10
Up front Texas Association of Journalism Educators February 2010 TAJE P.O. Box 5554 Austin, TX 78763-5554 taje.org Sheryl Floyd President 512-594-0500 sherylfl[email protected] Susan Duncan President-Elect 903-295-5031, ext. 265 [email protected] Cindy Berry Secretary 940-393-7231 cindy.berry@ decatur.esc11.net Mikyela Tedder Treasurer 903-881-4075 [email protected] Lisa Van Etta State Director 281-856-1071 Lisa.VanEtta@cfisd.net Pat Gathright Convention Director 210-325-7793 [email protected] Brenda Slatton Assistant Convention Director 210-442-0300, ext. 350 [email protected] Sue Jett Assistant Convention Director 210-442-0800, ext. 262 [email protected] Lori Herbst Past President 940-369-3021 [email protected] Dianne Smith-Harper Webmaster [email protected] Rhonda Moore Executive Director 512-414-7539 [email protected] Lori Oglesbee was in a faculty luncheon Jan. 13, more concerned about turning in her semester grades than in the special presen- tation her principal had just an- nounced. “I thought the kid who made All State Choir was going to sing or something. I tried to be happy about it, but my semester grades were due,” Oglesbee said. “Then I saw H.L. and Alyssa and former and current students and all my Taylor [Publishing] friends. I got all choked up. The science teachers at my table thought I was having an allergic reaction.” Oglesbee, McKinney High School’s yearbook adviser, was named the 2009 Yearbook Adviser of the Year by the Journalism Edu- cation Association. She is the first Texas teacher to win this award. “Our principal announced that we had some special guests in the building to make a pre- sentation,” McKinney High School broadcast teacher Alyssa Armentrout said. “[Lori] looked up to see H.L. Hall carrying a bouquet of flow- ers and she instantly burst into tears. From then on I just remember tears. Lots of tears.” Oglesbee has taught for 27 years, 13 of them in Texas. Former UIL Academic Director Bobby Hawthorne convinced her to move to Texas. “I had a miserable year in Arkansas when Bobby called to ask me to teach at the ILPC con- vention,” Oglesbee said. “He called me back later that day and said, ‘I have a job for you. If you’re a real teacher, you’ll come to Texas.’ So I did.” Hawthorne said Oglesbee is as enthusiastic about student journalism today as she was the day he met her “a couple of decades ago.” “She is creative, original and has a great sense of humor,” Hawthorne said. “She uses her creativity, originality and humor to attract, en- gage and inspire students to produce the high- est quality publications. [And] she gives back far more than she gets. She serves on countless boards and commissions. She cranks out acres of innovative teaching material and provides it free of charge to anyone who asks for it. She’s been a mentor to several generations of young advisers.” One of the young advisers she’s mentored is Armentrout, one of her former students. “As a teacher, Lori made class actually fun,” Armentrout said. “She was passionate about yearbook, and that definitely inspired passion in me and the rest of the students. But I’d say the greatest thing she ever did as a teacher was take us on trips. Twenty-eight-hour bus rides to South Carolina, New York City and wherever JEA held their convention. I wanted to be there with her, watching her do her thing.” Oglesbee said conventions and trips with her high school adviser are what made her fall in love with scholastic journalism. She urges Tears and inspiration Oglesbee named Yearbook Adviser of the Year See ‘JEA’ on page 10 Texas royalty JEA representative H.L. Hall presents McKinney High School ad- viser Lori Oglesbee with the 2009 Yearbook Adviser of the Year Award. Oglesbee is the first Texas teacher to receive the award. Photo by Cliff Palmberg.

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Page 1: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

UpfrontTexas Association of Journalism Educators February 2010

TAJEP.O. Box 5554

Austin, TX 78763-5554

taje.org

Sheryl FloydPresident

[email protected]

Susan DuncanPresident-Elect

903-295-5031, ext. [email protected]

Cindy BerrySecretary

940-393-7231cindy.berry@

decatur.esc11.net

Mikyela TedderTreasurer

[email protected]

Lisa Van EttaState Director281-856-1071

[email protected]

Pat GathrightConvention Director

[email protected]

Brenda SlattonAssistant

Convention Director210-442-0300, ext. 350

[email protected]

Sue JettAssistant

Convention Director210-442-0800, ext. 262

[email protected]

Lori HerbstPast President

[email protected]

Dianne Smith-HarperWebmaster

[email protected]

Rhonda MooreExecutive Director

[email protected]

Lori Oglesbee was in a faculty luncheon Jan. 13, more concerned about turning in her semester grades than in the special presen-tation her principal had just an-nounced.

