Convention sessions

Pre-convention and on-demand sessions

Advising
A camera checkout system that may change your life
Imagine super-fast camera checkouts using QR codes and live tracking available to you and your students. I’ll share everything I created for this system, including templates and the coolest spreadsheet you’ve ever seen. (Insert air horn blast here.)
Barbara Tholen, MJE, Lawrence High School adviser

Advising
AP Style: It still matters
Journalism teachers are often squeezed for time. Fitting all of the important stuff in can be harder than getting into jeans after eight months of pandemic life. Get some tips and strategies for giving AP style the attention it deserves.
Cindy Horchem, CJE, JEA business and projects coordinator

General interest
A journalist’s guide to copyright
Copyright law both protects your work and limits your ability to use the works of others, including photos, video, music and cartoons. Learn to sidestep common problems.
Student Press Law Center

General interest
Essential journalists: How Coronavirus changed TV news
With interviews from 34 anchors, reporters, producers and news managers across the U.S., this documentary describes the challenges journalists face being essential workers and the emotional toll this pandemic has had on them.
Marcus Harun, MSNBC news producer

Law and ethics
A journalist’s guide to libel law
Just saying the word aloud should send shivers down a journalist’s spine. The basics of libel law — and the keys to avoiding problems — are actually fairly simple. Let’s clear the fear.
Student Press Law Center

News gathering
A journalist’s guide to freedom of information
State and federal freedom of information laws are crucial instruments in any journalist’s toolbox. Find out what these laws cover, what’s exempt and what to do when hit with big fees and long delays.
Student Press Law Center

Online
Basic Google tools for your publication and classroom
Learn about how to use more than just Google search to tell stories. We’ll explore tools such as Google Fact-Check Explorer, Dataset Search, Google Trends, MapChecking.com, Google Earth Measure tool and Google EarthEngine TImelapse to tell compelling stories. You’ll receive a handout with links to tools and training videos to help you long beyond this session.
Mike Reilley, Society of Professional Journalists digital trainer

Photojournalism
Basic Photoshop workflow
Explore a basic workflow for ensuring that images in the publication are as consistent as possible using Adobe Bridge and Adobe Photoshop.
Mark Murray, Association of Texas Photography Instructors executive director

Photojournalism
Photography: Ways of seeing (2 parts)
In this two-part session which will be particularly beneficial for beginning and intermediate photographers, participants will learn and practice composition and ways of seeing scenes and opportunities in their visual storytelling. Instruction will not focus on settings, buttons and dials, but rather on using whatever cameras students have access to — including smartphones — to capture the images their publications need. We’ll guide you through shooting a short photo story and model how staffs can assess and critique photographers’ work in their publication workflow.
Mike Simons, MJE, Corning-Painted Post High School adviser; Jed Palmer, CJE, Sierra Middle School adviser

Writing
10 steps to better first drafts
In this workshop, student journalists will learn 10 things they can do to make their first drafts stronger, their editors happier and their journalism better. Topics covered: leads, kickers, proof, nut graphs, attribution, punctuation and more.
Katina Paron, MJE, Institute for Environmental Journalism director

Thursday, Nov. 19

9 a.m. Central

Career advice
5 easy steps to becoming a media entrepreneur
Did you ever want to own and run your own media outlet? So did this speaker. He had no idea how to do it, but he did. He’ll take on five of the biggest myths about running your own journalism business and how you can own your own career.
Jeff Sharon, Full Sail University course director

Career advice
Building professional experience in high school
Internships are usually reserved for college students, but high school student journalists have characteristics employers want! Interested in learning how to best position yourself to gain such an opportunity? We’ll discuss the best strategies to get professional experience on your resume early, and we’ll explore the characteristics employers are seeking.
Vicky Wolfe Bender, CJE, Institute for Study Abroad; David Wolfe Bender, Indiana University student

Career advice
Skills for the future
Skills and tools young journalists should have in today/tomorrow’s industry — things they are expected to know how to do but also things that help them stand out among a group of applicants. Today’s community newspaper organizations are much more than just a newspaper.
Bryce Jacobson, Post Independent publisher

General interest
Be the good
No matter what anyone says, journalism makes a difference. It matters. The world needs good journalists who change the world and give a voice to the voiceless. Let’s talk about ways you can start a movement, and be the good.
Jeanne Acton, University Interscholastic League

General interest
Improving publication photography
Readers want to see great photos. But it takes more than just telling photographers to take better pictures. The entire staff should be involved. Come see how.
Mark Murray, Association of Texas Photography Instructors executive director

