Perspective Fall 2011

Perspective Serving South Carolina scholastic journalists

since 1936

SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATIONFall 2011

Diamond Jubilee...SCSPA celebrates 75 years of educating, evaluating, honoring, serving

Photo by Kelsey D’AmicoBobby Hawthorne, author of The Radical Write, was the banquet keynote speaker.

Photo by Kelsey D’AmicoFormer SCSPA President and scholarship winner Bruce Littlefield speaks at fall conference as the keynote.

Photo by Kelsey D’Amico

More than 200 current and former students, advisers and special guests came together for an evening of glitter and sparkle at SCSPA’s 75th Anniversary banquet Oct. 16, and more than 500 attended the annual fall conference the following day.

Both events were at Columbia’s downtown Marriott.

Guests traveled from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The anniversary’s keynote speaker was Bobby Hawthorne, award-winning author of The Radical Write, a must-have book in scholastic journalism classrooms just out in its third edition. Hawthorne, a popular workshop instructor and writing coach entertained and informed the audience telling stories he found during his years of reporting from high school to now.

“Three years ago when we began planning the anniversary, Bobby came to mind,” Karen Flowers, SCSPA director said. “He had been to SCSPA and SIPA a number of times and is one of the best writing teachers I have ever heard. He’s the Texas version of David Knight. I sent an email to see if he could come, and when he agreed, I knew the anniversary planning was off to a great start.”

Before the keynote address, Flowers, Leslie Dennis, Scholastic Press Manager

and Jenna Eckel, SCSPA Intern, recognized groups of people – former and current – who were present: SCSPA office assistants, scholastic press managers, board officers, scholarship winners, Journalists of the Year, Advisers of the Year, Scroggins winners and directors.

After the keynote, Flowers recognized advisers, both retired and active, and presented them with gifts of appreciation for their work with scholastic journalism in

South Carolina.“I wanted advisers to

have a special gift from SCSPA to thank them for all the time they give, the knowledge they impart and the sacrifices they make for scholastic journalism in our state,” Flowers said.

Andy Bosman, former SCSPA office assistant, first Scholastic Press Manager and current chief marketing and communications officer at Navigant Consulting, Inc. in Chicago, and Bruce Konkle, former SCSPA director and current SJMC professor, awarded the first Bruce E. Konkle Rising Star Award. The anniversary committee created this award both to recognize advisers just getting started in their publication advising careers – nominees had to be advising five

or fewer years – and to honor Konkle for his 17 years of service to SCSPA. Seven teachers were nominated for the award.

Katie Yon, newspaper adviser from Brashier Middle College Charter HS in Simponsonville, S.C. received the award.

“I am honored to have been chosen as the recipient of the Rising Star Award,” Yon, who is in her third year advising, said. “It is a great motivator to me to keep building our young journalism program. It is also very humbling to have been chosen.

So many advisers are doing amazing work with student journalists in their own schools.”

The final award for the evening – the Albert T. Scroggins Award – is usually presented at the spring convention, but Flowers said since the recipient was such an instrumental part of the anniversary, she decided to present the award at

the banquet.Will Felts, former

newspaper adviser of the Odyssey, at James Island HS and author of The

Stories of SCSPA’s People in SCSPA’s 75th History received the 2011 Scroggins.

Diamond continued on page 7

• SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION • FALL 2011

• Director: Karen H. Flowers• Scholastic Press Manager: Leslie Dennis• Perspective Editor: Jenna Eckel• Office Assistants: Kelsey D’Amico, Jenna Eckel, Ashley Gardner and Rebecca Piner• USC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications Columbia, SC 29208• Phone: 803.777.6284• Fax: 803.777.4103• Email: [email protected]• Website: http://scspa.sc.edu

Student Officers 2011 - 2012 President: Katie Jones

Vice President: London Lecy

Representatives: Broadcast: Hannah Luther Coastal: Christopher Swain Magazine: Ellen McFadden Midlands: Rebecca Rowell & Richard Lipkin Newspaper: Collyn Taylor Piedmont: Coralia Balasca Yearbook: Olivia Barthel

P erspective

Fort Mill HS’s The Buzz TV goes national

PBS NewsHour Extra conducted a national search for high school news shows to participate in their Student Reporter Lab. After an application process, along with sending in examples of student work and a phone interview, Television Production Teacher Karin McKemey received the call that The Buzz TV had been chosen to represent both North and South Carolina as a featured high school for the program.

Students have been asked to complete stories on both the upcoming election and Democratic National Convention, as well as stories about high school retention, the current national drop-out rate and what Fort Mill High is doing to prevent high school drop-outs. PBS has asked the students to cover these national news topics but with a "home town" feel. Many of the stories the students produce will not only be viewed nationally but internationally as well.