“I thought the kid who made All State Choir was going to sing or something. I tried to be happy about it, but my semester grades were due,” Oglesbee said. “Then I saw H.L. and Alyssa and former and current students and all my Taylor [Publishing] friends. I got all choked up. The science teachers at my table thought I was having an allergic reaction.”

Oglesbee, McKinney High School’s yearbook adviser, was named the 2009 Yearbook Adviser of the Year by the Journalism Edu-cation Association. She is the first Texas teacher to win this award.

“Our principal announced that we had some special guests in the building to make a pre-sentation,” McKinney High School broadcast teacher Alyssa Armentrout said. “[Lori] looked up to see H.L. Hall carrying a bouquet of flow-ers and she instantly burst into tears. From then on I just remember tears. Lots of tears.”

Oglesbee has taught for 27 years, 13 of them in Texas. Former UIL Academic Director Bobby Hawthorne convinced her to move to Texas.

“I had a miserable year in Arkansas when Bobby called to ask me to teach at the ILPC con-vention,” Oglesbee said. “He called me back later that day and said, ‘I have a job for you. If you’re a real teacher, you’ll come to Texas.’ So I did.”

Hawthorne said Oglesbee is as enthusiastic about student journalism today as she was the day he met her “a couple of decades ago.”

“She is creative, original and has a great sense of humor,” Hawthorne said. “She uses her creativity, originality and humor to attract, en-

gage and inspire students to produce the high-est quality publications. [And] she gives back far more than she gets. She serves on countless boards and commissions. She cranks out acres of innovative teaching material and provides it free of charge to anyone who asks for it. She’s been a mentor to several generations of young advisers.”

One of the young advisers she’s mentored is Armentrout, one of her former students.

“As a teacher, Lori made class actually fun,” Armentrout said. “She was passionate about yearbook, and that definitely inspired passion in me and the rest of the students. But I’d say the greatest thing she ever did as a teacher was take us on trips. Twenty-eight-hour bus rides to South Carolina, New York City and wherever JEA held their convention. I wanted to be there with her, watching her do her thing.”

Oglesbee said conventions and trips with her high school adviser are what made her fall in love with scholastic journalism. She urges

Tears and inspirationOglesbee named Yearbook Adviser of the Year

See ‘JEA’ on page 10

Texas royaltyJEA representative H.L. Hall presents McKinney High School ad-viser Lori Oglesbee with the 2009 Yearbook Adviser of the Year Award. Oglesbee is the first Texas teacher to receive the award. Photo by Cliff Palmberg.

Page 2: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

2 Texas Association of Journalism Educators February 2010

From the PresidentSheryl Floyd

Pflugerville HSTAJE President

Did you miss it? Plenty of chances. Plenty of chances to get involved.Opportunity.Here are some recent opportunities

that just passed. TAJE took notice of sudden changes

that were happening with the journalism TEKS. After being contacted by someone who knew what was happening at TEA, we were able to convene virtually and in person and make some recommendations. If you missed the opportunity to be involved in the process, hopefully you signed the petition in which we were trying to get our voices heard. And it was successful.

Due to just a diligent few, re c o m m e n d a t i o n s were made to incorporate more technology into the TEKS. Check it out. You can see the recommended TEKS that were proposed to the State Board of Education at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6501.

This is what we teach! For the next set of textbooks and next several years, we should take more notice of what is happening beyond the microcosm of our schools. Please check out the TEKS. You will need to adjust your curriculum soon.

Some of you have also noted concern over changes in graduation requirements. While the State of Texas did away with the technology requirement that many of us relied upon to keep our programs alive, your district might still have that requirement in place. Mine does.

However, the main thing to keep

in mind is that we are valuable. We provide opportunities to enrich core curriculum across all areas. Consider also that students need electives. Here is your opportunity to recruit those kids who don’t know what they are missing.

How about the opportunity to serve TAJE?

