/ NSPA Fall Convention in St. Louis
Lightroom is Photoshop alternative aving trouble finding your photos months later? Can’t find those important homecoming photos now that it’s December? Do you need a software package that allows you to edit and enhance your photos with a simple, easy to use interface and will keep track of your images as well? Adobe heard the needs of digital photographers and has an answer; Adobe Lightroom.
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What is Lightroom and why do you need it?
This new software combines the viewing capabilities of Adobe Bridge along with the image processing power of Photoshop and the capabilities of a true image database to help you keep track of images. Lightroom can process JPEG or RAW digital camera images and it contains all of the powerful image enhancement functions that you find in Photoshop. If you are shooting RAW format with your cameras, Lightroom lets you squeeze every bit of flexibility from a RAW file including highlight recovery and flexible white balance. Adobe created Lightroom to help photographers keep track of their images and it is a true image database (what is also known as a Digital Asset Manager). It was built from the ground up to be a solution to the problem of digital photographers ability to manage thousands of digital image files. Lightroom also gives you powerful tools to view, crop, retouch, color correct, sharpen and output digital photographs for use in print or on the web. It gives you all of the tools that photojournalists need to prepare images for publications in a simple, easier to learn interface and also provides a great way to keep track of those hundreds or thousands of digital photographs that you are shooting. The Lightroom workspace is divided into Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print and Web modules that allow you to quickly edit and export digital photographs for either print, web or on-screen usage. The Library module is used to import, view, sort and organize images and includes easy to use tools for keywording and adding copyright information to the imported images. For quick turn around, the Library module also contains a limited set of Quick Develop tools for image enhancement. The Develop module includes all of the tools required to edit your images including cropping, color balance (white balance) adjusting brightness, contrast and sharpening. You can also perform outstanding grayscale conversions within the Develop module and version 2.0 of Lightroom adds non-destructive dodging and burning. For your publication needs you can use the Export command within the Develop module to output your single images as PSD, TIFF, JPEG or DNG (Digital Negative) file formats for use within your publications. Keeping with its totally non-destructive workflow Lightroom creates a new file upon export that applies all of your edits to a copy of the original image file without changing the original file. Need photos for a web page? Lightroom’s Web module allows you to create web ready content, single images or great looking web galleries for online image viewing. Images must be imported into Lightroom before you can view and edit the images. During the Import process, Lightroom creates a preview image that remains in the Lightroom Catalog even if the actual image files are moved. If you keyword all of your images as they are imported into Lightroom, you can easily locate images at a later date. Even without keywording you can search all of the images within the database using the creation date embedded within the metadata. Another big benefit of Lightroom is that all edits and changes to every image are totally nondestructive. Lightroom’s structure prevents the original digital file that came off the camera from ever being changed. All edits are tracked in the Lightroom Catalog and the final edits are applied to a copy of the original image as it is exported for print or Please see PHOTO, page 7 4 ■ December 2008
Left: Betsy Pollard Rau received the JEA Lifetime Achievement Award at the JEA/NSPA convention in St. Louis on Nov. 15. Rau recently retired from H.H. Dow HS. ABOVE: Jeremy Whiting received a $1,000 Future Teacher Scholarship Award from JEA. Whiting is working on his journalism certification at MSU.
Pacemakers The Squall, Dexter HS The Update, H.H. Dow HS
Pacemaker Finalists Focus, Midland HS North Pointe, Grosse Pointe North HS Vanguard, Stevenson HS
NSPA Best of Show Newspaper 1–8 Pages
First Place: The Tower, Grosse Pointe South HS Fourth Place: North Pointe, Grosse Pointe North HS Please see AWARDS, page 15
CMU accepting scholarship applications Applications are being accepted for Central Michigan University’s Lem Tucker Journalism Scholarship, a fouryear scholarship totaling nearly $80,000, including full tuition and supplementary awards for Deadline room and board. Named for CMU alumto apply: nus Lem Tucker, an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist who worked for all Nov. 30 three major television networks before his death in 1991, the annual scholarship is awarded to a high school senior who demonstrates commitment to promoting the participation and success of minorities in print and electronic media and excellence in journalism. Deadline to apply is Nov. 30. For an application or information, visit http://www.ccfa.cmich.edu/ltucker.
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Brian Wilson, newspaper and yearbook adviser at Waterford Kettering HS, spent a month at The Flint Journal last summer. Here is one of the front pages on which his byline appeared.
Teachers take on internships What is the internship program? By Janet N. Medler, MPA Foundation The MPA Foundation’s most recent partnership with MIPA, the Journalism Teacher Summer Internship Program, required a year-long effort to hammer out the details so that advisers (MIPA members all) could spend four summer weeks in Michigan newsrooms. They wrote, edited, shot pix, interacted with editors and reporters, and returned to their classrooms this fall with an up-close and personal experience to share with their students—and administrators. Their evaluations, and those from their supervising editors, chronicle the lessons they learned, not all upbeat, but all valuable in becoming more effective teachers and advisers and presenting a realistic view of the business of journalism. The program came about following MIPA executive director Cheryl Pell’s presentation to the Foundation board that culminated with a wish list of joint projects. The board voted to fund up to six internships; teachers must seek their own internships at MPA member newspapers, interview for the positions and meet the hiring newspaper’s requirements. No newspaper editors asked the candidates to take writing and editing tests! Some of the expectations for the coming year are based on what was suggested from the participants. Deadline for applications for 2009 is March 27. Please see the MIPA Web site for the application.