Leadership and team building
Can we learn about leadership from ‘Toy Story’?
Let’s take a look at leadership from Pixar’s first movie. There is a lot o’ learnin’ we can do from Woody and the gang. We might even throw in some other Pixar greats for good measure. Come learn and have some fun doing it.
Jim McCrossen, Blue Valley Northwest High School adviser

News gathering
Covering a natural disaster
Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas Sept. 1, 2019, becoming one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history. Jenise Fernandez was the only local TV reporter on the ground covering the storm. In this presentation, she will tell you how to best report in a disaster while staying safe.
Jenise Fernandez, WPLG ABC anchor and reporter

News gathering
Discover, develop, deliver: Improve your coverage
Stop struggling with story ideas. From topics with widespread impact, like the coronavirus, cancel culture or Black Lives Matter, to one-time news events, learn to develop specific local coverage through research and interviews at school or in the community. Leave with practical plans you can put to work right away.
Logan Aimone, MJE, University of Chicago Laboratory High School journalism department chair

News literacy
Verifying and debunking images on social media
This session will examine techniques to fact find and use tools such as reverse image search to confirm images circulating on social media. Visual literacy is an important part of the online world and is useful even beyond the world of journalism.
Andrew Stanfill, The New York Times Licensing Group photo editor and photojournalist

Online
Broadcast news videos for the win
Video is dominating traffic on the web, and this session will help your publication keep up with what the professionals are producing. There are so many ways to easily incorporate broadcast news videos into all of your school publications. In this session, you will learn how your students can create 45- to 70-second news packages, 30- to 45-second voiceover videos, one-minute AP news-style highlight videos and mobile app slideshows perfect for social media.
Don Goble, Ladue Horton Watkins High School adviser

10 a.m. Central

Advising
Engage: Covering tragedy in your publication
Hear the story of creating the 2018 yearbook at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School from adviser Sarah Lerner. She and her students had to finish the book under the most unthinkable circumstances, following the events of Feb. 14, 2018.
Sarah Lerner, CJE, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School adviser

Editing
Good fit: How to cut a story without butchering it
Discover helpful tips for trimming articles that are over their allotted word count.
Khari Williams, CQ Roll Call copy editor

General interest
Being a journalist during COVID-19
This speaker has learned a lot during the past seven to eight months. Being a TV journalist during a global pandemic has been quite the challenge. She has learned a lot about herself … professionally and personally. She’ll share that experience with the younger generation of student journalists.
Alex de Armas, WSVN morning reporter

General interest
One Story: Behind the scenes of NYT At Home
Join members of the New York Times At Home team for a behind-the-scenes look at their section.
Amy Virshup, New York Times Travel editor and members of the New York Times At Home team

General interest
What’s ahead: Florida in a warmer world
Multiple threats linked to climate change are becoming more evident and accelerating in Florida. This presentation will review the concerning current and future trends, but end on a positive note.
John Morales, NBC6 Miami atmospheric and environmental scientist

Leadership and team building
Onward and upward
It is easy to get lost in survival mode each school year, especially this year of all years. This session will give ideas to create time for the individuals that make the team, no matter virtual or face-to-face. Devise an action plan where everyone buys in and create direction with your team.
Rebecca Pollard, MJE, Lovejoy High School adviser

Leadership and team building
Managing a virtual newsroom
Reuters Global Managing Editor Simon Robinson on how Reuters is managing working from home in 2020 and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of its 2,500 journalists. He will share how student leaders can connect and engage with staffers remotely and how student leaders can manage the stress of leading in this unique situation.
Simon Robinson, Reuters Global managing editor

Multimedia broadcast
The 15 commandments of great video
Video is everywhere, but not everyone knows how to do it right. This speaker has 15 easy-to-follow tips on shooting and editing that will help you make professional-looking productions.
Jeff Sharon, Full Sail University course director

News gathering
Read easy. Write hard
Alternative copy formats make reading easy for your audience, but they still require research and reporting. Come take a look at examples from pros and peers that will inspire you and your readers. You’ll leave with a plan for implementing alternative story formats in your media right away.
Kristi Rathbun, MJE, Rock Canyon High School adviser

Online
Next level online storytelling
This session will build on your current knowledge of basic WordPress knowledge and social media storytelling to illustrate how to build a constant stream of online content that truly delivers. Audio, video and interactive content will be the focus.
Chris Waugaman, MJE, Prince George High School adviser