We need your help. We cannot run an organization

without YOU.It is a concern of mine that we have

such few volunteers when it comes to TAJE. I know we are the hardest working teachers in our schools. I know it is hard to think about doing one more thing. But if not you, who?

Who will be the one who continues to help new teachers become better journalism teachers? Is there anyone better than you? I am betting that someone in your area needs help.

I was frankly disappointed by the amount of people running for regional representative. It is truly hard to serve a state this size without people in all parts of the state. Please seize this opportunity to vote

for the person you think is best able to serve your area. Then, offer to help. He or she can’t do it alone. His/her job is to provide one regional workshop in the area during the two years of service. Give them some ideas of what you need for those workshops.

While we are at it, don’t forget to recognize our students, teachers, friends and administrators for the TAJE awards. Scholarships, Administrator of the Year, Friends of Journalism and

Trailblazers are just some of the awards you could receive as a benefit of your membership. Zooooom. There they go...more opportunities.

And your final opportunity is...to volunteer to work on a committee for the Fall 2012 national JEA convention coming to San Antonio. Watch for these opportunities coming soon. As always, feel free to contact me concerning anything with TAJE. My service in this organization has made me a better teacher. It will make you (or someone else) one, too.

Plenty of chances zooming on byMembers should not let opportunities to get involved pass them by

Don’t forget to recognize our students, teachers, friends and administrators for the TAJE awards. Scholarships, Administrator of the Year, Friends of Journalism and Trailblazers are just some of the awards you could receive as a benefit of your membership.

“Start thinking about 2012

The JEA/NSPA national con-vention will be in San Antonio in 2012. Listed below are areas where we will need help:

• Break with a Pro• Swap shops• Write-off contests• On-site critiques• Issue seminars• Adviser bags• Media tours• Promotion• City guide• Curriculum CD• T-shirts• Outreach Academy• Featured speakers

Committee opportunitiesHere are a list of TAJE commit-

tees you can join:NominatingScholarshipsEducationMembershipAwardsFirst Amendment

Contact any TAJE officer or re-gional representative if you are interested in joining a committee or volunteering to help in 2012.

Page 3: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

“State Director’s Report

Lisa Van EttaCypress Falls HS

TAJE State Director

February 2010 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 3

What to write about? What angle to take for the story? Or in this case, my column? Questions my journalism stu-dents ask me daily.

I now understand when they talk about writer ’s block. Sitting at my desk on a Sunday afternoon, in front of my computer, all those ideas I had for my col-umn simply have van-ished.

So, I have decided to write about what’s ahead for the remainder of the school year and the newest Web-based newspaper for high school journalism.

What’s ahead? Final deadlines for spring books, UIL district, regional and state competitions, ILPC Convention and the JEA/NSPA National Convention.

Now that the first topic has been covered, it’s on to the second topic, Web-based newspapers. As bad as I hate to admit it, print newspapers are slowly becoming or will be extinct for not only professional publications but for high school papers as well.

Online papers simply are more eco-nomical and cost effective. And more importantly for journalism students, they are convergent media – the new journalism for the 21st Century.

But, as a die hard newspaper adviser, I just cannot associate online newspa-pers with print newspapers. Most online papers look like a Web site media center, which is just what they are. However, I have discovered e-Editions. It looks like a paper and turns like a paper but

has the all the interactivity of a Web site paper.

It’s the answer. Journalism students still get the advantage of learning lay-out and design for a paper along with videography, broadcast and all the other elements associated with online papers.

And there’s profit to be made, too. Ads can be sold just like for a print paper, from full page ads to ban-ner ads with most of the revenues ac-

cumulating in activity accounts. The cost of e-Editions issues are a fraction of print papers and much more timely.

Cypress Falls High School launched its first issue Feb. 4. So far, it has only resulted in positive experiences, no nega-tives from the con-ception of its e-Edi-tion. It has actually created excitement and breathed life back into the school’s newspaper and its staff. Instead of be-ing constrained to writing stories with basically no time ele-ment, staff members can now write pre-game stories, game stories, stories about the agony of losing or winning, club stories with recent hap-penings and dated news stories which still have relevance when the paper

comes out. The staff has an even larger audience to appeal to now. Each week, when a new issue has been posted, an automated call-out is sent to parents no-tifying them of the opportunity to read about the latest news and happenings at Cypress Falls High School.