What I DID OVER MY SUMMER VACATION
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hen I first started with The Flint Journal, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. For sure, I wanted writing experience. I just didn’t realize the extent of the writing and reporting I’d be doing. Over the course of four weeks I wrote maybe 25 stories. They included everything from obituaries to in-depth pieces on topics like euthanasia in animal shelters and Michigan’s Right to Farm Act. My work appeared buried in the back of the news section, and it ran on the By Brian Wilson, front page. In fact, in adviser, what was perhaps my Waterford internship’s crowning Kettering HS achievement, in one issue I had TWO front page stories. It’s funny; in different ways, the experience was both exactly what I expected and nothing I anticipated. Going into the internship, my hope was that I’d be able to gain some “street cred” with my students. You know … I could
say “Well, when I was working for the Flint Journal, this is what I did.…” And I really think that I will be able to do that. I can share what I’ve learned about interviewing, and writing on deadline, and how page layout works on a daily basis. But at the same time, it was very different from what I expected. I really didn’t think I’d be as busy as I was. And I didn’t know that I would actually come to be seen as valuable in the newsroom. I worked with three editors, and all three told me how much they appreciated the work I did. Maybe they were just being nice, but I really do feel like I was an important part of the Flint Journal last summer. I am now trying to figure out how I might be able to keep working as a journalist and also teach at the same time. It’s just what I need, really. More stuff to do. But I love it. I mean, I really, really loved it. When I looked at a newspaper display box on a street corner anywhere in Genesee County and saw my name on the front page, I got goose bumps. When I got a phone call from someone who had read my story and wanted to offer another angle, they probably didn’t realPlease see INTERNSHIPS , page 6 December 2008 ■ 5
Stet Internships, cont. from page 5 ize that I was smiling on the other end of the phone. When I got kicked out of the county animal shelter because I was a reporter doing a story, I felt like Woodward. Or Bernstein. Or maybe just Geraldo, but it’s still cool. Perhaps the biggest benefit of my four weeks was that I figured out that I really could do this for a living. I’m pretty good at it, I think, and I’m almost modest enough to not want to share that fact (but not quite). Till now, I’d never had any actual newsroom experience, and there was always a nagging doubt that I didn’t really possess the very skills I was teaching my students. In the weeks leading up to the internship, in fact, that was my biggest worry. I knew I could talk the talk, but could I write the write? I also drew some conclusions that my students might not like. For instance, I learned that writing a story in a matter of a couple of hours really is possible. I mean, there were days when I would start and finish as many as three full stories. When I think about how most of my journalism students work on the same story for perhaps two weeks, I wonder what we can do to accelerate that process. Granted, I was living and breathing my reporting all day every day, and they have many other responsibilities throughout their days, so it isn’t exactly the same. Still, I really want to think about ways to push my students on their stories more than I have, without adding too much stress to their already-busy lives. I also realized in my time at the paper that every story is different. I don’t mean just the finished product; I mean the methods by which that story is developed. Sometimes I would do every interview over the phone and write the story without ever leaving my desk (that was also cool—my own desk). Other times I’d have to research deeply into topics with which I was unfamiliar. I’d go through archives of past stories on similar topics. I’d talk to other reporters about what they had written in the past. I’d use that 6 ■ December 2008
. . . maybe I didn’t fully understand until this job that visuals are as important to the writer as they are to the reader. old (OK, not that old) standby, Google, to surf a particular subject. Many times, I’d drive to a particular story location without much to go on, and my travels almost always worked out. This happened, for example, when I was writing about a guy who was reciting the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the Lapeer County Courthouse on the Fourth of July. I had driven to Lapeer and was sitting in my car, just about to head back to the office, when I spotted two girls sitting on the courthouse steps. I felt like I already had enough information to do the story, but something told me to turn off the car and talk to the girls. It really just struck my interest, the juxtaposition of these two modern-day teenage girls in jeans and flipflops texting their friends as they sat on the steps of the oldest working courthouse in the state. It turned out, in fact, that they were history majors who had just come back from a trip to Greece. They gave me a series of great quotes about history and I painted them into the story’s lead. I always knew that there was a very strong visual element in the act of reading. But maybe I didn’t fully understand until this job that visuals are as important to the writer as they are to the reader. And through it all, I came to the conclusion that I love to learn. That’s one way in which my teaching job and my journalism experience are very much the same. In both jobs, I absolutely love the fact that by the time I leave the parking lot at night, I know something that I didn’t know when the day began.