Online
Storytelling and engaging audiences with social media
By the end of this session, you will learn about different roles social media can play in journalism, understand key differences in the major social networks and how to choose where to spend your time, and snag some ideas for how you might use social platforms in your storytelling.
Kelly Geary Agnew, Swift Communications marketing strategy manager

11 a.m. Central

Design
Design your way to the top
Newspaper students will see examples from around the country of in-depth and double truck designs utilizing strong visual graphics with extended copy. Bring your questions about using graphics and art with text in expanded page forms.
Michael Reeves, MJE, James Bowie High School adviser

General interest
Life as a YouTuber
This presentation is about how a teenager turned a hobby of uploading videos online into a career.
Sharon Cancio, social media influencer

General interest
New technology tools for tomorrow’s journalists
Drones, camera stabilizers, sliders, jibs, POV cameras and other new video production tools are shaping the future of journalists and media creators who are telling today’s and tomorrow’s most intriguing stories. This session looks at where we are at and where visual storytelling is going.
Steve Weiss, instructor and special projects coordinator at Colorado State University

General interest
On the line
Learn what goes into being a sideline reporter, host and producer.
Kelly Saco, Fox Sports reporter

General interest
One Story: How to how-to
From cooking videos and crafting to instructional videos for classroom use, join this session for a “how to” on creating how-to videos, featuring students work from CCNN Live at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami.
Omar Delgado, Christopher Columbus High School adviser

Law and ethics
Covering courts
Students will get an introduction to covering courts — primarily federal courts. They will be informed about the importance of legal decisions and how they affect every aspect of our lives.
Frances McMorris, freelance journalist

Multimedia broadcast
Audio: It REALLY is important
Audio in broadcast and multimedia is every bit as important as the video to tell the story in a compelling and interesting way. Explore effective techniques to include great audio and natural sound in your next story or live production.
Albert Dupont, Loyola University School of Mass Communication technology coordinator

Multimedia broadcast
Directing live sports
Learn what it takes to direct live sports from eight-time Emmy Award winner Andy Freedman.
Andy Freedman, CBS Sports director

News gathering
A mythbuster approach to reporting on Native Americans
Participants will be given a brief overview of the solutions journalism approach that will offer them the tools and strategies they need to responsibly report on Indigenous issues while also learning to recognize and debunk the stereotypical and negative narratives in mainstream media about Native Americans/Alaska Natives in their reporting.
Johnnie Jae, A Tribe Called Geek founder

News gathering
Interviewing basics
In this session, students will learn how to conduct the perfect interview. They will learn how to determine sources, write questions, schedule properly, take notes and much more.
Sarah Lerner, CJE, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School adviser

Photojournalism
Tips and tricks for sports photography
Need some good tips and tricks to take better sports photos? Want to look at some awesome photos? You’re in the right place. Professional sports photographer Matt Stamey will give some tips and tricks to step up your sports photography game while inspiring you with awesome sports images.
Matt Stamey, freelance sports photographer

2 p.m. Central

Career advice
Success in college: In and out of journalism
We’ll explore the key factors that help students succeed in a college environment. We’ll talk about life skills, academic tactics and carving out a career in journalism and related fields. We will also touch on how to choose a college that’s right for you.
Ted Spiker, University of Florida department of journalism professor

Design
Designing with color
Strategies for effective use of color in print design. Learn how to use color to enhance your content in magazines, newspapers and yearbooks.
Gary Lundgren, National Scholastic Press Association associate director

Editing
Edit less, coach more
Good editors don’t waste time rewriting copy. Learn how and why you should shift gears from being a fixer who makes changes to your reporters’ articles to a coach who builds a strong writing staff.
Katina Paron, MJE, Institute of Environmental Journalists director

Law and ethics
Too ‘hot’ for school: How to avoid censorship
Have you ever been told that the story you’re covering is inappropriate? Perhaps you have decided not to cover a story because of fear of backlash? In this session, we will examine the history of censorship, recent developments and how to avoid being censored.
Audrey Wagstaff, MJE, Wilmington College associate professor

Leadership and team building
Where are the women in news?
The news isn’t good. Women remain underrepresented in most newsrooms around the world, which means the stories news organizations tell underrepresent women or often present them from a male perspective. What can newsrooms do to attract and keep women and what might this mean for the bottom line.
Wendy Whitt, Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications senior instructor

