• Wednesday, Sept. 21, at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. They keynote speech will be delivered by Thad Allender, a freelance photographer, designer and BMX rider who also worked as the photo director at the Lawrence Journal-World and as a multimedia producer for USA Today. The KU conference will also feature a variety of helpful sessions, including a track for new advisers and an extended session on the new CTE-funded journalism courses.
• Monday, Sept. 26, at Fort Hays State University in Hays. Keynote speaker is Mark Newton, president of the Journalism Education Association and adviser at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo.  His topic: “Why is why the most important in journalism — and our lives? Rethink how we think about journalism and life.” This year’s conference in Hays will again feature a combined workshop-conference format, complete with traditional sessions as well as hands-on workshops for students (See details on page 2)
• Tuesday, Sept. 27, at Kansas State University in Manhattan. Keynote speaker is Mark Newton, president of the Journalism Education Association and adviser at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo. His topic: “Why is why the most important in journalism — and our lives? Rethink how we think about journalism and life.”

Registration deadlines are Sept. 16 and Sept. 20

This interactive letter and registration form must be filled out and sent to KSPA headquarters in Lawrence (no matter the conference you’re attending) at the address listed on the form (or via email according to the instructions). Deadline for the Lawrence conference registrations is Friday, Sept. 16; deadline for the Hays and Manhattan conferences is Tuesday, Sept. 20.

After KSPA has received your registration, you will get a confirmation from the on-site conference organizers. The confirmation from the conference organizers will include parking instructions, a list of hotels near the university you’re visiting, and instructions on how to check in at the conference.

Cost is $15 per person from member schools and $18 per person from non-member schools. If you are not sure of your membership status, call 758-864-0605 to check. Send a list of all attendees with your registration. We understand that you may need to substitute students after that date, but try not to add substantially to the pre-registration numbers. Arrangements at each site are dependent upon an accurate count of attendees. If you’re not a member, send along this completed membership form with your registration.

Payment will be mailed to KSPA offices. DO NOT BRING A CHECK TO THE CONFERENCE.

THE CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS

University of Kansas

The Lawrence conference on Wednesday, Sept. 21, will be at the Kansas Union. Buses may pass through the KU traffic kiosks and unload passengers at the front entrance to the Union. Buses will then need to park in Lot #300, which is located at the Lied Center on the west end of campus. There is no charge for buses parked at the Lied Center.

Delegates driving cars may park in the parking garage adjacent to and just north of the Kansas Union. Payment is made at the garage when you park.

To see a campus map, go to http://www.ku.edu/visit/maps.shtml.

Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. on the fourth level of the Union. You should reserve time to plan the sessions you will attend. Advisers will also be offered fresh fruit, coffee and tea at a 9:55 a.m. reception.

The keynote address will begin at 9 a.m. and all sessions will be completed by 1:30 p.m. Students and advisers should plan and pay for their lunches. The Kansas Union food court is on the third level.

If you have specific questions about the KU conference, contact Jeff Browne at 785-864-7625 or jeffbrowne@ku.edu.

Conference features:

• Three dozen 45-minute sessions to choose from;
• A special track for new and second-year advisers;
• A swap shop and round-table discussions for yearbook and newspaper/web editors;
• Critique sessions for a limited number of staffs;
• A reception for all advisers, complete with discussion of CTE journalism courses.

Fort Hays State University

The Hays conference/workshop on Monday, Sept. 26, will be at the FHSU Memorial Union. Parking is available on campus near the Union, and instructions will be sent with your conference registration confirmation.

Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. in the Sunset Lounge. You should reserve some time to plan what sessions you will attend. Pastries and juice will be available for all registrants.

The keynote address will begin at 9 a.m. and all sessions will be completed by 1:30 p.m. Students and advisers are asked to plan and pay for their own lunches. The Memorial Union food court has many lunch options.

If you have specific questions about the FHSU conference, contact Marcella Marez, conference coordinator, at 785-628-4337, or at mmarez@fhsu.edu. If you have general questions about the fall conferences, contact Jeff Browne at 785-864-7625 or jeffbrowne@ku.edu.