SEAHOLM teacher interns at royal oak daily tribune By Lanie Barron, Highlander News Editor
“T
hey say those who can’t do, teach,” Ben Harwood said as he reclined behind his desk at Seaholm High School. “I didn’t want to be one of those teachers.” After a summer internship at Royal Oak’s Daily Tribune, the Birmingham Seaholm publications adviser proved that the age-old teacher adage warranted little truth. After applying in April, Ben Harwood, was one of three teachers offered an internship through MIPA and MPA. “I was nervous about writing for a newspaper again,” said Harwood, whose last print job was for a college newspaper ten years ago. Harwood chose the Daily Tribune in Royal Oak as the place was to reacquaint himself with print journalism. Working from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday at a daily-circulated newspaper proved beneficial for Harwood, who was a general assignment reporter. Harwood credited the Tribune staff with making his transition from adviser to reporter easier than he expected. “There’s always a story somewhere, some harder than others,” said Harwood. “But I was able to bounce ideas off editors and reporters and talk to people with more experience.” “What I really observed was he just threw himself into the assignments,” said Elizabeth Katz, a staff writer working alongside Harwood during his internship “He was a breath of fresh air in the newsroom.” Working at a daily paper, where the focus was on community coverage, Harwood said he could see parallels in coverage with the Highlander, the student newspaper
at Seaholm he advises. “There is a strong community aspect [at the Tribune],” said Harwood. “You are focusing on people and looking for unique personal story, just like a school paper.” “By interning at a small, suburban daily newspaper that covers the people and events of such a vibrant area, Ben was able to get practical experience he may not have gotten at other papers,” said Payne. Through all his experiences at the Tribune, Harwood was able to take his redeveloped writing, organization, Ben Harwood, and story adviser, development Birmingham skills back to Seaholm HS the classroom. “It made me a better teacher,” said Harwood. “I felt my students would be more apt to listen and respect their question.” Now back to his full time job teaching, Harwood advises other educators to explore opportunities to further their teaching skills over the summer. “I think all teachers should go out and do what they teach during the summer,” said Harwood. “I’m very thankful for the experience. I loved every minute of it.” “Ben was an invaluable resource,” said Payne. “He applied a fresh approach to events that sometimes become second nature to our experienced staff and provided an infusion of energy. We appreciated his work enough that we have already made plans to continue our association with him as a freelance correspondent.”
I think all teachers should go out and do what they teach during the summer. I’m very thankful for the experience. I loved every minute of it.
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Hicks spent month at hometown newspaper in traverse city By Charity Bouchard, TKHS staff writer
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tacey Hicks introduces herself each year to her newspaper class as a Writing is former journalist who a craft that went back to school to must be become a practiced teacher. “Many and honed English teachers in constantly many schools teach journalin order to ism; but I am a journalist communicate who teaches English,” she effectively said. This year with the when she stood in front reader. You of her Thornapple Kelhave to love logg High School stuthe language dents and uttered those and want to lines, her work to find journalism experience the perfect was a very recent memoword or ry after participating in phrase for an internship opportunity the situation through MPA and MIPA. at hand. “The newspapers, many of whom are in serious economic trouble, receive free help for one month of the summer, which is normally a busy time for them. The teacher receives the benefit of learning how a professional publication operates,” Hicks said. One of the provisions of the internship was Hicks had to personally contact the paper she wanted to work for in order to set up the start and finish time of the experience. Hicks contacted the Traverse City Record-Eagle last spring after she was notified her application was accepted, and worked there from June 16
through July 13. Even though Hicks lives in Middleville, she is originally from the Traverse City area and wanted to be close to family there in the summer while she was working at the newspaper. Hicks set learning goals for her experience, specifically the role technology is playing in newspaper publication today. “Having first worked at a newspaper in the early 90s, I was excited to see how technology was changing the newspaper business,” Hicks said. During her internship, she talked with the paper’s webmaster about how she Stacey Hicks, organizes and adviser, formats the online Thornapple edition of the Kellogg HS Record-Eagle, and she also spent time with the production manager and learned the process of taking a paper to print. As interesting as some of the technical aspects of the newspaper business were, the highlight of her month was reporting and writing articles for the publication. “A key point I was reminded of is journalism is an independent field, and that you are responsible for finding things out on your own,” Hicks said. One thing her students will get out of her experience is a chance to see their teacher’s work critiqued by the editors at the newspaper. “They ripped me apart,” she said, laughing. “But seriously, it was a great experience because it reminded me that if you get lazy with your writing, you will lose your skills. Writing is a craft that must be practiced and honed constantly in order to communicate effectively with the reader. You have to love the language and want to work to find the perfect word or phrase for the situation at hand.” Hicks started passing on information to her students from her internship experience on the first day of class and plans to continue through the trimester. “This experience has changed the way I teach the course. I am excited to share this with my students,” she said.