It has forced staff members to ex-perience a more real-life newspaper environment with daily and weekly deadlines instead of knowing they have weeks to finish stories for a paper which was published every six weeks.

The link to Cypress Falls’, Wingspan e-Edition is www.cfwingspan.com. Check it out; see what you think; let me know. You can e-mail me questions or comments to [email protected].

OK, I’ve just check my word count. I’m close to 500 words. Looks like I

did have something to write about after all.

To close out this column, I wish to ex-tend the best of luck to all those compet-ing in news, features, editorials and headline district UIL competi-tions the weekends of March 27 and April 3. I encourage everyone to attend ILPC April 10-11. I will attend na-tionals in Portland, April 15-18. I hope to

see some of you there, too. Time to go. I have to edit final stories

for next week’s Wingspan e-Edition before school tomorrow.

e-Editions may be answer for going online

Journalism students still get the advantage of learning layout and design for a paper along with videography, broadcast and all the other elements associated with online papers

TAJE and ILPC will offer an online media advisers workshop Aug. 2-4. The workshop will be held in Central Texas at either McCallum High School or Pflugerville High School.

The workshop will be from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. each day. Lunch will be

provided all three days.Cost will be $300 for members of

either TAJE or ILPC and $350 for non-members.

Registration forms will be sent out by e-mail in the next few weeks. Dead-line to register is July 1.

TAJE, ILPC to offer online media workshop for advisers“I think there is a real need for a work-

shop of this kind for advisers, and I’m glad we will be able to host it in Central Texas,” ILPC director Jeanne Acton said. “We need to be looking in the direction of online media, so I’m hoping we can start offering this every year.”

Service has advantage of ‘more real-life newspaper environment’

Page 4: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

El PasoOdessa/Midland

Lubbock

Amarillo

Wichita Falls

DallasFt Worth

WacoTyler

Beaumont

Houston

Corpus Christi

Brownsville

Austin

San Antonio

I

II III

IVV VI

VII

2009-11 Regional Representative Nominees

4 Texas Association of Journalism Educators February 2010

Region ILaura SmithCanyon High SchoolYears experience: 12 yearsSubjects taught: Journalism 1, Year-book, Newspaper, Desktop Publishing

I want to continue to offer network-ing opportunities to journalism teach-ers in Region 1 and make sure our teachers are informed of the wonderful resources TAJE offers. I would like to see more of our teachers and students attend the state convention.

Region IIChristine DavisTrinity High SchoolEulessYears experience: 15 yearsSubjects taught: Journalism I, Newspa-per, Yearbook, English III

I hope to become a consistent liaison from the Metroplex to TAJE through my tenure at Trinity, home of the foot-ball HAKA, located in the middle of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I want to be more active in statewide scholastic journalism. I love journalism students and teachers.

TAJE served as a valuable resource to me as a beginning teacher (a few short years ago) and I would like to continue that by serving the organiza-tion. I feel helping instructors and their increasingly diverse needs and keep-ing up with trends that affect programs is important to scholastic journalism’s growth.

Corey HaleLewisville High SchoolYears experience: 6 years here, 8 years totalSubjects taught: Journalism, Photojour-nalism, Newspaper (all 8 years), Year-book and Speech (2 years)

Over the past six years, I’ve got-ten to know many of the fine publica-tion advisers from the DFW area (and around the state) and have enjoyed picking their brains and talking shop with them informally at events like ILPC, Fall Fiesta, Gloria Shields and Dallas Morning News Journalism Day. If given the opportunity to serve as re-

gional rep, I’d work to help grow those relationships and make new connec-tions between advisers so everyone can benefit from our collective experi-ence like I have.

Lori KrederConnally High SchoolWacoYears experience: 22 years total; 14 years at Forney High School and eight years at Connally High SchoolSubjects taught: Newspaper, Yearbook, Photojournalism, Literary Magazine and Introduction to Journalism. I also serve as the Connally ISD public rela-tions representative.

I would like to run for regional rep-resentative to help teachers in central Texas better their schools’ journal-ism programs. Most schools in our area do not encourage strong journal-ism programs. In the smaller schools, teachers are often made to squeeze in a yearbook or newspaper class into an

already busy schedule. They may teach five or six different preparations and lack time to give the yearbook or news-paper the time needed to make his/her publication special.