McKemey will travel to Washington D.C. over the MLK holiday weekend to meet the other teachers whose programs were chosen and collaborate in brainstorming sessions, learn more about PBS NewsHour Extra and meet the producers of the program.

McKemey believes "The Buzz TV" was chosen out of all the other high school applicants in the country because her students are incredibly passionate about their 'slightly goofy and totally unconventional' TV news program and are hardworking, incredibly clever and undeniably creative in everything they do. The students, in turn, are very excited about the opportunity to contribute to a well-respected national news program and feel it's a great "next step" to hone their reporting skills.

– Karin McKemey, Fort Mill HS Television Productions

Photo by T.J. MaynesAt the 2011 SIPA Convention, Fort Mill HS students Holly Williams and Sanne Rodriguez compete in the Broadcast On-the-Spot competition. They were awarded Best Storytelling and Best Overall for their entry.

A few weeks before the 75th Anniversary took place, I had a startling revelation about my own history with SCSPA – I have been involved with SCSPA, SIPA and scholastic journalism for 12 years, one year shy of half my life. Now 12 years in the grand scheme of a lifetime and especially in the shadow of a 75th anniversary does not seem like a lot. However, considering how I began my journalism journey in high school, I’m surprised I lasted through high school, let alone college and a full-time job.

But this organization and its people have remained constants in my life. However, the 75th Anniversary celebration was a little bittersweet for me because the person I owe all of this to was not there – my high school adviser, Kim Stokes. If it weren’t for Kim, I wouldn’t be where I am today, I would have never gone to an SCSPA conference and I wouldn’t love journalism as I do.

It’s embarrassing to admit now, considering I work for scholastic journalism and love it, but I took Journalism I as a high school freshman because I heard it was an easy A. Fortunately for me, that was the first year Kim took over journalism at Lugoff-Elgin HS.

I enjoyed the class. I loved the preciseness of picas, the tediousness of pasting pages (before tabloid printers), the beauty of red ink on pages. But it wasn’t anything I wanted to DO. So I didn’t sign up for Journalism II. Kim fought me, signed me up, and won me over. Each year I threatened to quit. But each year she’d march me up to the guidance office to sign up.

I fought the principal on prior review and won. I wrote controversial stories and loved it. I butted heads with administration willingly. I was awarded S.C. Journalist of the Year.

My senior year was Kim’s last as adviser. The next year she was removed as adviser of the newspaper and yearbook. I have a funny feeling it was because of some of the stories we had run over the years during her tenure.

Kim and I went through four years of Lugoff-Elgin HS journalism together. She started when I did, and she ended when I did. I wish she were still in the publications room fighting the battles and imparting her journalism wisdom to other students. But since she most likely won’t go back to advising, at least she was there me. She changed me and the path of my life.

Kim brought me to SCSPA, which was the greatest thing she could have ever done for me. All I’ve learned from this organization will stick with me, just as Kim still stays with me, no matter where I go or what I do with the gifts Kim and SCSPA have given me.

– Leslie Dennis, Scholastic Press Manager

Dennis shares SCSPA experience, memories of adviser

FALL 2011 • SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION• PAGE 3

One of the many things different from the 50th anniversary was the involvement of social media at the 75th anniversary. All guests were encouraged to tweet at @SCSPA about the event using the hashtag #scspa75. Bruce Littlefield, fall conference keynote speaker, also encouraged students to tweet during his keynote address. Here is some “Twitter love” as Littlefield calls it.

Tweeters get chance to tweet at anniversary

Photo by Kelsey D’AmicoAt the conference, students tweet dur-ing Bruce Littlefield’s keynote speech.

I knew 2011, the SCSPA 75th anniversary year, would be different. But I had no idea what working on the anniversary and the history would mean to me. I am still learning from all we did. Each time someone asks me a “how,” or “why” or “what did you do,” another aha moment comes to mind.

Here are some of the “bigger” thoughts:History is important, thus keeping records is important.

Thanks to former SCSPA director Bruce Konkle, we had the records. We just had to access them and figure out how to organize them.

Honor those who have gone before you. They are the reason you are where you are. Including “remembrances” of four advisers who are deceased but who played such a big part in SCSPA’s history was important, not only to their memory, but also to those who knew them.

Know the rules, and know when to break them. As Jenna Eckel, SCSPA intern, Beth Underwood, former yearbook adviser who helped us with the history, and I sat in a conference room with the history projected above us editing parts of the history for consistency, we found ourselves breaking rules of how to write names in AP style, how to identify people, what and when to put something in bold. We laughed as we haggled over what was “right” and what would be better in print.

