Jessica Birthisel | June 25, 2009
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| Photo by Jessica Birthisel |
| IHSPA’s Diana Hadley worked with students in Tony Fargo’s law class during the second week of HSJI teacher workshops. Here, she talks to Becky Hoyle, who also attended the yearbook advising workshop. |
The 63-year-old program was designed to help new publications advisers and journalism teachers as well as those shifting to advising high school publications. It offers four workshops every year, two per week, for these instructors seeking certification credit, recertification units or enrichment hours. Some teachers come for all sessions while others come for a week at a time.
Last week IU Student Media Director Ron Johnson worked with newspaper advisers on sports profile packages, center spreads, news pages and graphics. Early Wednesday, he showed this session’s participants a slideshow of Society of News Design award-winning publications.
“Notice the different illustrative styles, the different formats, the different ways of telling stories,” Johnson said as the slides progressed.
Throughout the session, Johnson brought in various cultural and historical influences on publication design, such as trends in text wrap styles (“In Britain, they keep them really tight”) and photo knockout popularity in the 1990s (“Designers went off the deep end”).
Johnson also talked about the line designers should straddle between their preferences as news consumers and their preferences as designers.
Several students learned about scholastic journalism law with journalism associate professor Tony Fargo, who covered some First Amendment basics as well as historical influences on the constitutional framers, such as John Milton’s marketplace of ideas, John Locke’s focus on the self and individual rights, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s concept of the social contract.
Midway through the morning, Fargo turned the floor over to Diana Hadley, executive director of the Indiana High School Press Association.
"When I look back at how little I knew that first year as a newspaper adviser, I feel so lucky," joked Hadley, who taught and advised scholastic media for 33 years. "I dodged many bullets."
Hadley used her time with the students to discuss recent lawsuits involving scholastic journalism advisers and the lessons they provide for others. She also talked about current IHSPA initiatives, such as enhancing mass media curriculum at the high school level, emphasizing to administrators the value of scholastic journalism, and teaching students the value of the First Amendment.
Thursday, in a darkened downstairs room, associate professor Steve Raymer talked with students about digital photography. After a recap of the use of visual elements and principles of design in photography, Raymer used photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson’s theories on retaining photographers’ composition as a launch pad into the pros and cons of cropping.
Using historical examples, current celebrity photos and hot-off-the-press Associated Press pictures, Raymer demonstrated how cropping could be used to change the emphasis, mood and framing of a photograph. He showed examples of effective and ineffective cropping.
"Some of these editors are practicing surgery without a license," he joked, referring to a photographer’s decision to crop off hands and feet of picture subjects.
In addition to a discussion about caption writing, Raymer used his own work at National Geographic to describe how his photos were edited. He also shared the stories behind the photos, such as the field of poisonous snakes below his feet or the emotional connection to wide-eyed orphans in a Red Cross tent.
Throughout the two weeks, several participants expressed their motivations for attending the institute as well as their reflections on the experience.
Susan Yingling, a newspaper adviser at Yorktown High School, said she decided to take the design class because she considers herself to be “a little rusty” after several years away from advising.
“I’ve got a lot of learning to do,” said Yingling, explaining that she’s new to the popular publication design program Adobe InDesign. “Professor Johnson has been very flexible. He came in with a plan, yet he assessed his students. It really has been collaborative learning.”
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| Photo by Jessica Birthisel |
| IHSPA’s Hadley used her time with the students to discuss recent lawsuits involving scholastic journalism advisers and the lessons they provide for others. |
"The institute is a way for me to focus on being a newspaper adviser," said Levin, who admits that during the school year her focus is divided between advising, her English teaching, her family and other demands. "It’s a week to think through what we need to do for next year."
In last week’s yearbook advising session, instructor Susanna Coleman gave students an assignment to do just that. As participants critiqued their own yearbooks and those of fellow students, they used a National Scholastic Press Association yearbook critique score sheets to point out strengths and weaknesses in each book. Their assignment for the final day was to come up with a to-do list upon their return to school.
“Based on those ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ moments from this week, I want you to come up with five real, attainable goals,” advised Coleman. “And not pie-in-the-sky goals.”
Becky Hoyle, who attended both the yearbook advising and the scholastic law sessions, said she appreciated the practicality of the assignments.
"We’re getting a lot of concrete things to do when we return to school," said Hoyle during the yearbook session. "All of the assignments are relevant and everything is useable. It’s great because you get the credit you need to teach, but all of the work and knowledge is something you can take back and use in the classroom."
For Wrean Fiebig, a teacher at the Cleveland School of the Arts, the extracurricular yearbook continues to be a work in progress and she continues to solicit help whenever she can.
“I’m here because I want to pick their brains, and her brain," said Fiebig, pointing to her classmates and then instructor Coleman. "This is not just a fill-in accreditation course. I really plan to use all of this."
The High School Journalism Institute breaks next week as organizers prepare for the arrival of the high school participants. Student workshops begin July 6 and participants will explore all aspects of scholastic media, analyze publications and develop new journalistic skills.