News gathering
Yearbook copy amidst COVID-19 chaos
Veteran adviser shares how her staff will cope with amassing content and compelling personal stories in their forced virtual environment. Using tech resources, such as Google forms, and armed with personal devices, intrepid yearbook journalists will expand their newsroom from their personal offices at home to the entire community.
Mary Kay Downes, MJE, Chantilly High School adviser

News literacy
Media literacy and the election
2020 has been a year filled with intense political conversation. Some of it based in fact. Some of it not so much. In the age of information overload, how does one even begin to sort through all the news about politics? How does someone sift through election coverage and figure out what is misinformation? While there has been incredible journalism this year, we have also seen a plethora of false claims, conspiracy theories and even deep fakes. Join this panel discussion as we explore what we learned from the coverage of the 2020 Presidential Election, what we noticed about youth civic engagement and how media literacy can help us separate the reliable content from the falsehoods.
National Association for Media Literacy Education: Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, executive director; Alexa Volland, MediaWise; Anglie Holan, Politifact; Peter De Guzman, CIRCLE research program coordinator

Online
Updated Google tools the pros use 2020
Find out about the Google News Initiative and how you can use the same tools available to professional journalists for classroom research and interactive graphics.
Laura Negri, CJE, Alief Keer High School adviser

Photojournalism
Drone videography bible
This is a short presentation on the basic rules, regulations and etiquette when operating a drone in the United States.
Ryan Watson, University of South Florida Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications instructor

Photojournalism
Photo A to Z
From Aperture to Zoom Lenses and everything in between, come for 26 rapid-fire tips, suggestions and recommendations to strengthen your photography and visual storytelling in the year ahead! We’ll cover techniques, composition rules, gear to buy, and ways you can take your images to the next level.
Mike Simons, MJE, Corning-Painted Post High School adviser

Writing
If you can review a movie, you can review anything!
Movie reviews have been a staple of newspapers for more than 50 years. Using the same principles of writing a film review, reporters can review almost anything of interest in their readers’ world.
Dean Bradshaw, CJE, Stevenson High School adviser

3 p.m. Central

Advising
Engage: Sunshine, stories and censorship?
It’s all sunshine until the threat of prior review or censorship appears. Advisers are often on the front lines in navigating administrative censorship and prior review. In this session, we explore factors that contribute to these practices and how to combat them.
Audrey Wagstaff, MJE, Wilmington College associate professor

Career advice
What I wish I’d known
Student journalist Asher Montgomery interviews her father Ben Montgomery, a veteran investigative reporter and author, about what he wishes he knew when he was starting out in journalism. Their candid conversation will cover interviewing, writing and how to make a career in a changing industry.
Ben Montgomery, journalist and author; Asher Montgomery, Hillsborough High School student

Design
Design + Sports
Introducing you to the world of sports that has captivated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise through the growing field of graphic design. Showing how we developed as a team to start designing in house, and excelled even through the new challenges presented by COVID-19.
Evita Ortiz, Tampa Bay Buccaneers graphic designer

Design
Design essentials
No matter the platform, superior design has several commonalities. In this session, we’ll cut through the white noise and deconstruct those aspects of design that are most important to capturing the attention of your audience.
Pete LeBlanc, CJE, Antelope High School adviser

General interest
Editorial cartooning
Despite being in newspapers for hundreds of years, editorial cartoons are still often misunderstood. Join award-winning cartoonist Kevin Necessary to learn how to create effective editorial cartoons, and why responsible opinion journalism is important today.
Kevin Necessary, freelance editorial cartoonist

General interest
Scholastic Journalism Week starter kit
Scholastic Journalism Week occurs during the last full week in February. The purpose of this week is to celebrate the phenomenal journalism programs across the country. Learn how you can celebrate Scholastic Journalism Week at your school and bring activities for the whole school to enjoy.
Pedro Cabrera, CJE, Judson High School adviser and JEA Scholastic Journalism Week committee chair

News gathering
Creating and using surveys you can trust
Surveys are fun and often yield interesting information. But the truth is that making trustworthy surveys is complicated – really complicated. The good news is that you can learn the essentials to make and use them in your publication in this session. We’ll cover how to design and administer surveys, and how to use the data collected in them successfully.
Tripp Robbins, CJE, Menlo School adviser

Writing
Head in the game
Tired of unexciting headlines? Come learn how to write and design headlines that will grab the readers’ attention and make them want to read your story.
Renee Burke, MJE, William R. Boone High School adviser

Friday, Nov. 20

9 a.m. Central

Advising
Engage: Creating your staff handbook
It’s never too late to create your staff handbook. Include staff policies, purpose statement and procedures for the staff and this year’s publication. This is a living document.
Anne Hayman, MJE, Arlington High School adviser and JEA Washington state director