While at Forney High School, I re-started a newspaper that had been dead almost a decade. I helped make the yearbook into a more journalistic product. Although Forney was a 3A school, I taught as many as five preps along with the publications classes. At Connally, I gave students more con-trol of their publications while mak-ing the publications more journalistic. Last year, I started production of our school’s first literary magazine.

My strength is finding ways to help struggling programs or help get programs started. I have developed a strong, trusting relationship with ad-ministration while not compromising the quality of our publication. I am also willing to learn new technology and take advice from other advisers. I am

Page 5: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

February 2010 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 5

2009-11 Regional Representative Nomineesplanning to enter a master’s journalism program this summer.

Region IIICharla HarrisPleasant Grove High SchoolTexarkanaYears experience: 26 yearsSubjects taught: Teach/advise year-book, newspaper and broadcast

We have a strong TAJE group in east Texas, and I would like to expand par-ticipation in the northern corner. It's so far from here to anywhere in the state that advisers and staffs often can't trav-el to workshops and conventions. I'd like to try to bring in speakers for work-shops related to our publications in ad-dition to the many UIL workshops. We also have a wonderful mentoring pro-gram that I'd love to continue.

Region IVNo nominees

Region VChristine Keyser-FanickJohn Paul Stevens High SchoolSan AntonioYears experience: 12 yearsSubjects taught: Journalism I, Ad-vanced Journalism: Newspaper, Ad-vanced Journalism: Yearbook; Ad-vanced Journalism: Photojournalism

As Region V representative, I will be actively involved in TAJE and will continue to serve as liaison between Region V advisers and the TAJE board. While Region V has focused on adviser and student workshops the past two years, I recommend an ad-visers-only professional development day in Fall 2010, separate from the Fall Fiesta student conference. I have en-joyed serving the past two years and will be honored to continue to serve our region, if elected.

Theresa ProctorMcNeil High SchoolRound RockYears experience: 20Subjects taught: Journalism 1, Photo Journalism, Newspaper Production,

Yearbook ProductionOne of the steps to bettering our-

selves professionally is to surround ourselves with knowledgeable col-leagues. Our chosen field keeps many of us isolated on our campuses as we are the only journalism teachers. Therefore, we need to collaborate as of-ten as possible with one another. From first-year teacher to seasoned adviser, all have something to offer.

Establishing and keeping the lines of communication open will be benefi-cial to all of us.

Region VIPatricia ColstonDayton High SchoolYears experience: 25 yearsSubjects taught: Journalism, Photo Journalism, Yearbook, Newspaper

I would like to be able to mentor new journalism teachers and sponsors to build a stronger journalism program in their school.

Stephan MalickWest Brook High School BeaumontYear’s experience: Last 12 years teach-ing and previously worked as a news-paper reporter for Hearst Newspapers- Beaumont Enterprise and Port Arthur News; interned briefly at the Houston Post as a copy editor during the Hearst takeover. In addition, I served in the US Army in Germany from 1989-1991 and worked in the Public Affairs Office writing, editing and photographing stories for our regional newsletter and occasionally Stars & Stripes’ European edition. I was also probably one of the most useless staffers on my high school yearbook staff my senior year.Subjects taught: Introduction to Jour-nalism, Advanced Journalism- News-paper I, II, III; Advanced Journalism- Yearbook I, II, III; Desktop Publishing, Photojournalism. I also advise our Lit-erary Magazine, but it is not a specific course at our school.

My primary goal is to uphold and advance the quality of scholastic jour-nalism in Texas and the support that

TAJE offers to novice and veteran teachers. As a representative of Region VI, I would strive to serve the needs of teachers and students alike. I would like to foster in them that journalism is a civic responsibility and a core foun-dation of a democratic society and that even as students they have the ability to positively affect their campus and community.

In addition, I would like to help all polish their basic and advanced report-ing skills and techniques; help schools develop convergent media programs; develop communication and projects with local media; and help students and teachers keep abreast of ever-evolving technology, legal and ethical issues.

Laura K. NegriAlief Kerr High SchoolHoustonYears experience: Teaching for 13 years, advising for 12Subjects taught: Newspaper, Yearbook, video morning announcements and Kerr Film SocietyMother of a first-year journalism teach-er(!)