Here’s a grid of the seminars and sessions at the FHSU conference/workshop, and here’s a general outline:

• A keynote address by Mark Newton, the president of the Journalism Education Association.
• A special track for new and second-year advisers;
• A reception for all advisers, complete with discussion of CTE journalism courses;
  • Hands-on immersion sessions in photography, theme and design, and writing
  • These are two-and-a-half-hour sessions for a limited number of experienced students

• Instruction sessions in photography, theme and design, and writing. (These are 95-minute sessions for a limited number of beginning students)
• Critique sessions in photography, theme and design, and writing (These are 30-minute mini-sessions for experienced students to get feedback)
• Traditional instructional sessions on a variety of topics (These are 50-minute sessions presented by professionals, college educators and high school advisers)

Kansas State University

The Manhattan conference on Tuesday, Sept. 27, will be at the K-State Union. Parking details will be sent to you with your conference confirmation packet. The parking garage south of the K-State Union will be available if you drive a car. Buses may drop off students in front of the K-State Union and then park for free at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on the north side of campus.

Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. in front of the Forum Theater in the lower level of the Union. You should reserve time to plan the sessions you will attend.

The keynote address will begin at 9 a.m. and all sessions will be completed by 1:30 p.m. Students and advisers should plan and pay for their lunches. The K-State Union food court has many lunch options.

If you have specific questions about the KSU conference, contact Kelly Furnas, conference coordinator, at 785-532-7822 or furnas@ksu.edu. If you have general questions about the fall conferences, contact Jeff Browne at 785-864-7625 or jeffbrowne@ku.edu.

Conference features:

• Journalism Education Association President Mark Newton;
• Three dozen 45-minute sessions to choose from;
• A special track for new and second-year advisers;
• A reception for all advisers, complete with discussion of CTE journalism courses;
• Critique sessions for a limited number of staffs.

Can you present?

If you have a great session that you’d like to present at any or all of the conferences, please fill out this speaker reply form and describe your session, including a title, an audience and AV needs.

More specifically, we also need advisers to help lead two tracks especially for advisers:

• First, you may share your expertise in a particular area with new advisers in a 45-minute session (or a double session of 90 minutes) as part of the new track for those advisers.
• Second, you may want to help lead a discussion on what your school will do now that the state has approved a handful of funded CTE journalism courses beginning in 2012-2013.

Saturday’s National Scholastic Press Association awards ceremony was laden with mentions of winners from the Shawnee Mission district. NSPA Executive Director Logan Aimone paused from reading the list of winners and noted the Shawnee Mission district’s journalism.

The crowning Shawnee Mission achievement came during the Best of Show competition for yearbooks 325 pages or longer: SM Northwest finished first, SM East second and SM North third in the contest, which draws yearbooks from across the country. Blue Valley High School’s yearbook finished ninth in the same category, giving Kansas four of the national contest’s top nine yearbooks.

Shawnee Mission schools and Maize South Middle School also brought home NSPA’s most prestigious award, the Pacemaker, high school journalism’s Pulitzer Prize.

Here is the list of Kansas publications that received Pacemakers in Anaheim:

• Harbinger Online (Online Publications) Shawnee Mission East HS; editors Logan Heley, Patrick McGannon and Maggie Simmons; adviser C. Dow Tate
• Indian (Yearbook) Shawnee Mission North HS; adviser Becky Tate
• Hauberk (Yearbook) Shawnee Mission East HS; editors Whitaker Sherk and Jordan Dietrich; adviser C. Dow Tate
• Lair (Yearbook) Shawnee Mission Northwest HS; editors Anne Unruh and Lauren Minick; adviser Susan Massy
• Stampede (Yearbook) Maize South MS; editors Kristi Huynh, Anna Weaver, Natalie Bach, and Jacklyn Brock; adviser Mary Patrick

Here are the Best of Show winners from Kansas:

Publication Website Small School

1. The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
http://www.smeharbinger.net
Logan Heley, Patrick McGannon, Maggie Simmons, editors
C. Dow Tate, adviser

Newspaper Special Edition

8. Epic, Shawnee Mission West HS, Overland Park, Kan.
Lana Fanous, editor
Amy Morgan, adviser

Newsmagazine

7. The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
Maria Davison, Stephanie Spicer, editors
Susan Massy, adviser

9. Epic, Shawnee Mission West HS, Overland Park, Kan.
Lana Fanous, editor
Amy Morgan, adviser

Yearbook 325+ Pages

1. Lair, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
Lauren Minick, Annie Unruh, editors
Susan Massy, adviser

2. Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
Whitaker Sherk, editor
C. Dow Tate, adviser

3. Indian, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan.
Alexis Reid, Annie Basham, Ben Enyart, Sarah Hendee, editors
Becky Tate, adviser

9. Reflections, Blue Valley HS, Stilwell, Kan.
Gretchen Hess, editor
Jill Chittum, adviser

Junior High Yearbook

1. Stampede, Maize South MS, Wichita, Kan.
Anna Weaver, Jacklynn Brock, editors
Mary Patrick, adviser

In addition to those winners, 29 Kansas students won Write-Off awards from the Journalism Education Association at Sunday’s awards ceremony. The write-off contests were held on Friday. Entries are judged as either Superior, Excellent or Honorable Mention.

