MEET THE MASTERMIND OF FSPA

PROFILE BY YESENIA ROSARIO

This is Nancy “Joanie” Webster’s second year as President of the Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA) and advises Newspaper, Yearbook, TV Productions and teaches Journalism 1 at Robinson High School in Tampa, Fla.

Webster’s journey from high school to President was a surprise. Though Webster knew she wanted to work for a magazine, she never participated in Journalism in high school. Instead, she did Color Guard and Band. Webster’s acted on her desire to work for a magazine after high school at the University of Miami by working on magazines, attending national conventions, writing for the school’s newspaper and yearbook, and eventually working her way up from section editor to copy editor which would lead her to win a crown award for the magazine.

Webster takes a lot from her previous advisor at the UN and applies it to her teaching and advising as she now wants to reciprocate those actions by which she felt so inspired.

“He was such a good advisor to me,” Webster’s said. “So I always want to be someone who is there for my students and letting them thrive.”

As an advisor and now President, Webster has double the responsibilities but believes now being in this role affects not only her but her students as well.

“I think being president of FSPA has affected my students as well as it affected me just because it’s a lot of work. I’m the main event planner for this so all the little things that need to get done for a 1500 person convention has to happen in my classroom,” Webster said. “So students come and help me stuff bags or do this or that. It’s all hard to kind of maintain getting this workshop put together as well as finalizing the yearbook because they both kind of end at the exact same time.”

FSPA is the one time a year students from all over Florida come together and all share their love for journalism whether it be broadcasting, year book or newspaper. Webster believes it’s a convention with great accessibility and unity for all students.

“We all come to FSPA and we really get to bond as a group,” said Webster.

With a two-year hiatus without a convention due to the covid-19 lockdown, last year’s convention planning was a mess but this year the stars aligned and is back in orderly fashion.