Work as a team. Although I have preached this work ethic for years, putting together the history proved to be an example of the perfect model. We each had our own area of expertise – ideas, writing, editing, design, support.

But all thoughts and memories about the 75th aren’t from aha moments, they are simply FYI.• SCSPA means a lot to former students. Just look at how many schools had “alums” attend the banquet: Airport, Carolina Forest, Dorchester Academy, Dutch Fork, Irmo, J.L. Mann, James Island, Lugoff-Elgin, South Pointe, Spartanburg and Stratford.

• SCSPA means a lot to former directors (4) who were present; to former Advisers of the Year (10) and Journalists of the Year (9) who attended; to Scroggins winners (7) who came back; and to all three Scholastic Press Managers who were there.

• Former scholastic journalists love to give back. Just look at the conference program. Almost every session was taught by former students who now work in Charleston & Columbia, S.C.; Chicago; New York City; Richmond, Va.; Washington, D.C.; Wilmington, N.C.

• I learned to use Facebook as a tool in my work as well as a social network.

• I learned when people don’t answer my email, I won’t take it personally. I just email them again. Or Facebook them. Or call them on the phone. Or send a certified letter.

• I learned I have a lot of great friends and former students with whom I enjoyed reconnecting.

And finally, here’s one I didn’t learn. I have known this one a long time. I have the best staff in the scholastic journalism world. Thank you, Leslie Dennis, Ashley Gardner, Jarad Greene, Jenna Eckel, Kelsey D’Amico and Rebecca Piner. You are the reason the 75th was such a success.

– Karen Flowers, SCSPA Director

Director reflects on learning


SCSPA’s 75th Anniversary & Conference 522

People attended the fall conference

216People attended the banquet

41 Staffs attended the fall

conference

29 Different schools attended the

conference

11SCSPA undergraduate assistants

attended the banquet(Janet Abercrombie, Andrew Bosman,

Kelsey D’Amico, Leslie Dennis, Jenna Eckel, Ashley Gardner, Jarad

Greene, Megan Herring Bagwell, Marc LaFountain, Rebecca Piner & Alison

Shuman)

9Advisers of the Year attended the

banquet(Sharon Bayles Johnson, David Corley,

Will Felts, Karen Flowers, Martha Herring, Rene Horton, Amy Medlock-Greene, Beth Underwood & Tammy

Watkins)

10Schools had alumni attend the

banquet(Airport HS, Carolina Forest HS,

Dorchester Academy, Dutch Fork HS, Irmo HS, J.L. Mann HS, Lugoff-Elgin HS, South Pointe HS, Spartanburg HS

& Stratford HS)

8Journalists of the year attended

the banquet(Allyson Bird, Ashley Brown, Leslie

Dennis, Ashley Gardner, Marc LaFountain, Erin McClam, Alison

Shuman, & CeCe von Kolnitz Nunn)

Tag yourself in these pictures and more on SC Scholastic Press Association’s Facebook.

Jay Bender, SJMC professor, Bruce Konkle, former SCSPA director and current SJMC professor, and Andy Bosman, former Scholastic Press Manager and current chief marketing and communications officer at Navigant Consulting, meet in the atrium before the banquet.

Bobby Hawthorne, banquet keynote speaker, and David Dixon, Balfour Yearbooks, talk about their home state of Texas.

Students look at past yearbooks, newspapers and magazines from middle and high schools in South Carolina

Former Irmo HS newspaper staffers, Marc LaFountain, Erin McClam and CeCe von Kolnitz Nunn meet with their former adviser, Karen Flowers, SCSPA director.

Will Felts, 2011 Scroggins Award recipient, and Karen Flowers after the banquet.

By the Numbers


SCSPA’s 75th Anniversary & Conference By the NumbersTag yourself in these pictures and more on SC Scholastic Press Association’s Facebook.

Dennis Jones, former SCSPA director, teaches newspaper design at the fall conference.

Bruce Littlefield, fall conference keynote speaker and 1985 SCSPA president and scholarship recipient, and Karen Flowers during the Monday fall conference awards ceremony.

Bobby Hawthorne teaches students how to write the classic high school teen story.

Kai Brailey, Chapin MS yearbook adviser, and her staff are awarded All- State yearbook by Dr. Carol Pardun, SJMC director.

Students gather at the exchange table to look at SCSPA publications.