Of the 1,454 participants from around the country, 502 received awards.

Here are the Kansas winners:

Superior (7)

• Matt Gannon, SM East, Sports Writing
• Helena Buchmann, SM East, YB Copy/Captions: Academics
• Callie Byrnes, SM North, YB Copy/Captions: Clubs
• Brittany Bonsignore, SM Northwest, Yearbook Sports Photography
• Elaine Odum, SM West, Yearbook Sports Photography
• Grant Heinlein, SM East, Newspaper Sports Photography
• Alissa Pollack, SM East, Yearbook Student Life Photography

Excellent (7)

• Anna Zheng, Blue Valley, Feature Writing
• Logan Heley, SM East, News Editing/Headline Writing
• McKenzie Baker, SM Northwest, YB Copy/Captions: Sports
• Gabby Riggs, SM Northwest, YB Copy/Captions: Clubs
• Emily Kulaga, SM East, Computer Design: Headline
• Natalie Pasley, SM North, Yearbook Student Life Photography
• David Freyermuth, SM Northwest, Yearbook Student Life Photography

Honorable Mention (15)

• Holly Hernandez, SM East, News Writing
• Chris Heady, SM East, Feature Writing
• Connor Thompson, SM Northwest, Sports Writing
• Tyler Absher, SM Northwest, Editorial Cartooning
• Tom Lynch, SM East, Commentary Writing
• Maegan Kabel, Blue Valley, News Magazine Layout
• Kat Buchanan, SM East, News Magazine Layout
• Elizabeth Hudson, SM Northwest, YB Copy/Caption: Academics
• Max Blanchard, SM East, YB Copy/Caption: Student Life
• Hannah Walter, SM East, YB Layout: Inside Pages
• Kate Kulaga, SM East, Computer Design: Infographics
• Evan Nichols, SM East, Computer Design: Advertising
• Daniel Magwire, SM Northwest, Yearbook Sports Photography
• Brendan Dulohery, SM East, Newspaper News/Feature Photography
• Bailey Kopp, SM Northwest, Photo Portrait

Drake is also a member of the KSPA board, serving as an Area 3 representative. She is a member of the KSPA Hall of Fame, and has served as the organization’s president.

From the NSPA announcement:

“Linda Drake has taught journalism and advised publications at Chase County High School in Cottonwood Falls, Kan., for more than 37 years. She’s twice been president of Kansas Scholastic Press Association and was the 2008 JEA National Yearbook Adviser of the Year. She serves as JEA secretary and has been on NSPA’s board of directors since 2006. Drake is a frequent speaker at conventions and workshops.”

Foremost among the winners was East’s Tim Shedor, the Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Shedor was one of six runners-up in the national Journalist of the Year competition and won a $2,000 scholarship from JEA. Shedor will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship from KSPA at the State Contest opening ceremonies, May 1 at the Kansas Union in Lawrence.

Kansas students won 18 awards in the convention’s write-off competition.

Those winners (“Superior” represents the top rating, followed by “Excellent” and “Honorable Mention”):

• Katie Hamlin, Goddard, Feature Writing, Superior
• Caitlyn Massy, SM Northwest, Student Life Photography, Superior
• Anna Petrow, SM East, Photography Portfolio, Superior
• Courtney Moore, Andover High, Feature Writing, Excellent
• Alyssa Parsons, SM West, Photography Portfolio, Excellent
• Tim Shedor, SM East, Feature Writing, Excellent
• Corbin Barnds, SM East, Yearbook Copy/Caption: Sports, Excellent
• Ashley Porter, Goddard, YB Layout: Inside Pages, Excellent
• Kelsey Phillips, Andover High, Computer Design: Headline, Excellent
• Evan Nichols, SM East, Computer Design: Infographics, Excellent
• Lane White, Andover High, YB Student Life Photography, Honorable Mention
• Whitaker Sherk, SM East, YB Layout: Theme, Honorable Mention
• Katie Pool, Andover High, Review Writing, Honorable Mention
• Alex Lamb, SM East, Review Writing, Honorable Mention
• Lana Fanous, SM West, Review Writing, Honorable Mention
• Corbin Mihelic, Andover High, Sports Writing, Honorable Mention
• Meredith Morris, Goddard, Sports Writing, Honorable Mention
• Alysabeth Albano, SM East, News Writing, Honorable Mention

In all, 440 of 1,065 students received awards: 72 were judged superior, 138 were excellent and 230 earned honorable mention.

