Adviser Speaks Up for Journalism Classes
By Jeanne Acton, Journalism Director | Monday, February 24, 2014 1:22 PM
Sometimes I think I may be the luckiest person in the world with my job. I work with amazing, flexible, intelligent, passionate teachers. I have the privilege of interacting, and sometimes even teaching, some of the brightest young journalists in the U.S. And every once in a while, I even have time at my job to brag about some of our dedicated colleagues.
It’s time for bragging.
Several years ago, Andrea Negri interned with me here at the League. She was dependable, knowledgeable and driven. The perfect intern. After graduating, Andrea made the leap into the world of advising high school journalism, and quite quickly, started to develop an impressive resume.
Since walking into her job at Alief Hastings High School five years ago, Andrea has taken students to the UIL State Meet, attended state and national conventions, become an active member of TAJE (Texas Association of Journalism Educators), judged for UIL and ILPC, run several district meets, assisted with a regional UIL meet, motivated her students to produce solid publications and the list goes on.
Let me remind you: She’s not 30 yet.
When I think back to my first few years of advising, I feel pity for my students. I was in survival mode. My goal was to meet deadlines and put out publications. We did that, but we didn’t do much else. And I certainly didn’t have any extra time or energy to give back to the journalism community. At the end of the day, I was spent.
Fortunately for Texas journalism teachers, Andrea is a much better new teacher than I. It may be because she has a fantastic support system with her mother, a fellow journalism teacher. It may be because she is a better organizer, planner, developer and thinker than I. Or it may be that she simply understands that scholastic journalism needs her.
And it does.
This past year, she added one more accomplishment to her resume. And this one impacts every journalism teacher in Texas.
When the State Board of Education was developing the plan for high school endorsements, it overlooked some of our classes. Yearbook wasn’t included in the Business and Industry endorsement. Also Newspaper III and Yearbook III were not listed as courses for substitution for the fourth English credit. Advanced Broadcast was.
When we discovered these discrepancies, I took my concerns to TAJE. Because I am a state employee, I am not permitted to lobby.
Rhonda Moore, TAJE’s (Texas Association of Journalism Educators) executive director, sent out a call to arms. Rhonda agreed to speak at the meeting, and very quickly Andrea jumped on board too.
Andrea made the trip to Austin, spent many, many hours sitting in extremely uncomfortable chairs and waited as speaker after speaker talked about algebra and other subjects under discussion. It was a long wait. So long, that I had to leave eventually to pick my children up.
But Andrea waited. And eventually, after 5 p.m. she got her chance. She approached the podium and spoke to the SBOE on behalf of journalism teachers.
And she was amazing.
She spoke with passion and logic. (I think it’s important for you to see what she said so I posted it at the end of this column.) She explained the problems with the endorsement plan and talked about the value of journalism in our schools.
Unfortunately, her words didn’t cause action. After Andrea spoke in November, the SBOE didn’t make the necessary changes to support our programs in the endorsements. I don’t think it was because they disagreed with Andrea. I think it was because they were overwhelmed with the Algebra II controversy and other curriculum questions.
Andrea was not discouraged. She knew she would have another opportunity, and so, on an icy January morning, Andrea made her way back to the SBOE to speak once again. Her support system, her mother Laura Negri and Rhonda Moore, flanked her on either side. Closed highways and the inability to drive on ice prevented me from being there, but Andrea didn’t need me. She was amazing, yet again. Clear, focused, concise. Just like we teach our students to write.
And this time it worked. The SBOE fixed the issues, and journalism now is fully represented in the newly developed endorsements and as a fourth English credit for high school students.
Andrea is quick to point out that she is not the only journalism teacher to thank for this accomplishment. When the SBOE didn’t act after the first time she spoke, TAJE encouraged teachers to write and contact the SBOE to help the organization understand the necessary changes. Many Texas journalism did this. And Andrea said, knowing that, made her less nervous to speak a second time. She knew she had support behind her.
I am indebted to Andrea and to all of the journalism teachers who wrote letters or made phones.
I am grateful that Andrea took on the challenge to speak before the SBOE. This wasn’t a glamorous charge. It was time-consuming and exhausting. But it was worth it.
Just like when she was an intern, Andrea exceeded my expectations, and I am thrilled. Not just for her, but for Texas scholastic journalism.
It’s a cliché, I know, but Andrea made a difference. A huge difference. Thank you, Andrea. Thank you for your time, your courage and your passion.
Andrea’s Testimony:
My name is Andrea Negri. I am a journalism teacher at Alief Hastings High School in Houston, and I am commenting on the proposed graduation rules on behalf of the Texas Association of Journalism Educators. While I am glad to see advanced journalism courses incorporated into the proposed plans, the final rules need to treat all of the advanced classes equally.
First, it is excellent that advanced journalism broadcast and newspaper courses would count toward a business and industry endorsement. However, I am disappointed to see that yearbook classes have been left off the proposal for this endorsement. I am also surprised by the omission because newspaper and yearbook share the same TEKS. Just like their peers in newspaper courses, yearbook students develop skills that can be used in several professional fields, such as magazines, marketing and communications. Students in both classes must research and interview sources, produce photos and pages, evaluate their peers’ work, and develop a financial plan for producing a publication. If students in both classes are expected to develop the same knowledge and skills, then both courses, not just one, should be eligible for the endorsement.
Leaving yearbook off the endorsement could also be detrimental to the programs in this state. Texas has strong yearbook programs that regularly receive awards and recognitions at the national level from organizations such as the Journalism Education Association, the National Scholastic Press Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Between the foundation program and endorsements, the proposed plan would leave students with little room in their schedules to take an elective such as yearbook for more than one to two years. It is very difficult to grow a successful program when student turnover is high and staffs have to start from scratch each year. Allowing yearbook to fall under an endorsement will allow schools to continue to support and build strong, competitive programs.
Second, advanced journalism newspaper and yearbook III should be eligible to be offered as the fourth English credit for students. Advanced journalism broadcast III is already listed as an option under the proposal. Students in broadcast, yearbook and newspaper are expected to learn the same skills. The end products may be a bit different, but the overall expectations are the same. The treatment of these classes should be equitable. Other organizations, such as the Texas Association of School Administrators, the Texas Association of School Boards, and the Texas School Alliance, also recommend that these classes be offered as an additional English credit.
High school journalism classes such as newspaper and yearbook are beneficial to students, according to research released by the Newspaper Association of America. The research found that about 20 percent of students who were involved in newspaper or yearbook in high school earned higher grade point averages in high school, received higher ACT scores and had better writing and grammar skills in college than their peers without high school journalism experience. The proposed graduation plans are a step in the right direction toward recognizing that high school journalism classes are valuable; I hope that the final rules will give all high school journalists equal standing.