7Scroggins Award recipients

attended the banquet (Mary Ann Blaskowitz, Beth Dickey, David Knight, Bruce Konkle, Charles Renner, Bill Rogers, Sandy Woodcock)

7SCSPA former board members

and officers attended the banquet(Amanda Alpert-Loveday, Zac Baker,

Luther Barnett, Sharon Bayles Johnson, Bruce Littlefield, Dustin Silbereisen &

Beth Underwood)

5SCSPA scholarship recipients

attended the banquet(Zac Baker, Justin Fabiano, Megan

Herring, Alysha Strother & Liz White McCarthy)

5The most individual magazine

awards (Tie between Chapin HS, The Talon and

Socastee HS, Brave Words)

5The most individual yearbook

awards (Tie between Lancaster HS, Rambler, and Lugoff- Elgin HS, Kaleidoscope)

5 Current staffs attended the banquet(J.L Mann HS, Lugoff-Elgin HS, Pleasant Hill

MS, Spartanburg HS & South Pointe HS)

4SCSPA directors attended the

banquet(Karen Flowers, Ann Herlong-Bodman,

Dennis Jones & Bruce Konkle)

3Scholastic Press Managers

attended the banquet(Andy Bosman, Leslie Dennis & Alison

Shuman)All photos taken by Kelsey D’Amico


DATELINE 2011December

2 – SCSPA newspaper mini-

evaluation submissions end

5 – SIPA mail-in contest

deadline

5 – SIPA NP evaluation deadline

15 – ASPA critique and

competition deadlines for all

media

January14 – SCSPA and SIPA Online

Media Evaluation entry form

deadline

28 – SCSPA winter executive

board meeting at SJMC

30 – SIPA broadcast evaluation

deadline (in the office)

February3– SIPA scholarships, awards

& student officer nominations

deadline

10 – SIPA early bird convention

registration deadline

15 – SCSPA Journalist-of-

the-Year application deadline

(received in office)

24 – SCSPA incoming freshmen

scholarships deadline (received

in office)

March2-4 – SIPA Convention and

Competition (Marriott Hotel and

USC’s SJMC)

9 – SCSPA NP evaluation,

BC evaluation &BC individual

competition deadline (received

in office)

15 –SCSPA Excellence in

Scholastic Newspaper Awards

email submission deadline

14-16 – CSPA Spring

Convention

23 – SCSPA awards & student

officer nominations deadline

Apply for $1,000 scholarship,expense paid trip to D.C.

When I was in high school, my great aunt sent me a newspaper clipping about the USA Today Al Neuharth Free Spirit contest in Washington, D.C. She knew my passion for the First Amendment and knew I would apply. I did, and I won a $1,000 scholarship and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. with other young journalists.

I got to meet and talk with the best journalists in the country, tour the monuments and the offices of USA Today and explore the Newseum with the curators. We danced on a riverboat on the Potomac, ate Wolfgang Puck’s famous chicken and made everlasting friendships. The lasting results of that trip were simple – I made connections with the people who are the future of the media. My friend Holly Carter from Louisiana is now working at a branch of Yahoo Sports and speaks at conferences. Jonny Loveless, New York representative, is pushing out fantastic music reviews online, and I’m creating my own writing identity with my blog: http://www.smallfishbigcampus.com.

We stay in touch, help and review each other’s work, this spring 15 of us are meeting in Paris for a reunion! And it all started with an application.

Although any application process is somewhat tedious, the result can be so rewarding. Nothing compares to how grand this networking opportunity is. Once you’re a Freespirit, you’re in the club and every Freespirit past and present will recognize you and work to elevate your career simply because of that shared bond. These are people who are journalists too, who love the same things I do. There’s something special about meeting people who share your passions.

– Ashley Brown, USC SJMC Electronic Journalism majorEditor’s Note: Ashley Brown, current SJMC student, encourages high school juniors who

believe in the First Amendment to apply for the Free Spirit Award. Brown is a former Free Spirit winner, J.L. Mann newspaper editor and SCSPA Journalist of the Year.

The deadline to apply for the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Award for a $1,000 scholarship and to attend the

Journalism Conference at the Newseum July 14-19, 2012 is Feb. 15. Go online NOW: http://www.freedomforum.org/freespirit/.


Diamond continued on page 1

“Before naming the Scroggins recipient, Karen Flowers created the usual identity suspense,” Felts said. “Detailing the work of the anonymous winner. I felt my face flush with the revelation “She’s talking about me. In a banquet room alive with more qualified recipients, she’s talking about me.”