The JEA/NSPA Fall Convention will be in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 11-14 at the Convention Center. Kathy Habiger from Mill Valley and Amy Morgan from Shawnee Mission West are the local co-chairs. Here’s the brochure.

Three Kansas advisers were awarded Gold Keys from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association at the CSPA’s annual conference this month in New York, and a fourth Kansan was awarded the Charles R. O’Malley Award.

Linda Drake from Chase County High School, C. Dow Tate from Shawnee Mission East and Rebecca Lucas Tate from Shawnee Mission North were among just eight honorees nationwide who received their Gold Keys on Friday, March 19, at Columbia University.

The most recent Gold Key winner from Kansas, Linda Puntney from Kansas State University, was honored with the O’Malley Award, which is given annually to a single educator who has “a sustained record of outstanding teaching in support of student journalism or student publishing. It is intended to be the CSPA’s highest accolade in support of the core function of teaching as related to student-practiced journalism.” Puntney, the director of Student Publications at KSU and the executive director of the Journalism Education Association, earned her Gold Key in 1993.

According to the CSPA, “Gold Key recipients have demonstrated their support for excellence in teaching journalism and in advising student publications.”

CSPA has been awarding Gold Keys since 1929, and 16 Kansans have won the honor, beginning in 1940 with Prof. L.N. Flint of the University of Kansas. The list:

• Prof. L.N. Flint, KU, 1940
• Frances Taylor, Argentine High School, Kansas City, 1950
• Dale Pigg, SM North, 1959
• Ura Plata, Washburn Rural, 1964
• Dorothy Greer, Topeka High, 1965 (Greer went on to found the Colorado High School Press Association, modeling it after KSPA)
• Frank Naylor, Wyandotte High, 1966
• Edna Coder, Hays High, 1970
• Nicoletta Economy, Wyandotte High, 1973
• Katherine Rogers, Fort Hays State, 1982
• Jackie Engel, McPherson High, 1983
• David Adams, KSU, 1987
• Ron Johnson, KSU, 1992
• Linda Puntney, KSU, 1993
• Linda Drake, Chase County, 2010
• C. Dow Tate, SM East, 2010
• Rebecca Lucas Tate, SM North, 2010

More than 40 students from 15 schools converged on Topeka on a cold Kansas morning, and they spent the day in pursuit of a story about an issue facing the state legislature in its 2010 session, an issue specifically dealing with K-12 education. In the midst of the ongoing recession, all schools focused on K-12 funding.

Fourteen of the 15 schools submitted written stories, and four other schools turned in video news stories after the event. Judges from the University of Kansas School of Journalism honored the following schools:

Class 1A to 4A: Humboldt High School; story written by Alexis Hosack and Valerie Weilert.
Class 5A and 6A: Mill Valley High School; story written by Sarah Darby and Sarah Fulton.
Video Story (above): Blue Valley High School; story produced by Matt Hamblin and Josh Montague.

Each of the winning entries will split a $50 prize offered by the Kansas Families for Education Foundation, which also provided six KSPA member schools with travel stipends.

It is time to shake off those cold weather blues and join us for the 6th annual Middle School Re-Design Workshops.

The workshops will be held once again at Maize South Middle School, but our school has a brand-new beautiful facility so note the address change below. There are two prices. Without lunch is $2 per student and with lunch included (Pizza Hut) it is $5 per student. Advisers, as usual, are free. Here is the interactive PDF registration form.

Because we are all struggling with budget cuts, we have changed the format a bit. This year we will actually have THREE workshop dates to choose from, one Friday and two Saturday. You may come to one or to more than one, whatever you choose to do. The decision to offer two Saturday dates came about because many districts are not allowing field trips during the school day and we wanted to make this workshop was available to all. Once again, we will have award-winning teachers; the staff will vary slightly depending on the day of the workshop.

