Join the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, one of the country’s oldest and most active scholastic journalism associations, and participate in its myriad educational offerings for you and your students.
Joining the KSPA is easy! Just fill out a membership form and send it to us with your payment.
Housed in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KSPA is entering a new era in cooperation and educational activities for its members.
If you are not a member today, you should be receiving mail in the next two weeks that includes:
• A membership brochure for 2009-2010;
• An information sheet and registration form for our three fall conferences;
• Registration forms for the All-Kansas critique service; and
• KSPA’s Story and Photo of the Month contest entry forms.
The KSPA membership fee for 2009-2010 is $40 per adviser. If you can’t download the membership form, or you can’t wait to receive a brochure in the mail, please contact Jeff Browne, KSPA’s executive director, at [email protected] or 785-864-7625. As you become a KSPA member, you may also submit your membership to the Journalism Education Association, the national press organization that has its headquarters in Manhattan, Kansas.
KSPA’s conferences, critiques and contests primarily are designed to help you prepare your student-journalists to do great work for the schools and the communities they serve. They also can help your students more thoroughly prepare for the Regional and State Contests scheduled for the 2010 spring semester.
Fall Conferences motivate student-journalists to do great work
One of the best ways to motivate students for the coming year is to attend one of three fall conferences across Kansas. (Hey, we won’t stop you if you want to attend two or even all three, though.)
This year’s three fall conferences are as follows:
• Monday, Sept. 21, Fort Hays State University in Hays;
• Tuesday, Sept. 22, Kansas State University in Manhattan; and
• Wednesday, Sept. 23, University of Kansas in Lawrence;
The cost for each of these conferences is $13 per person for member schools and $15 per person for non-member schools. We are especially excited about our keynote speaker in Hays and Manhattan: Logan Aimone, the executive director of the National Scholastic Press Association.
All-Kansas Critiques provide feedback for students and advisers
The All-Kansas critique service provides KSPA member advisers and their students with insightful commentary on what they do well and how they could improve their newspaper and/or yearbook.
Some of the nation’s top high school journalism advisers read and evaluate each publication that comes to them, and they create a thorough report for you and your students. One adviser will evaluate each classification, so that judge will see all entries from a class. The best of the publications achieve All-Kansas status for that year. The All-Kansas deadlines:
• All-Kansas yearbook critique, Oct. 2, 2009 (form provided in this e-mail);
• All-Kansas newspaper critique, March 5, 2010 (form will be available in January).
Story and Photo of the Month contests provide immediate feedback and rewards
Story of the Month contests exist in several areas for KSPA members: editorials, features, news, sports, columns and reviews, publications design. The Photo of the Month contests are non-categorical and may be entered every month. See the flier for more details.
The feedback provided by KU School of Journalism faculty will help your students improve their skills through the year. The awards bestowed on the best stories and photos provide even more incentive to do great journalism.
Simply copy the Entry Form and attach it to each entry you send throughout the year. If you anticipate more than 14 entries from your school, you can pay the full-year fee up front and save.
Regional and State Contests reward the best of the best in Kansas
If students from KSPA member schools practice well what they learn in your classes and at the fall conferences, they’re ready to compete with their peers at the annual Kansas Regional and State Journalism contests. Competitions for 2010:
• Feb. 25, Regionals in Emporia, Hays, Manhattan, Pittsburg and Wichita;
• Feb. 26, Regional in Lawrence; and
• May 1, State at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
In addition to those activities, KSPA acknowledges the Kansas student High School Journalist of the Year, a Kansas Admnistrator of the Year and a Jackie Engel Award Winner, and houses the Kansas Scholastic Journalism Hall of Fame.
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