Photo, cont. from page 4 web use. You don’t have to worry about a student editing the only copy of an image and then saving over the original image file. What’s the difference between Lightroom and Bridge? Bridge is simply a viewer that does not keep track of images. It will show you what images or files are inside a selected folder at that very moment. If an image is moved or removed from the folder you will no longer see that image using Bridge. Lightroom creates a preview of each image as it is imported and the previews remain in the database even if the actual digital image file is moved. Using Lightroom your image files can be located on several different hard drives and the program can still search and locate the desired image. Remember that one advantage of Bridge is that it will show you other types of documents including InDesign page layouts, Illustrator artwork, PDFs, and even quicktime video clips. Publication staffs that utilize InDesign for their page layouts will probably want to keep a couple of copies of Bridge on your workroom computers so that you can still utilize Bridge as a media viewer. Bridge will run as a separate program from Photoshop and Adobe is developing the software to become the “bridge” that connects numerous pieces of software including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Final Cut Pro. What’s missing? Lightroom is not meant to replace Photoshop. Unlike Photoshop, Lightroom does not contain the ability to create selections or layers. If you are creating infographics, photo illustrations and special effects you will want to keep a copy or two of Photoshop around to fulfill those needs. My recommended workflow: Purchase a large external hard drive to use as the home base for your Lightroom catalog and image files. (You can purchase 1TB drives these days for under $200). With a large hard drive you could use this as the main drive for Lightroom and backup all or your photographic images for an entire year. If you have 10 computers in your publication workroom, I would recommend keeping Photoshop on a couple of those stations for those jobs that require the selections, layers and effects that Photoshop provides. Consider changing your other workstations over to Lightroom for simple photo editing tasks and the ability to keep track of your images. Always back up the original images downloaded from your digital camera to a DVD. Those are your digital negatives and you need to have two separate backups, one preferably on DVD. Everything that I shoot gets backed up to an external hard drive and burned to DVD before I start editing images. The biggest challenge for publication advisers will be making the initial switch to Lightroom, but in the long run you’ll see major benefits. Lightroom is much easier for students to learn than Photoshop. The interface is set up in a logical workflow and all of the tools and options are targeted towards photographic images. Lightroom is also less expensive than Photoshop. You can purchase Lightroom for under $100.00 under educational discount. Having a true image database to track your images will probably save you hours of hunting for photos and allow your staff to quickly access the required images. For more info about Lightroom check out these websites: http://www.photoshopuser.com/lightroom2/ http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/
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Middle School Conference on Nov. 6 Dressed in their staff shirts, students listen closely to the speakers. More than 450 students attended the sixth annual MiddleSchool Conference at the MSU Student Union.
MIPA office manager Amy Brandt passes out award certificates to students at the end of the morning. Students could enter their work into a contest that was judged that day.
President,cont. from page 2 “Caps for Sale” stack of hats. Symbolic leadership is all about ritual. The symbolic leader is less concerned with the actual value of any given activity, and more concerned with what the underlying meaning of an activity is. For example, my secondgrade son had a school-wide book reading contest last year. The principal promised to sit on the roof of the school for an entire day if the students read a certain number of pages during the month of March. Is there any educational value in sitting on the roof? Absolutely not. The fact that the principal was willing to actually climb up there for a day and follow through on his plan, though, carried a lot of weight with the kids, the teachers and the parents.
AdviserWatch, cont. from page 3
Q A
Has MIPA been helpful to you as an adviser?
Oh my God, yes! I love MIPA. I love the passion that Cheryl has always brought. She has believed in our kids at Cody and RHS when others, including themselves sometimes, thought they did not have what it takes to be successful young reporters, photographers, layout designers, editors and business managers. I have taken students to a JEA Conference in Chicago, which was great too, but quite frankly, they prefer the personal touch of MIPA. I have learned so much from MIPA’s site, courses and colleagues. The kids have become ambassadors of their 8 ■ December 2008
Advisers need to embrace that type of leadership, because the culture and climate of the publications classroom is so critical to the productivity of the class. Without a positive atmosphere in the newsroom, it becomes impossible for even the strongest student editors to run an effective publication. That’s why we need to take specific steps modeled after the ideas of symbolic leadership. • Create rituals • Have fun • Build traditions • Recognize accomplishments • Build humor into the daily routine • Tell stories • Create a soul for the classroom One great symbolic leadercommunities and directors of their aspirations. We have all become better at what we do because of MIPA’s unwavering and creative support.
More about Lorena Craighead When Renaissance High School’s journalism adviser Lorena Craighead was teaching in New York through the Teach for America program, a career with journalism had never crossed her mind. Now, over ten years later, she can’t think of a place she’d rather be. Craighead’s roommate in New York, Dream Hampton, was the first female staff member at The Source magazine. Craighead was inspired by her to learn more about journalism as a hobby. Soon, she was freelancing for publications like
Katherine Jones, a reporter for WLNS TV 6, listens to a question. Jones has helped with MIPA judging and speaks at conferences.
ship idea is to become more involved in MIPA and its various events. Sure there are academic benefits to MIPA’s conferences and contests, but more than anything else, MIPA allows students to put their roll as a student journalist into a greater cultural context. The annual bus trip to the fall conference becomes a tradition, feeding inside jokes and fun memories that add value to the day-to-day routine in your classroom. Students at MIPA events see other staffs bonded tightly together and try to mimic that by creating staff t-shirts, bringing signs and crazy chants to the awards ceremony, building superficial rivalries with that school from Midland that wins all the awards—all elements of a culture of symbolic leadership. Implementing a symbolic leadership structure is not easy. When I moved to a new school
three years ago to create a new newspaper, no such structure was in place. I was new in the building and worried that if my new principal walked by and saw too many pizza parties or Connect Four tournaments, he would have second thoughts about the educational value of a newspaper program. Because of that, I let the symbolic leadership roll fall away. Now I battle with the staff regularly, trying to get them to invest fully in the value of the newspaper as an entity and watching as my student editors struggle to get the staff writers motivated to work. If you find yourself in a similar situation, consider doing what I am planning on doing next Monday: call off class, head outside, and play kickball. See if that makes it any easier to get enough kids to stay late the next time deadline rolls around.