Advising
Engage: Photographing during a pandemic
When schools were forced to stop meeting face to face last spring, photography instructors had to start thinking creatively. Come look at, and discuss, some of the more creative assignments that instructors used during the pandemic.
Bradley Wilson, Midwestern State University associate professor and editor of C:JET magazine

Design
Little things, big results
We’re all about yearbook theme and the little things that drive it! We’ll cover how to ensure all of your elements flow together to create a cohesive product by examining and tracing the theme of several yearbooks. Big results can come from the small things.
Heather Nagel, CJE, Christ Presbyterian Academy adviser; Katelyn White, Christ Presbyterian Academy student; Addie Reese Zapp, Christ Presbyterian Academy student

General interest
Developing media days for sports coverage
Over the past few years, students in the sports broadcasting class at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana, have instituted Media Days for different sports seasons, which has student athletes go through a series of stations to assist with student media content creation. The stations include photography, yearbook interview, videography, teammate video challenges and on-camera interview. Attend this session to learn how to develop your own, which has proven to be an amazing resource to get student content coverage!
David Young, Hamilton Southeastern High School adviser

General interest
Media, race and sport
This presentation explores how media creators struggle with reporting on issues that intersect race and sport or fail to recognize these issues. Topics for discussion include Black Lives Matter, gender imbalance, and identity in football recruiting. These complex topics offer a unique opportunity for media.
Travis Bell, University of South Florida Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications assistant professor

General interest
Patching it in a pandemic
Adaptive resilience. That’s what 2020 looks like for student and professional journalists as the global coronavirus pandemic has forced us all to tell stories in new ways. We will explore how to report on your campus with excellence using a patchwork of tools amid trying times.
Rick Brunson, University of Central Florida journalism instructor

Leadership and team building
Staff motivation & organization
While it’s long been known that food is the ultimate motivator, sometimes that pizza party just isn’t enough. Learn some tips and tricks to help your student staffers enjoy the work they do.
Jessica Bramer Romick, CJE, John Marshall High School adviser

Multimedia broadcast
One Story: Broadcasting At Home: What you can learn from the pros
When COVID struck and everyone got stuck at home, that meant adapting and learning new ways to make sure productions stayed on-air. Learn the good, bad and ugly of broadcasting at home from professionals working in TV, radio, news, entertainment and sports.
Moderated by former local TV producer and Orlando local committee volunteer Nena Garga and featuring panelists Christina Orazio (senior production manager at Discovery Inc.), Andrew Chrenoff (sports reporter at WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky), David De Guzman (reporter/weekend anchor at WFXR in Roanoke, Virginia), Ryan Koletty (senior production manager for Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment in Philadelphia), Krista LePard (associate producer for The Golf Channel’s Morning Drive), Clay LePard (reporter at WKMG in Orlando) and Katie Sommers (on-air talent for iHeart Media Tampa Bay)

Multimedia broadcast
Reporting and writing for radio and podcast
Participants will learn foundational techniques for writing and reporting for audio journalism..
Daylina Miller, WUSF multimedia journalist

Online
Social anxiety: How to get started on social media
Can’t keep up with all the apps and trends that seem to emerge? Don’t worry. We’ll discuss social media basics, what to post on which platform, different post creation sites and how to integrate social media into your program
Leslie Dennis, South Carolina Scholastic Press Association director and Southern Interscholastic Press Association director

Writing
Sources in all types of writing
Journalists build credibility by writing great stories — but it’s about the people, not the events. This session guides writers to build their own empathy and curiosity, then work to honor subjects by asking key questions about motivation as well as seeking secondary sources to frame character and provide perspective.
Shari Adwers, MJE, Loudoun Valley High School adviser; Ava Butzu, Grand Blanc High School adviser

10 a.m. Central

General interest
A week of a sports broadcaster
The ins and outs of the week-long process of preparing to call a college football game.
Anthony Becht, ESPN college football color analyst

General interest
Oh boy, it’s JOY!
Learn about JEA’s Journalist of the Year scholarship competition. We will look at the process, the rubric, best practices for creating your portfolio and more.
Joe Humphrey, MJE, Journalist of the Year coordinator

General interest
Small school, big dreams
Publications in smaller schools have plenty of concerns that are unique to their size. That doesn’t mean we should face these challenges alone, nor do we need a large school to have successful programs! Specifically for programs in schools with fewer than 900 students.
Katie Merritt, MJE, Darlington School adviser and JEA at-large director; Sergio Yanes, CJE, Arvada High School