Eckel emceed the next part of the evening –the presentation of the 75th anniversary cake. While the cake was served, attendees watched a video of best wishes from people who were unable to attend the event:

Charles Bierbauer, dean of USC’s College of Mass Communications and Information Studies; Ed Sullivan, executive director of CSPA; Kelly Furnas executive director of JEA; Jo Mayer, former SCSPA adviser and board chair and now principal at White Knoll HS; Logan Aimone. executive director of NSPA; Mark Newton, president of JEA, Anna Hick McFadden, former Irmo HS newspaper adviser now at Western Carolina University, and Tabitha Lewis Safdi, former SCSPA student currently with ETV, and executive director Vanessa Shelton and the Quill and Scroll staff.

Former SCSPA directors Dennis Jones (1974-79), Ann Herlong-Bodman (1979-85), Bruce Konkle (1985-02) and current director Karen Flowers finished the program with perspectives of their time as directors.

“The climax of the evening for me,” said Flowers, “was the presentation of the 75th

SCSPA history. Having David Dixon of Balfour Yearbooks and Holly Schweitzer, S.C. Balfour representative, present a copy to each person at the banquet was really special.”

Although five staffs came both to SCSPA 75th anniversary banquet and the annual fall conference, the majority of the 522 participants from 29 different schools at the fall conference came just Monday.

Bruce Littlefield, former SCSPA president (1986), TV contributor, lifestyle expert, and best-selling author of Garage Sale America, The Bedtime Book for Dogs, Merry Christmas American and Airstream Living, was the keynote speaker for the fall conference.

“Littlefield took a fun and inspiring approach to Monday’s keynote,” said Flowers. “He had them in the palm of his hand tweeting and knitting. They loved him. Weeks after the conference kids were retweeted and tweeted at by Bruce.”

One adviser emailed: “I had to share b/c this is just too cute -- 2 of my ybk girls just came running in the room so excited because, and I quote, ‘Bruce Littlefield tagged us in a Tweet!’ They are beside themselves and jumping up and down with excitement.”

The program was filled with more than 30 sessions, the majority of which were taught by former scholastic journalists who are now working professional journalists or who are currently advising publications and current student editors and board members.

“It was my dream from the beginning

of the anniversary and conference planning to bring back scholastic journalists who were now working professionals,” Flowers said. “I wanted the current middle and high school staffs at the conference to see and hear individuals who had been where they are today. I wanted them to see journalism as a career, or at least to be aware of all the possibilities the study of journalism offers.”

The professionals who taught currently work with the Associated Press in New York (Erin McClam), the Post and Courier in Charleston (Allyson Bird), the StarNews (Cece Von Kolnitz Nunn), WWAY-TV (Kevin Wuzzardo) in Wilmington, N.C., the Bureau of National Affairs (Liz White McCarthy) in Washington, D.C., Navigant Consulting, Inc. (Andy Bosman) in Chicago, SC-ETV (Tabitha Lewis Safdi) in Columbia, S.C., and Tumblr (Marc LaFountain) in Richmond, Va.

The sessions covered topics from social media to media law, finding a good story to story editing and perfecting how you write and design your publication.

The conference concluded with an awards ceremony for the yearbook and magazine divisions.

“After two years of planning, we were glad the 75th was such a success,” Flowers said. “It was a grand reunion for those of us who have been around a long time and a time to celebrate the future for those who are just beginning. We could not have asked for a better turnout from current and former SCSPA journalists.”

– Jenna Eckel, SCSPA Intern

SCSPA: All about the peopleIt seemed to all make sense around 6 o’clock, an hour before the 75th anniversary banquet, as to

why I did this to myself; planning the event that is. Suddenly all my fears and anxiety were released when I saw old friends reuniting.

After spending countless hours going through historical documents, pictures and past Perspectives in the USC Scholastic Journalism Office, for the anniversary, I was able to put a name to a face.

I watched from behind the registration table as the first guests arrived. I was able to recognize Dennis Jones, former SCSPA director, from the pictures I had found of him when he was acting SCSPA director in 1974-1979. He stood to talk to the small crowd that had gathered in the Marriott’s Atrium, when someone came from behind and tapped his shoulder. As he turned and the smiles spanned from ear-to-ear on his and Ann Herlong’s, also a former SCSPA director, faces. As they exchanged hugs and stories, similar scenes filled the rest of the evening with laughter, stories and smiles.

Will Felts said it best in the Stories of SCSPA’s People, “it’s all about the people,” and the 75th anniversary allowed me to realize that.

– Jenna Eckel, SCSPA Intern

Photo by Kelsey D’AmicoFormer SCSPA directors Dennis Jones (1974-1979) and Ann Herlong-Bodman (1979-1981) reunite at 75th anniversary.


School of Journalism and Mass CommunicationsUniversity of South CarolinaColumbia, SC 29208

Perspective Fall 2011

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Transcript of Perspective Fall 2011