The Source, Rap Pages and City View. When she moved back to Detroit after two years in New York, she stumbled on a way to combine her two passions. “I was still freelancing in Detroit, but also doing teacher support packets for community theatre,” Craighead said. “I saw a need for improvements on our Detroit Free Press sponsored page at Cody High School. I went to the adviser, Dr. Robbyn Williams, and offered to help. She saw I had passion for it and taught me a great deal of what I needed to know. I fell in love with high school journalism.” Three years later, Craighead moved to Renaissance High School to fill a journalism and English position. When she started at RHS, her staff didn’t have InDesign, and they lacked the support to start a new school paper. Now, RHS has Adobe
products, and two student publications. “I can be very persuasive,” Craighead said. Renaissance High School prints its student newspaper, The Stentor, with the Free Press monthly. Two years ago, Craighead and her students successfully started Phoenix Rising, another paper, which, according to Craighead, is unlike Stentor because it’s a “forum for student selfexpression, and not a part of the existing curricula.” Craighead can now appreciate the struggles she experienced with starting another program. “My favorite part of advising is that the students have always been willing to dream with me. [They are willing] to do great but arduous work and to see their accomplishments in print. I love that they are coming to embrace the honor and responsibility of student voice.”
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2008 Summer Workshop REview
T
Lauren McCarthy, Forest Hills Eastern HS
he MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop held Aug. 3–7, at Michigan State University attracted more than 480 students, 50 more than last year. Among many opportunities, students got a chance to participate in an issues panel on the economy; hear Karl Gude, former Newsweek information graphics editor, speak about the joys of graphics; visit local television stations; watch the Spartan football team practice; visit the Ingham County Fair; see a movie that hadn’t been released yet; and interview cast members of “Wicked.” Combined with excellent instruction in the classroom (at least that’s what the evaluations report) and fun after hours (loved the Talent Show!), the workshop was another success. Take a minute to look at the quality of work here as well as the list of award winners. Then think about sending students to the workshop next year, Aug. 2–6, for an experience they’ll never forget. They’ll thank you for it. Cory Shattuck, Clarenceville HS December 2008 ■ 9
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Maggie Moore, Midland HS
Malorie Urda, Haslett HS
From Betsy Rau, workshop director Once again, Chad and I had the time of our lives at the workshop. Our theme was “Jump into Journalism,” and in so many ways, the workshop jumped! The most amazing thing we saw all week was how the students jumped into everything—from their classwork to our challenges and most of all into the talent show and the closing. To see students up there dancing and participating in things that took a heck of a lot of courage made the week so worthwhile. And then there was that Dancing Queen thing at the end. You know it!
Caroline Hyslop, Fenton HS
It was a blast and we hope all of you not only come back to us next summer, but bring two or three friends. I guarantee it—you’ll have the time of your life.
Betsy Rau and Chad Sanders at the workshop closing
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Workshop Students who
took home SOME AWARDS Sparty Winners We had some awesome workshop students last summer! We think all students are special, but the ones who won awards at the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop were rated top among their peers. A Sparty is the top award given at the workshop, and a Classroom Excellence Award is another high honor. Congratulations to all winners!
Name
School
Class
Kristyn Cormier Jessica Tchoryk Corey Shattuck Nicole Geller Alex Everard Kyle Oberle Ellen Busch Kayce Hathaway Caroline Hyslop Griffin Haywood Zen Pace Lauren McCarthy Kirsten Schnackenberg Devin Zoltowski Mary Biglin Malorie Urda Tess Haadsma Maggie Sikkema Anne Brown Kira Boneff Maggie Moore Bailey McCarthy Riley Alex McCarthy Emily Ruff-Wilkinson Maria Guido Eli Bergsma Lydia Belanger Keegan Mogg Beth Nowinski Kaitlyn Kent Tiffany Priess
Athens HS Chelsea HS Clarenceville HS DeWitt HS Dexter HS Dexter HS East Grand Rapids HS Fenton HS Fenton HS Findlay HS Flint Central HS Forest Hills Eastern HS Greenwich Academy Grosse Pointe South HS Grosse Pointe South HS Haslett HS Lakeview HS-BC Loy Norrix HS Loy Norrix HS Mercy HS Midland HS Ogemaw Heights HS Portage Central HS Roeper School Southgate Anderson HS Thornapple Kellogg HS Traverse City Central HS Troy HS Troy HS Waterford Kettering HS Willow Run HS
Opinion Coverage Feature Coverage Photo for Publication 1 Multimedia Thing Bobby Hawthorne Experience Youíre Designing the NP Entertainment Coverage Business Management Illustrator and Info Graphics Sports Photo Broadcast & VJ Photo for Publication 2 NP Editors Shoot First, Photoshop Later NP InDesign Photoshop Creative Techniques Taking Your NP to the Edge NP Advanced InDesign NP Editors NP InDesign Photoshop Begins with Photo Multimedia Thing Sports Coverage Bobby Hawthorne Experience Writing & Design Fundamentals Broadcast & VJ Bobby Hawthorne Experience Youíre Designing the YB Complete YB Taking Your YB to the Edge YB Editors in Chief
Opinion Writing Feature Coverage Outstanding Portfolio It’s a Multimedia Thing The Bobby Hawthorne Experience Outstanding Center Spread Design Entertainment Coverage Business Management and Design Most Sophisticated Graphic Designer Best Portfolio Broadcast and Video Journalism Outstanding Portfolio Editorial Leadership Best Photojournalism Portfolio Mastery of InDesign Photoshop Creative Techniques Best Edgy Story Packaging Outstanding Achievement in Design Editorial Leadership Outstanding Design Outstanding Portfolio Itís a Multimedia Thing Strongest Sports Feature The Bobby Hawthorne Experience Exceptional Effort and Performance Broadcast and Video Journalism The Bobby Hawthorne Experience Yearbook Graphic Design Excellence in Writing and Design Outstanding Design and Packaging Outstanding Classroom Work