General interest
The organized way
There is so much of producing and distributing your publication that comes back to organization. We’ll talk about organization for the content, production, progress and distribution of your publication. Most can be applied to any type of production or publication.
Anne Hayman, MJE, Arlington High School adviser and JEA Washington state director

Leadership and team building
You can be an activist and still be a journalist
The 50th anniversaries of two events related to the Vietnam War affected journalism — the May 4,1970, shooting deaths of four Kent State University students, and 1969’s Tinker black armband decision. We’ll explore how these events changed journalism and how scholastic journalists bring unique insight and leadership to objective issues coverage.
John Bowen, MJE, Kent State University professor; Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, Kent State University professor and Center for Scholastic Journalism director

Multimedia broadcast
Everybody has a story and true tales of TV news
Here’s how to make your stories connect with the viewer and make them memorable. Finding stories at the whim of a dart and a thing called a phonebook. Putting the subject at ease for better interviews. Accept the water. And never forget it’s not about YOU, it’s about the STORY.
Les Rose, Newhouse School Broadcast and Digital Journalism professor of practice

Multimedia broadcast
Journalistic filmmaking
Documentary filmmaker Maribeth Romslo details her process as a producer and director who creates independent films. This session will cover story sourcing, access, releases, filming, editing and distribution.
Maribeth Romslo, director, cinematographer and independent film producer

News gathering
How to cover protests
Covering protests and civil unrest can be filled with the unexpected. Some tips on how to cover protests, find stories there and stay safe.
Divya Kumar, Tampa Bay Times education and nonprofit reporter

Online
Become a Google Flourish and data scraping ninja in 1 hour
Learn how to scrape information off websites into a spreadsheet (cool!) and then load spreadsheets into the Google Flourish data visualization tool to build animated graphics. You’ll walk away with two handouts, scraping formulas, datasets and exercises as well as some cool training videos. Set up a free account at Flourish.studio prior to the session.
Mike Reilley, Society of Professional Journalists digital trainer

Photojournalism
Covering politics visually
Amid all the news, almost overlooked was this fall’s national election that occurred along with a plethora of state, county, city and local elections. All provide many opportunities for photojournalists to make a difference in their community.
Bradley Wilson, Midwestern State University associate professor and editor of C:JET magazine

Writing
Cultivating columnists
If your newspaper doesn’t already include regular columns, this session will put you on the path to do so. We will start with a presentation on the difference between columns and other opinion journalism, and then explain the system we’ve successfully implemented at the Oracle over the past few years and how a trained editor oversees out-of-class columnists.
Kristin Taylor, CJE, Archer School for Girls adviser and JEA Scholastic Press Rights director

11 a.m. Central

Advising
Engage: Discussion of legal and ethical issues
Facing censorship issues including prior review or just have legal or ethical questions? Come to discuss them with members of JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Committee.
John Bowen, MJE, Kent State University professor; Kristin Taylor, CJE, Archer School for Girls adviser and JEA Scholastic Press Rights director

Advising
Engage: Small school, big dreams
Publications in smaller schools have plenty of concerns that are unique to their size. That doesn’t mean we should face these challenges alone, nor do we need a large school to have successful programs! Join us for a roundtable discussion specifically for programs in schools with fewer than 900 students.
Katie Merritt, MJE, Darlington School adviser and JEA at-large director; Sergio Yanes, CJE, Arvada High School

Career advice
Engage: A college radio show can help your career
Students will discuss the skills they’ve developed while hosting their own college radio shows, including planning the shows, booking guests, preparing for interviews and promoting their shows on social media. They’ll also talk about the on-air skills they’ve developed.
Holli Haerr, Five Towns College instructor; Starr Fuentes, journalism student; Matt O’Leary, station manager WFTU

Career advice
Pathways in journalism Q&A
We will discuss possible career pathways in journalism, particularly in broadcast media, as well as open the floor to questions about what a day in the life of a reporter is like.
Evan Axelbank, FOX 13 News reporter

Editing
Grammar can be (almost) painless
It’s true — students don’t learn to write better by underlining the subject once and the verb twice. Still, a good foundation in grammar and punctuation can make any journalist better. Learn some new approaches for helping your students — and have fun doing it.
Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, Kent State University professor and Center for Scholastic Journalism director

