IHSPA Insider

By Joe Akers, IHSPA At-Large Member

One of the truisms of our newsroom at Noblesville High School is “Find the people who are good at what they do, then do the same thing. You’ll be good at it too.” We study writers to understand how they craft leads, we study photographers to learn how they capture images, we study video editors to observe how they structure stories. It’s certainly not a new or radical or groundbreaking concept - the idea of using models to help students learn specific tasks has been around forever.

Last year, one of the sports editors of our newspaper, the Mill Stream, was working on a profile of NBA and Purdue basketball legend Frank Kendrick, who now works as an instructional assistant at NHS. The editor wanted to put together something different than the traditional stories he’d been publishing. My suggestion? Spend a weekend with some of the best sports writers the U.S has produced.. He went home with a stack of stories from Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith and Rick Reilly, ESPN’s Wright Thompson, classics from sports writing legends like Jim Murray and Frank Deford and W.C Heinz (has there ever been a better on-deadline piece than Heinz’s “Death of a Racehorse”?). He messaged later that night, saying “I want to try to write this up like one of these S.I. pieces,” and he rolled in Monday morning with a big smile and this dynamite lead:

"You’ve passed Frank Kendrick in the halls, it’s almost a guarantee. He’s tall, really tall. Six foot six. But to be fair, that’s how tall you have to be to play forward in the NBA, which Kendrick did in 1975. He didn’t just play in the NBA, he played alongside some of the greatest players in league history on his way to a title with the Golden State Warriors. Next time you pass Kendrick in the halls, take a look at his hands -- more specifically, the rings he wears on them. On his left, his NBA championship ring, and on his right a ring from the three-peat of Big Ten Championships he won with Purdue in the 90s as a coach. Those Purdue teams, of course, were led by the “Big Dawg” Glenn Robinson, who was recruited by Kendrick and known by the nickname Kendrick had given him. Kendrick played at Purdue as well -- in fact, he was a Purdue legend in the 1970’s, a big reason Kendrick has been in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame for more than 20 years.

So take a walk now through the journey of an Indiana basketball legend, as he goes from ball boy to NBA champion."

Bringing in people who are great at their craft -whether in person, virtually via Zoom, or through the art they produce- does so many positive things for student journalists. It gives students an idea of what their finished product might look like. It provides your staff an opportunity for conversations about “reverse engineering” a piece to think through how that finished product came to life. And it gives them a sense of what’s possible. Students aren’t intimidated by studying the work of these professionals. Far from it… they’re inspired and challenged, they want to see if they can do it too. And when they find a mentor who speaks to them, they’ll rise to the occasion.

Here are some ways we bring mentors into our newsroom:

1. Start an archive - develop collections of expert work for everything students are doing. Collect excellent leads, have students research and present “Photo Heroes” of their favorite photographers. Create a “Design Wall” where they can hang cool magazine or website pages to refer to for inspiration, start a collection of great video story packages to use as models for their work. Whenever you (or your students) bump into something that makes you go, “Hey, that’s cool,” grab it and make it accessible to the whole newsroom.
2. If possible, Bring ‘Em In - there’s a whole host of benefits to bringing in professionals to talk to your students. Our jazz band teacher brings in guest musicians, but rather than have these artists lecture from the front of the room, the professionals grab their horns, sit next to the students and play along with them. We use this “Play With A Pro” concept when we bring in journalists from our area to sit down next to students and talk to them individually about the pieces the students are working on.This takes a lot of the pressure off for everyone - the experts don’t have to prepare a lesson to fill an entire class period, and the students not only get valuable feedback on the actual pieces they’re producing, they get to show off their work to someone who is at the top of their game. (And it’s always nice to hear a professional repeat back something you’ve been telling students over and over again. Even though you’ve been saying it for months, “Don’t just repeat in the lead-in what the quote is saying” suddenly seems like a really important thing for writers to remember when they hear it from someone with a professional byline.)
3. Remember, you’re an expert too - no matter how much experience you have, no matter how many years you’ve been teaching or whether you’ve ever worked as a journalist yourself, you’re still better at almost everything that happens in your newsroom than the students are. Write or edit or take photos, and let your staff watch you do it. If they’re struggling with how to organize a video package, grab some footage and build a quick 60-second package while you explain your thinking. If they’re having trouble writing lead-ins to their quotes, collect some quotes of your own and write lead-ins while they watch you work. That’s the key - let them see how you think while you work. If it’s difficult for you, all the better - let them see how a smart person navigates through a problem. You don’t have to have a Pulitzer on your resume to be the best writer in the room. (And if you’re actually not the best writer in the room? Consider yourself lucky. Hand the wheel off to your “expert” and let them show how they cook.)

This idea of utilizing students and teachers as experts to study can be a powerful resource to tap into. Indiana is home to some of the best student journalism in the country. Visiting another school’s newsroom can be an excellent way for your students (and yourself as a teacher) to get a first-hand look at the amazing work being done by student journalists all over the state. Students also love the opportunity to welcome other journalism staffs into their newsroom.

To facilitate these connections, IHSPA has set up a database to give you a chance to connect with schools in your area by visiting or hosting another journalism program. We hope you’ll consider adding your name to the spreadsheet to connect your student journalists with other staffers in your area. Sometimes, the best expert model for a student is another student.

Carmel High School's Hilite website, advised by Jim Streisel, won 1st Place for Large School Website in the National Scholastic Press Association Best of Show contest at the Philadelphia National High School Journalism Convention.

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