Award Name
Class Writing & Design Fundamentals NP InDesign Photo for Publication 1 Complete YB Photoshop Begins with Photo Broadcast & VJ Broadcast & VJ Photo for Publication 2 NP InDesign Complete YB Opinion Coverage Opinion Coverage NP Editors Feature Coverage Illustrator and Info Graphics Taking Your NP to the Edge
Award Name Excellence in Writing and Design Excellence in InDesign Excellence in Photo for Publication I Excellence in Design Excellence in Photoshop Begins with Photo Excellence in Broadcast and Video Journalism Excellence in Broadcast and Video Journalism Excellence in Photo for Publication II Excellence in InDesign Excellence in The Complete Yearbook Excellence in Opinion Writing Excellence in Opinion Writing Excellence in Lead Writing Excellence in Feature Coverage Excellence in InDesign Skills Excellence in Modular Design
Excellence Winners Name Jessica Pomish Jessica Ranke Ashley Goldsmith Sydney Edelman Chelsea Daum Rianne Coale Carlistie Massey Rachael Walton Megan Blue Jiwon Bang Gwendolyn Eder Alyse Lindley Joseph Hardy Sara Krauss Kari Decker Lindsay Baker
School Andover HS Andover HS Athens HS Avondale HS Avondale HS Boyne Falls Public Boyne Falls Public C. E. Byrd HS Canton HS Central Elementary Chelsea HS Churchill HS Clintondale HS Cranbrook Kingswood DeWitt HS Dexter HS
Continued on page 12
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AWARDS, cont. Name
School
Class
Samantha Chalut Amanda Alfaro Lauren Zepeda Katie Trinko Rachel Karas Katie Altman Rian Dawson Liam Zanyk McLean Keara Hanlon Matt Radick Erinn Colmenares Gabriella Gonzalez Kaitie Ferguson Emily Jones Jonathon Morley Elizabeth Brown Tyler Zuker Michael Williams Marion Hester Laura Sliva Ashley Davis Emily Wilkins Erin Fitzpatrick Stephanie Yascolt Nate Zemanek Shannon McKeel Nelson Burton Parker Banas Elizabeth Anderson Andie Shafer Lizzy Rinner Salman Rajput Sheelagh Straub Rachel Chastain Vera Donaj John Stanczak Haley Landgraff Kate Murray Abbie Genautis Peter Mayhew Josh Cohen Hailey Watkins Sara Rosenthal Jack Hagen Elise Kaufmann Sierra Porter Connor Kostrzewa Ang Evanowski Stephanie Carson Betty Buynak Sarah Griffin Kayla Grogan Rachel Reed Elisabeth Robinson Miranda Fleming
Fenton HS Fenton HS Fenton HS Findlay HS Flushing HS Garden City HS Grosse Pointe South HS H. H. Dow HS H. H. Dow HS Howell HS Howell HS Howell HS Howell HS Inland Lakes HS Inland Lakes HS Ithaca HS Ithaca HS Jackson HS Lake Orion HS Lakeview HS-BC Loy Norrix HS Mercy HS Mercy HS Midland HS Midland HS Niles HS Okemos HS Okemos HS Okemos HS Okemos HS Okemos HS Pioneer HS Plainwell HS Rochester HS Rochester HS Roseville HS Seaholm HS Seaholm HS Seaholm HS Seaholm HS Seaholm HS Stevenson HS Stevenson HS Traverse City Central HS Traverse City Central HS Traverse City HS Traverse City West Senior HS Utica HS Utica HS Waterford Kettering HS Waterford Kettering HS Waterford Kettering HS Waterford Kettering HS Waterford Kettering HS Willow Run HS
Photo for Publication 2 Sports Photo Entertainment Coverage Photoshop Begins with Photo Taking Your NP to the Edge Feature Coverage Taking Your NP to the Edge Illustrator and Info Graphics Shoot First, Photoshop Later Youíre Designing the NP Writing & Design Fundamentals Entertainment Coverage Entertainment Coverage Taking your YB to the Edge Sports Photo Taking Your YB to the Edge NP Editors Bobby Hawthorne Experience Sports Photo YB Editors in Chief Sports Coverage Taking your NP to the Edge NP InDesign NP Editors Bobby Hawthorne Experience Sports Coverage Illustrator and Info Graphics NP InDesign YB Editors in Chief YB Editors in Chief Photoshop Creative Techniques NP InDesign Broadcast & VJ Feature Coverage NP Advanced InDesign NP InDesign Youíre Designing the YB Youíre Designing the YB NP Advanced InDesign Multimedia Thing NP Editors Multimedia Thing Multimedia Thing Opinion Coverage Shoot First, Photoshop Later YB Editors in Chief Multimedia Thing Youíre Designing the YB Photoshop Creative Techniques Youíre Designing the NP Photo for Publication 1 Business Management Business Management Complete YB Business Management
Award Name Excellence in Photo for Publication II Best Cheerleading Photos Excellence in Entertainment Coverage Excellence in Photoshop Begins with Photo Excellence in Taking Newspaper to the Edge Excellence in Feature Coverage Excellence in Taking Newspaper to the Edge Coolest Looking Graphic Image Excellence Outstanding Design Portfolio Excellence in Writing and Design Excellence in Entertainment Coverage Excellence in Entertainment Writing Excellence in Design Best Football and Hockey Photos Excellence in Modular Design Excellence in Editorial Leadership Excellence in Writing Best Storytelling Excellence in Theme Development Excellence in Sports Writing Excellence in Taking Newspaper to the Edge Excellence in InDesign Excellence in Editorial Leadership Excellence in Writing Excellence in Sports Writing Uncanny Knowledge of Ethanol Issues Excellence in InDesign Excellence in Theme Concept Excellence in Theme Concept Excellence in Creative Storytelling Excellence in InDesign Excellence in Broadcast and Video Journalism Excellence in Feature Coverage Excellence in Advanced InDesign Excellence in InDesign Excellence in Youíre Designing the Yearbook Excellence in Youíre Designing the Yearbook Rising Star Excellence in Twitter Excellence in Editorial Leadership Excellence in iMovie Excellence in iMovie Excellence in Opinion Writing Image Excellence Excellence in Design and Graphics Excellence in Twitter Excellence in Youíre Designing the Yearbook Excellence in Visual Variety Outstanding Design Portfolio Excellence for Photo for Publication I Excellence in Business Management and Design Excellence in Business Management and Design Excellence in The Complete Yearbook Excellence in Business Management and Design
To see photos of the workshop, visit the MIPA Web site at http://www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu/events/workshops.