Editing
Write it tight, write it right
This session will help make the writing in your publications snappier and stronger. How? By encouraging you to focus on a few copy editing guidelines that will help kill the clutter and confusion in your stories.
Karl Grubaugh, CJE, retired adviser

General interest
Engage: Oh boy, it’s JOY!
Learn about JEA’s Journalist of the Year scholarship competition. We will look at the process, the rubric, best practices for creating your portfolio and more.
Joe Humphrey, MJE, Hillsborough High School adviser and Journalist of the Year coordinator

General interest
Engage: A deeper look at ‘Raise Your Voice’
Get a behind-the-scenes perspective of “Raise Your Voice” and youth social movements with director Maribeth Romslo and Mary Beth Tinker. The pair will share their experiences and answer questions.
Maribeth Romslo, director, cinematographer and independent film producer; Mary Beth Tinker was a plantiff in the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Tinker v Des Moines that established Constitutional free speech rights of public school students

General interest
Spanish and bilingual journalism
The current job market for journalists with Spanish language reporting and writing skills is growing, yet there are few students graduating with journalism degrees that can fill them. Learn about the opportunities and what high schools can do to prepare.
Cristina Azocar, San Francisco State University associate professor; Ana Lourdes Cardenas, San Francisco State University associate professor

Leadership and team building
You just gotta have one
Every staff needs a useable staff manual that guides them through all decisions they may have to make. Learn WHAT you should include in your staff manual, WHY you should include it, and HOW you and your team should use it every day.
Val Kibler, MJE, Harrisonburg High School adviser and JEA vice president

Multimedia broadcast
The video autopsy
This session will examine two powerful broadcast feature stories. We’ll view the videos, read the scripts and analyze the storyboards in order to detail successful planning, shooting and editing techniques.
Jim McCarthy, Gregori High School adviser

News gathering
Engage: Dancing on the edge of the cliff
How do you cover controversial, edgy, important stories so well you won’t be disciplined and your adviser won’t be fired? Nuggets discussed include generating story ideas, how to do the reporting and what kind of graphic elements, including photo illustrations, help pull the whole thing together.
Karl Grubaugh, CJE, retired adviser

News gathering
Why social class matters in journalism coverage
Class affects everything we do – where we live, where we attend school and how we spend our spare time. In this session, learn how journalism helps us understand the realities and impact of social class. You’ll also consider class in the context of journalism’s social responsibility, power and reach.
Marina Hendricks, CJE, South Dakota State University assistant professor

Online
How to set a digital strategy and grow an audience
Digital — this isn’t a new concept in journalism. But to many, digital and digital strategy is still a mystifying concept. In this session, we will talk about how to figure out what works and doesn’t work for your audience, and build a strategy based on that.
Erica Hernandez, CNN digital producer

Writing
No games? No problem: Sports reporting during pandemics and other slow times
Your school’s athletes may be back in the arena competing for championships, but the pandemic should have taught sports reporters one important thing — good sports reporting isn’t just about covering games, no matter the media you’re creating content for: broadcast, news or yearbook. We’ll look at how the best sports journalists go about covering a beat and writing stories that are connected to games but are about the athletes who play the games.
Jeff Browne, Quill and Scroll executive director

2 p.m. Central

Career advice

Startup U: Use tech to create and invent your job
The job you’re going to do hasn’t been created yet. Why not create that “perfect” journalism job yourself? From augmented reality to podcasting to story pitching, we are going to show step by step how you can create a career in journalism working on what excites and challenges you.
Steve Johnson, SeeBoundless

Design
Typography: Trends & techniques in print design
Careful attention to type style and arrangement makes all the difference for a reader-friendly publication. This session will begin with an introduction to basic type vocabulary with regard to style, alignment, case and spacing. Then we’ll explore trends and identify strategies so participants learn how to improve readability, apply hierarchy and design creatively.
Sarah Nichols, MJE, Whitney High School adviser and JEA president

Law and ethics
Engage: Obtaining press freedom in private schools
This session will explore the conundrum of freedom of speech in schools without First Amendment protections. We will discuss strategies for building trust and positive relationships with school administration, and pedagogical and mission-based arguments for student press freedoms.
Kristin Taylor, CJE, Archer School for Girls adviser and JEA Scholastic Press Rights director

Multimedia broadcast
Producing student TV news broadcasts in a pandemic
How do you produce TV without leaving your house? This session will teach you how to use innovative technology to produce broadcast-quality TV newscasts while working remotely. It includes tips on virtual interviews, mobile journalism, selfie journalism, virtual sets, lighting, framing and graphics.
Jeanette Abrahamsen, University of South Florida instructor