So here are the basics:

When: Friday, Feb. 5, Saturday, March 6, and or Saturday, April 10. On each of these days the workshop will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. with a 30-minute lunch included in that time.
While each workshop emphasizes ways to make your publication more quickly, easily, and trendy, we will also some different topics at each workshop in case you would like to attend more than one:
Special topic for Feb. 5—Design Modules and Quick Reads
Special topic for  March 6—New Design Trends
Special topic for April 10—Yearbook: theme planning; Newspaper: planning that special edition

Where: Maize South Middle School, 3403 N. Tyler, Wichita, Kansas 67205 (Directions will be provided once you register.)
Cost: $2 without lunch; $5 with lunch. Advisers are free. Fees may be paid the day of the workshop. Checks should be made to the Kansas Scholastic Press Association.
Contact person: Mary Patrick, mpatrick@usd266.com, 316-722-0421, ext. 2535

Deadlines: For each workshop, I need to know a few days in advance who will be attending in order to get materials ready. So the deadlines are as follows:
For Friday, Feb. 5—Deadline is Monday, Feb. 1
For  Saturday, March. 6—Deadline is Monday, March 1
For Saturday, April 10—Deadline is Monday, April 5

I am looking forward to seeing all of you soon! Please contact me with questions.

Statehouse Reporter for a Day is set for Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, at the State Capitol in Topeka. The event begins at 8 a.m. with check-in and concludes at 2 p.m. The full agenda and contest requirements are listed below.

For schools that need help financing a trip to Topeka, $500 travel reimbursement stipends will be available for up to seven deserving schools.

Travel funds available

There will be no registration fee for the event, and a generous grant supplied by the Kansas Families for Education Foundation allows for schools who need help traveling to Topeka to apply for a $500 travel stipend reimbursement to help cover expenses.

Space limitations at the Capitol building require that we limit registration to no more than four students (two print and two broadcast) and one adviser per school. Students will be divided into reporting teams, with one team responsible for producing a news story and the other responsible for producing a broadcast news package. (If a school doesn’t have a broadcast team, it can bring only two print students. If it has only a broadcast team, it can bring only those two students.)

The single-page registration form and instructions are on page 4 of the full event document. The early registration deadline (for schools wishing to apply for the travel stipend) is Monday, Dec. 14, 2009. The final registration deadline is Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. However, because registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, there is no guarantee that meeting the registration deadline will reserve your spot in Topeka. Once you apply, we will notify you within 72 hours if your application has been accepted. If you aren’t already a KSPA member, just download the membership form and become one so that your students can participate.

KSPA wants to thank our guests — including Lt. Gov. Troy Findley, Steve Kraske from The Kansas City Star and First Lady Stacy Parkinson — as well as the Kansas Families for Education Foundation for making this opportunity possible.

We hope to see you in Topeka on Jan. 28, 2010.

Contest requirements

Prior to Jan. 28, it will be the students’ responsibility , with the help of their advisers, to keep current on issues facing the legislature in its 2010 session, specifically issues regarding K-12 education. Gov. Mark Parkinson’s Nov. 22 announcement of budget cuts to education is one place to start. Students must bring to the press conference all preparatory material and a list of relevant questions for the press conference.

All written stories must be completed by Monday, Feb. 1, and sent as a PDF document to jeffbrowne@ku.edu. Video crews have until Friday, Feb. 5, to edit and e-mail their compressed video file to the same address, or they can post the file to Vimeo, SchoolTube or YouTube and send the link in an e-mail to jeffbrowne@ku.edu. Entries will be judged by University of Kansas journalism faculty. Winners will be posted online on this site by Feb. 15.

All stories must

• Be focused on a K-12 education issue facing the Kansas legislature in its 2010 session;
• Be written in a balanced, fair news style, complete with an objective tone;
• Contain at least three key sources that reflect a variety of view on the sujbect at hand;
• Be either 600 to 1,200 words in length (print) or no more than three minutes long (Broadcast packages).

Print stories can be turned in with any relevant photos (with cutlines) that will be used when the story is published in the school’s publication(s).

Broadcast stories may be done with or without a stand-up element.

Schedule

• 8 a.m. Students arrive and check in outside Docking Auditorium.
• 8:30 a.m. Continental breakfast; remarks from Associated Press reporter John Hanna; KSPA Executive Director Jeff Browne outlines contest requirements and student expectations.
• 9:30 a.m. Students observe legislature in session.
• 10:30 a.m. Student press conference with elected officials.
• 11:30 a.m. Lunch in Docking Auditorium; speakers include First Lade Stacy Parkinson and Steve Kraske from KCUR and The Kansas City Star.
• 12:30 p.m. Students return to Capitol to interview hometown legislators, observe committee meetings, gather other information and images for stories.
• 2 p.m. Students dismissed to return home.

Frakes said he loves telling sports stories with his photos, and that he’s enthusiastically embraced the Web as a means of telling even richer stories in multimedia formats.

You can listen to the interview above.