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Griffin Haywood, Findlay HS
Editorial Piece for Opinion Writing By Kristyn Cornier, Athens HS
A
faded blue box sits in the corner of a room, empty, aside from a few sheets of paper, dirt and pieces of gum. This is the extent of the Athens’ recycling program. With celebrities sporting “green” products and politicians promising to reduce Carbon emissions—80 percent by 2050—one would think people would get a little more passionate about the project. In short, global warming occurs when Carbon is emitted into the air. The temperature gets higher, creating a whole mess of problems for this and future generations to deal with; it’s in the best interest of the people to do their part in saving the planet. It doesn’t matter what it is or who does it, but the program needs to step up. As mentioned, Athens has a “recycling program.” A box is distributed to each class, where it’s hardly used for its intended purpose, and is collected again by the environment class some odd months later. The cafeteria, which ironically collects the most garbage, is the only room that’s never gotten a box. Thousands of kids come through the lunchroom everyday and countless pop/water/PowerAde bottles get chucked into the black hole of a garbage can. Scattered throughout the hallways, one can find a giant pop bottle, where students should be depositing their empties; the problem here is that it only allows pop bottles. And there are the trays; Athens uses disposable lunch trays. Instead of getting recycled, the trays end up strewn across the floor in shoddy attempts to make a “basket.” Another contributing factor is the lack of buses
for the neighborhoods facing and backing up to the school. Students who live here either walk or drive—and in the Michigan weather, most end up taking the family car. Everyone within the square mile drives a car to and from school. According to the Georgia EDP, an average car releases over 115 pounds of pollution a year; a small truck or SUV weighs in at about 164 pounds a year. The Athens student body tally reaches almost 2,500 students, and most drive to school every day. Factor in the staff members who have a car in the parking lot as well. Do the math. Anyone in opposition to getting a better school recycling program will say that it’s too expensive. They claim that it’s such an exaggeration anyway, why put money into something that isn’t even happening? Anyone in favor knows the answer to this. Yes, absolutely put money into keeping the planet clean. Even if it is a hoax, what is the harm in “going green?” This place is home and experts say it will pay off in the long run. The recent Pixar film, WallE, predicts the world’s future if people don’t pull their act together— everyone will end up in outer space. So, will it be outer space, or a new program? If money is the reason the school is holding back, set up a few fundraisers; Troy is an affluent community and it won’t take much. A few extra bus routes, reusable lunch trays, and some plastic recycling bins are all the school needs to make a statement about the current predicament.
Grand Ledge student expresses gratitude Dear MIPA: I am so grateful to have received a full scholarship to MIPA camp this past summer. I was told about the improvements I would see in my own writing and the writing of my fellow staff members before I attended camp, but I truly had no idea how immense that change was going to be. Every day in class I felt I was constantly learning, which is a nice change from some of the boring classes I have to take at my high school. I was enrolled in the Newspaper Editors class, and I now appreciate everything I learned there. As I was writing an article for the first issue of The Comets' Tale, I noticed drastic advancements in my writing techniques. I no longer saw the story as something broad, but almost by habit, found the angle to take allowing my story to become more personal and interesting. I now understand the never-ending developments I can pursue to better my writing. Since camp ended, I have also observed a huge change in our staff all together. Not only has everyone's writing improved, but our communication skills have greatly improved as well. The newspaper staff has become more organized due to the new techniques we learned at camp. It seems as though many of the previous kinks have effortlessly worked themselves out, allowing us to have an organized, responsible staff. Thank you again for the generous scholarship I received. Sincerely, Ariel Black, Editor in Chief, The Comets' Tale
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Constitution Day brings 175 to the steps of the State Capitol M
ore than 175 people gathered at the Capitol steps in Lansing on Sept. 17, Constitution Day, for “Student Voices: Celebrating the First Amendment,” a rally co-sponsored by the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, the MSU School of Journalism and the Detroit and Mid-Michigan chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Mary Beth Tinker, one of the plaintiffs in the US Supreme Court’s Tinker v. Des Moines decision, delivered the keynote address. Other participants included Katy Dean, plaintiff in the Dean v. Utica decision; Sen. Michael Switalski, sponsor of a student press freedom bill currently sitting in committee in the state senate; Carol Koenig of the ACLU; and Warren Watson from J-Ideas. In addition, the winners of the Student Voices essay contest read their winning essays. This is the inaugural year for this event meant to raise awareness of student rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment.