My goals are to increase communi-cation and provide support for journal-ism advisers in the region.

Region VIIKelsey MartinMemorial High SchoolMcAllenYears experience: 17Subjects taught: Journalism, Yearbook, Newspaper, Desktop Publishing and Independent Study of Journalism.

I’d like to bring more awareness of scholastic journalism to the schools in my region. I’d also like to form a sup-port group for new advisers in the area. It seems as though there is such a high turnover of journalism teachers in the area, and sometimes they don’t know who to turn to. I remember what it was like when I was new, and I was so thankful I had another adviser to turn to when I had 101 questions.

Please return ballots by March 1.

Page 6: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

6 Texas Association of Journalism Educators February 2010

Application for Student ScholarshipAPPLICANTName

Home Address

City/State/Zip

Phone ( ) Social Security #

School Name

School Phone ( )

Adviser’s Name

Relate your involvement with journalism while in high school.

List any journalism awards and honors you have received.

List any other high school awards/honors.

What are your college plans?

In addition to the $1,500 Bill Taylor Scholarship awarded to the Texas High School Journalist of the Year, TAJE awards four $1,000 scholar-ships to graduating high school seniors each year. To be eligible for one of these scholarships, a student must:

• have an overall B average• submit completed application• submit a portfolio of published work

In addition, his/her adviser must be a current member of TAJE.

All students who wish to apply for scholarships must fill out this form, even those applying for Journalist of the Year.

ChecklistPlease be sure your application and/or portfolio contain the fol-lowing:• Any editor positions you have held and how many years in each position.• Your anticipated college major• If you have an interest in becom-ing a journalism teacher.

If you want your portfolio re-turned, please check the follow-ing:

n I would like my portfolio returned. I am enclosing $11 for postage.Please make checks payable to TAJE.

Entries must be postmarked no later than March 2.

Please send your portfolio along with this application by March 2 to:

Mikyela TedderLindale High SchoolJournalism Dept.P.O. Box 370Lindale, TX 75771

Page 7: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

February 2010 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 7

TAJE may award up to six student scholarships for up to $150 per scholar-ship. Schol-arships are not awarded solely on need but rather on all compo-nents of the applicant’s complete presentation. Applicants are limited to students of TAJE mem-bers only, and a maximum of three students per school may apply.

TAJE SummEr WorkShop STudEnT ScholArShip ApplicATion

grade in next fallo middle school o 9th o 10th o 11th o 12th

How long have you been involved in journalism?

What publication will you be on next year?

What position will you hold next year?

Which workshop are you planning to attend?

Dates of workshop Cost of workshop

Create a one page essay explaining your need and desire to be the recipient of this scholarship. Include information such as how you expect a summer work-shop will help you in preparing for next year, how the workshop will prepare you for the future, and financial need. Attach the essay to this application.

Return application and essay by March 2 to:

Mikyela TedderLindale HSJournalism Dept.P.O. Box 370Lindale, TX 75771

name

home address

city/state/zip

phone #( ) social security #

school name

school phone #

adviser’s name

adviser’s home phone #

Page 8: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

TAJE may award up to three teacher scholarships for up to $250 per scholarship. These scholar-ships may be used for sum-mer workshop tuition or for a journalism course that contributes to the teacher’s continuing professional development. Scholarships are not awarded solely on need but rather on all components of the applicant’s complete presentation. Applicants are limited to TAJE members who have taught five years or less.

TAJE SummEr WorkShop TEAchEr ScholArShip ApplicATion

name

home address

city/state/zip

phone #( ) social security #

school name

school phone #

degrees you have earned (majors and schools)

How many years have you taught? n 1 yr. n 2 yrs. n 3 yrs n 4 yrs. n 5 yrs.

subjects you will be teaching next year

How did you become involved in journalism outside of teaching?

What workshop do you plan to attend this summer?

Dates of workshop Cost of workshop

Explain your need and desire to be the recipient of this scholarship. Include information including your future goals as to scholastic journalism and any special financial need (you may use an additional sheet of paper if necessary).

