50th Anniversary Luncheon at KU

A reunion of the wonderful and dedicated people who helped KSPA arrive at its 50th anniversary. Join us to celebrate our history and our future!

Don't miss out!

Countdown to the luncheon

Kansas student press history before KSPA's founding

There were many organizations and events that preceded the Kansas Scholastic Press Association as supports for student journalists in Kansas:

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Conferences at KU” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1919-1949″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ image_id=”35712″ css=”.vc_custom_1711127411042{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]University of Kansas journalism school held annual student journalism conferences as statewide gatherings

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Decades of contests” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1920-1963″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ image_id=”35714″ css=”.vc_custom_1711127667495{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]University of Kansas sponsors a high school newspaper contest. The only years that were missed were due to World War II

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”The first teachers’ group” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1926″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ image_id=”35715″ css=”.vc_custom_1711127643852{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]Kansas Council of Teachers of Journalism is formed

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Another student press group” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1940s” size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711127712792{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]The Kansas Interscholastic Press Association (KIPA) operated as an organization

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Another group for teachers” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1951″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711127843526{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]A fledgling and eventually failed group, the Kansas Council of Publication Advisers, begins

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”KOPA begins” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1964″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711127892170{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]More than 50 advisers enrolled as charter members in the Kansas Organization of Publications Advisors (KOPA). Membership dues were $1.

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”KOPA moves to KU” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1967″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711128043929{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}” image_id=”35717″]KOPA informs KSU “Department of Technical Journalism” that they intend to relocate to the University of Kansas

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”First Courier newsletter” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1967″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711128084177{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]The first issue of the Courier, the newsletter of KOPA, is published in May

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Standing together” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1960s & 1970s” size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711128212351{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]KOPA and KSPA (Kansas Scholastic Press Association) exist as parallel organizations.

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KSPA History

Since its founding in 1974, KSPA has been a constant support for student journalists in Kansas.

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”KSPA’s founding” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1974″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129490884{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]KSPA constitution is “Approved at the annual meeting of KOPA/KSPA in Lawrence, Kansas, Saturday, March 30, 1974”

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”First Student Journalist of the Yer” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1986″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129510123{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]John Milburn of Pittsburg High School earns the first award for Kansas Student Journalist of the Year

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Honoring supportive administrators” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1990″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129571390{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]Gary Graber of Nickerson High School is named the first Administrator of the Year

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Protection for student free expression” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1992″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129619099{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]The Kansas Student Publications Act is signed into law by Governor Joan Finney, providing protections for student journalists and their teachers

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”The first Hall of Fame inductees” titlepadding=”20″ date=”1995″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129452722{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]The first inductees to the KSPA Hall of Fame are announced: 17 teachers and university faculty

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Honoring Jackie Engel” titlepadding=”20″ date=”2005″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129761381{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]Jackie Engel, the “mother of KSPA,” passes away at the age of 81 after a career at McPherson High School. The highest teaching award for Kansas journalism advisers is named after her.

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”A Fake Principal Goes Viral” titlepadding=”20″ date=”2017″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129828656{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]The “Pittsburg 6,” six students from Pittsburg High School, force the resignation of their newly hired principal by exposing her fake credentials, making international news

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”25th anniversary of student press law” titlepadding=”20″ date=”2017″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129870567{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]To mark the anniversary of the Kansas Student Publications Act, hundreds of students gather in Topeka for an overnight conference at a hotel.

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Honoring student courage” titlepadding=”20″ date=”2018″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129906888{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]KSPA awards its first Courage in Journalism Awards to two students from different schools: Shawnee Mission North and Blue Valley Northwest

 [/mvc_timeline_son][mvc_timeline_son maintitle=”Through the pandemic” titlepadding=”20″ date=”2020″ size=”20″ icon=”far fa-calendar” bgclr=”#0054a5″ icon_size=”20″ titleclr=”#ffffff” titlebg=”#0054a5″ css=”.vc_custom_1711129943843{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”]KSPA contests and awards continue through pandemic lockdowns that closed schools, allowing students to continue competing

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