News literacy
What I learned about media from the emu
In today’s world, media literacy is sorely lacking. This session looks at how we are constantly fooled online and in advertising, for benign and for nefarious purposes. What does a large, flightless fowl have to do with media truth? Everything.
Wayne Garcia, University of South Florida instructor

Online
Yearbook Insta-famous
Instagram can be a daunting platform for yearbook staffs to navigate. Discover all the unique and fun ways you can build a following on Instagram while sharing meaningful content that doesn’t spoil your book. From hype videos to highlights and photos, we’ll take a look at what works and why.
Makena Busch, CJE, Mead High School adviser

Photojournalism
50 photos your publication needs
The best photos tell stories about the people, places and events in our communities. We’ll give you a 50-shot list that will have your publication staff looking in all the right places for photos that are worth 1,000 words, and more.
Meghan Percival, MJE, McLean High School adviser

Photojournalism
Engaging portrait photography
Learn the ins and outs of gripping portrait photography, from planning and lighting to post production.
Josh Ritchie, freelance photographer

Writing
Finding your writing voice
This session is a fun and entertaining exploration of how young writers can tap into that inner voice that distinguishes their work from everyone else. It’ll also include advice on how to write opinion pieces.
Ernest Hooper, American Cancer Society communications director

Writing
Pay attention to the pulse: Profiles and your publication
Profiles — stories about the people at your school — should be the heart of all publications. This session will provide tips on how to ask the right questions to listen for the best answers to write great stories about the people who walk your halls.
Evelyn Lauer, MJE, Niles West High School adviser

3 p.m. Central

Advising
Safe space: Teachers of color unite
Advisers: If you identify as a Black or Indigenous Person of Color (BIPOC), this is an opportunity to connect in a safe space with others like you without judgement. Why? Because not only are BIPOC underrepresented in education, but even more so in journalism. This is a safe space for you to get support and speak freely about issues that concern you.
Teresa Scribner, Cleveland STEM High School adviser

Design
Visualizing data
In the age of digital misinformation (UGH, social media!), it’s imperative that we know how to research, collect, decipher and present data in the most complete and accurate way possible. We’ll look at online tools in addition to Adobe Illustrator and InDesign to create honest and informative charts, graphs and graphics.
Brian Hayes, MJE, Ball State University instructor

General interest
Engage: Scholastic Journalism Week tool kit
Scholastic Journalism Week occurs during the last full week in February. The purpose of this week is to celebrate the phenomenal journalism programs across the country. This year’s theme is “What We Do Matters,” and we want to hear from student journalists on what matters to them.
Pedro Cabrera, CJE, Judson High School adviser and JEA Scholastic Journalism Week committee chair

General interest
Resume to red carpet
Jobs in entertainment journalism are competitive, but they’re not as elusive (or exclusive) as most people think. Lessons learned from on-the-ground experiences at award shows, film premieres and press junkets will help future reporters break into the industry and forge their own pop culture-adjacent paths.
Jennifer Kline, Verizon Media producer

Multimedia broadcast
Art of a successful investigation
This session will explore an impactful investigative series from start to finish — including how leads are generated, sources are cultivated and suspects are prosecuted. It will highlight the importance of asking the right questions and being prepared during interviews.
Ed Drantch, WKBW Eyewitness News reporter

News literacy
What does it mean to be news literate?
News literacy is the foundation for being reliably informed. We will discuss what it means to be “news literate” and focus on key skills and knowledge students must know to sort fact from fiction and be reliably informed in today’s complex information landscape.
John Silva, News Literacy Project director of education

Online
Podcasting trends
Podcasts are booming! This session breaks down what is trending in podcasts and how students can produce their own show. From different types of technology to produce shows to different structures of shows, this session will break down how to do a sports show versus a political show, and how to create graphics to bring the show to life through social media.
Jonathan Rogers, MJE, Iowa City High School adviser

Writing
Power of words
Unlock the mysteries surrounding powerful writing. We will unveil secrets wordsmiths use to inspire readers with indelible verbal images allowing their writing to take audiences on memorable journeys. You will learn to use compelling words and writing techniques capturing the essence of remarkable people’s stories.
Linda Ballew, MJE, Park University instructor and JEA Montana state director

Writing
Writing features
A review of how to gather facts, quotes and information and blend them into captivating long-form narratives. The session will focus on the importance of creativity, taking chances and embracing unvarnished truths.
Ernest Hooper, American Cancer Society communications director