Return application and essay by March 2 to:

Mikyela TedderLindale HSJournalism Dept.P.O. Box 370Lindale, TX 75771

8 Texas Association of Journalism Educators February 2010

Page 9: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

February 2010 Texas Association of Journalism Educators 9

advisers to go to conventions.“Find a mentor. Get to a con-

vention. Go to a workshop,” Oglesbee said. “You’ll find inspi-ration there. I love the communi-ty of journalism teachers I know here in Texas and across the coun-try. J-teachers are so competitive but will give you everything they have. I never laugh so hard as when a group of us get wound up. It’s a strange language we speak, and when we find common bonds we find lifetime friends. I am amazed by the quality journalism teachers in this state.”

Oglesbee has also won the Edith Fox King Award and TAJE’s Trailblazer Award, and she was the 2005 Texas Journalism Teacher of the Year.

As JEA Curriculum and Develop-ment Commission Chair, Oglesbee maintains a Web site of free curricular materials.

“Right now, I’m really concentrating

on developing replicable steps to teach the writing process,” she said. “The re-vision element has made my students so much more aware of how specifical-ly they can improve their own writing. It’s empowering.”

Oglesbee’s students have won awards at both the state and national level — Pacemakers, Gold Crowns and Gold Stars.

“All kids need a place where they

feel a part of the action. I have high expectations and provide them with the tools and skills to achieve them,” she said. “They have own-ership of the legacy of the publica-tion. Each year they’re gunning to do it a little different and a little better than the group before them.”

Armentrout, one of those for-mer kids, now describes Oglesbee as her colleague and mentor.

“Every day I pick up something new from her,” Armentrout said. “She never sits complacent. She never accepts the status quo. Her teaching methods and her year-

book can always be better. Her stu-dents can always do better.”

Armentrout said that feeling never fails to transfer to the editors and staffs of her yearbooks.

“I think the proof is in the pages there, so to speak,” she said. “McKin-ney High School loves their yearbook year after year, and they have her lead-ership to thank.”

Continued from page 1

JEA honors Oglesbee with yearbook adviser award

Oglesbee is surrounded by her current and former students, from 1999-ptrsent. Photo by Cliff Palmberg.

ILPC convention to be held April 10-11 at UT-AustinThe ILPC Spring Convention for

middle school and high school jour-nalists will be held April 10-11 at the University of Texas at Austin.

Beth Frerking, assistant managing editor/partnerships at The Politico and Politico.com, will be the keynote speaker. Frerking has more than 25 years of experience as a national re-porter, Washington bureau chief and journalism educator.

Out of state speakers include: Jim Jordan from Del Campo High School in California; James Kenney from Western Kentucky University; Da-vid Knight from Lancaster Schools in South Carolina, Pete LeBlanc from Antelope High School in California, John Moore of Getty Images and Scott Winter from the University of Nebras-ka.

The convention will offer more than 100 sessions about anything and everything pertaining to yearbooks,

newspapers, online newspapers, pho-tography, broadcasting and more.

“I am very excited about our slate of speakers this year,” Jeanne Acton, ILPC director, said. “We have a wide

array of talented speakers from pro-fessionals in the field to amazing, award-winning advisers to innovative professors. I only wish I could attend the sessions.”

The convention will be held at Welch Hall (24th and Speedway) and surrounding buildings this year.

“Parking will be a challenge like most years,” Acton said. “The San Ja-cinto Garage, the Speedway Garage and the Brazos Street Garage are all pretty close to Welch. If you do not park in one of the parking garages, please make sure you read the parking signs carefully. I have no power deal-ing with UT tickets.”

Online registration opened Feb. 1. The link to registration is: http://www.uil.utexas.edu/academics/jour-nalism/.

For more information, contact ILPC director Jeanne Acton at [email protected].

Beth Frerking

Page 10: February 2010 Upfront newsletter

10 Texas Association of Journalism Educators February 2010

Life Members: Active or former members of TAJE who have contributed significantly to the organization Honorary Members: Friends of TAJE or Texas scholastic journalism

Entries must be postmarked no later than March 27, 2010.Mail nominations to:TAJEP.O. Box 5554Austin, TX 78763

Individual nominated:

Circle One: Life Membership Honorary Membership

Contributions of the individual to the field of journalism:

Contributions of the individual to TAJE:

Journalism background:

Signature of TAJE member nominating

Nomination for TAJE Honorary/Life Membership