Adding to the excitement of the First Amendment event was the jazz band from Laingsburg HS. Under the direction of Mark Wells, seen here playing the trombone, the band played several songs before the event and even played an impromptu “Happy Birthday” to the Constittution at the urging of Warren Watson from J-Ideas.
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Mary Beth Tinker, plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court Tinker vs. Des Moines decision, was the keynote speaker at the event. She signed autographs for students afterwards and answered questions from attendees.
MIPA president Jeremy Van Hof honors the four essay contest winners. From left to right: Vivianna Arcia, Everett HS, 1st Place Winner; Bethany Davis, Mason HS, 2nd Place Winner; Alice Perrault, East Jordan HS, Third Place Winner; and Nor’risha Lawson, Southeastern HS, Fourth Place Winner.
Allie Shiner, a student at Waterford Kettering HS, sang the Star-Spangled Banner at the opening of the event.
Photos by Julie Price, adviser, Haslett HS
BETSY + BUSINESS BIG BUCKS*
You’re running a small business, you know. And you never really thought that’s what you’d be doing. You just like journalism. You try to avoid math at all costs. “The Business Side of Scholastic Journalism” is a three-credit grad class taught by Betsy Pollard Rau that will help you make sense of all the business management stuff you need to know. You’ll learn how to make money, manage your accounts, choose and work with your printer, incorporate sound marketing principles, acquire more advertising dollars and more. Class starts Jan. 26 and ends May 8. To register or for more information, please contact Cheryl Pell at pell@msu.edu or call (517) 353-6761 or visit www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu.
Betsy Pollard Rau advised the nationally acclaimed Update at H.H. Dow High School in Midland, Mich.
BONUS: It’s ALL online Michigan State
U niversity
School of Journalism celebrating 100 years of journalism education in 2009
awards, cont. from page 4 Newspaper 9–12 Pages
Sixth Place: The Murmur, Waterford Kettering HS
Newspaper 13–16 Pages
Third Place: The Update, H.H. Dow HS
Newsmagazine
Sixth Place: Northern Star, North Farmington HS
Yearbook 1–224
Fourth Place: Nexus, Inland Lakes HS Eighth Place: Brecksonian, Breckenridge HS
Yearbook 225–274
Seventh Place: Ambassador, Stevenson HS Ninth Place: Aurora, North Farmintgon HS
Write-Off Contest Award Recipients Alyson Halpert, Community HS—Superior, Newswriting Dylan Cinti, Community HS—Honorable Mention, Editorial Writing Charlotte Berschback, Grosse Pointe South HS— Excellent, Feature Writing Julia Mogerman, Community HS—Honorable Mention, Feature Writing Lauren Powell, Grosse Pointe North HS—Honorable Mention, Feature Writing Tara Kerr, Stevenson HS—Honorable Mention, Feature Writing Adam Crane, Waterford Kettering HS-—Honorable Mention, Sports Writing Mira Fishman, Community HS—Honorable Mention, Review Writing Emily Biegas, Grosse Pointe North HS—Excellent, Commentary Writing Dan Dickson, Grosse Pointe South HS—Honorable Mention, Commentary Writing Cayla Van Hulle, Stevenson HS—Honorable Mention, Commentary Writing Chris Cain, Community HS—Excellent, Copy Editing/Headline/ Caption Writing Austin Murtland, North Farmington HS—Superior, Newspaper: Layout Kristin Nagel, North Farmington HS—Excellent, YB Copy/ Caption: Sports Anna Petoskey, North Farmington HS—Honorable Mention, YB Copy/Caption Writing: Student Life Jonathon Morley, Inland Lakes HS—Superior, Yearbook Sports Photography Allison Correll, Community HS—Superior, Photography Portfolio Emily Jones, Inland Lakes HS—Honorable Mention, Photography Portfolio
Parting Shots
1 Sara-Beth O’Connor, the newspaper
adviser at Grand Ledge HS, could very well be MIPA’s biggest fan. When she graduated from MSU two years ago, she purchased her “MIPAROX” license plate for her car because she said she loves MIPA. “MIPA got me into education and journalism, and it’s everything I believe in,” O’Connor said.
2 Erin Hill, director of the high school
program at the Detroit Free Press; Pam English, adviser at Cass Tech HS; and Jessica Haynes, MSU journalism intern at Cass Tech HS, take a minute at the MIPA Fall Conference to pose for Jacqueline Clark of Southeastern HS.
3 Sue Spalding, adviser at Quincy HS, was
in charge of the critiques at the MIPA Fall Conference. Although it can be a thankless job matching up staffs with “critiquers,” folks on both sides of the table find it to be a valuable conference service.
4 It’s easy to find smiles like this student’s
at the conference. More than 2,000 students and teachers attended the annual event on Oct. 23, at the Lansing Center.
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MIPA/School of Journalism 305 Communication Arts Building Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1212
Mark your calendar for the contest deadline: Feb. 20, 2009