IHSPA Insider

By Jen London, IHSPA At-Large Member

At our first IHSPA board meeting this year, the leadership team heard from Katy Hollis, the student media adviser at Franklin Community Middle School (see the Resource Spotlight for a way to connect with Katy and others). Despite the name of our game being the Indiana High School Press Association, her questions for the board got me thinking: As a former middle school adviser myself, how can IHSPA be more of a resource to our middle school advisers and students? After all, they are building the foundation of student leaders for the programs that many of us run at the high school level.

It’s no surprise that most middle schools don’t have a robust journalism program in the traditional sense, but many do have student media outlets or, at the very least, a solid yearbook class or club. Here’s a quick Q&A with advice from middle school yearbook advisers Jennifer Hamlin (New Albany, IN), Kristie McClung Escoe (Oklahoma City, OK), and Jennifer Parsons (Mesa, AZ) on how they run a successful middle school program.

What is one organizational tip you can offer to ensure all of your events get covered?

• The kids choose their “outside of school” events at the start of each quarter. Parents sign off on a photography request card that reserves their spot. This is done “first come, first serve.” Other events depend upon what spread the student is on. All students must take photos of sports.
• I put all of the events on a Google calendar that is shared with the staff so my students and parents can look at it at home, compare it to their personal family calendars, and decide what events they can attend. Many of our sports facilities are several miles from campus, so parents being able to get kids there is very important. Having kids sign up in class didn't work well since they needed to have that discussion with parents first.

What’s your favorite way to celebrate student success in your classroom?

• We celebrate two ways: food and flair. We have potluck parties for deadlines we hit and pins/buttons for recognition throughout the year. The flair is like a status symbol because the kids stack it up on their lanyards.
• Food. Always food.
• I have a bulletin board outside of my room where we feature some of the students’ photography that we’re not going to use in the yearbook. This gets students interested in buying the book, but it also is a great way to put those photos to use if we know they won’t get published.

How do you structure staff leadership?

• We have editors, managers, and staff. These positions are assigned on work ethic and leadership capabilities.

• We don’t have leadership roles. Everyone is an equal staff member.

• Our yearbook staff consists only of seventh and eighth graders, and the eighth-grade students serve as editors. This is mostly because they are returning staff members who can train the new students. I recruit our incoming seventh graders at the end of their sixth-grade year. The seventh and eighth-grade students fill out a staff application form and provide two teacher recommendations. We usually have more eighth-graders than seventh, but we make it work since they see it as a reward to be selected for the staff.

What's your best tip to hold students accountable for getting their work done?

• I have yearbook as an actual class during the school day (during an enrichment/remediation period), but it didn’t actually count for a grade. We were able to keep up some of the buy-in because many students looked at it as more of a “fun” option rather than what many of their peers were doing. I would also send reminders home using the Remind app about the events students signed up for so that parents were in the loop. It’s hard when they can’t drive themselves places!

What are your favorite activities to do with your staff at the end of the school year?

• Building blanket forts, doing jigsaw puzzle races, watching Disney movies, theme projects, and school volunteer work.

• Students who are returning next year do a theme project. Students who are not returning next year (either by choice or because they are moving on to high school) have done an All About Me mini-scrapbook about themselves.

• Students do a photo scavenger hunt. They have 18 items to find (rule of thirds, portrait, etc.). Then, they have to put those in a slide show with an unedited and edited version and title the photo. They will also have to present them.

• Clean and inventory equipment.

• We review design elements and have the students design things like game day graphics with Canva.

All media advisers and students can find fresh ideas in the Best of SNO showcase and you don't need to be a SNO sites user to gain access. The Trojaneer, the Center Grove H.S. website advised by Melissa Warner and Casey Tedrow, and PHS Media News, the Paoli Jr./Sr. High School website advised by Heather Nichols, have been featured multiple times on Best of SNO. Check out some of their recent highlighted work:

Center Grove High School

Sports: Siblings in Stride

Opinion: We don't need more AP histories

News: The impact of an overlooked crisis

Paoli Jr./Sr. High School

News: Home Grown Lunch

Feature: Scott Takes First Steps Toward Vet Career

Feature: A Family Tradition

Do you have a resource, lesson, classroom space, or student-created content to share with IHSPA members? Click here to suggest something for IHSPA to highlight in a future newsletter.