SCSPA

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South Carolina Scholastic Press Association

1936 - 2011a history

ForewordTo be frank, I said “yes” to write this history out of regard

for the current director of SCSPA, Karen Flowers. While it might be more virtuous to be motivated by loyalty to the association, that’d be about as realistic as a soldier taking battlefi eld risks because of patriotism. Not the case. It’s all about people, about friendships. (Note the ending of the movie Black Hawk Down.) Loyalty to friends: that’s not a bad incentive.

Like a lot of advisers, I owe a great deal to Karen. Like a lot of advisers, I began advising a publication before I knew beans about the business. (As you’ll read, business defi nes one of the differences between teaching English and advising a newspaper.) At fall and spring conferences, Karen and SCSPA hotshots Bruce Konkle, Judy Mulkey, David Knight, Tammy Watkins and others brought me along, as they did with a lot of other advisers, at least enough that I didn’t embarrass myself.

South Carolina scholastic journalists and advisers have a debt we owe to those in SCSPA who taught us the ropes. Even Karen said, “I didn’t even know what a byline was until I joined SCSPA.”

Before I’d collected history input from a gamut of advisers and students, I fretted about organizing this unwieldy spread of experiences and opinions.

But the differences bled away. While distinct one from the next, the war stories from the j-trenches were similar – distinct in locations, times and technology, but similar in the problems and the solutions. The problems are that j-students and advisers aren’t perfect. Readers can be thin-skinned and administrators can get in the way. Those problems have always been around and are not likely to go away. But the solutions are there too – a willingness to learn from mistakes, a drive for a better way to do the job, a thirst to get the facts straight and balanced.

As you’d expect, some of the respondents to this history got ink into their veins and became advisers and professional journalists. Some. All of them, however, lauded SCSPA’s people who injected real-world responsibility into the humdrum, theoretical stuff of the high school experience.

Yep, it’s all about people. Thank you, Karen Flowers.

Will

Will Felts James Island HS newspaper adviser, The Odyssey, and 2002 Reid H. Montgomery Adviser of the Year

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The Stories of SCSPA’s People “What is the difference,” the education major asked, “between teaching journalism

and teaching English, history or math?”Her instructor, like a Kung Fu master, stroked his chin and squinted knowingly. “What would you say is the difference between teaching swimming in a pool and teaching

swimming in a classroom?” Journalism teachers know the difference. For this history, they’ve opined on that difference and

a dozen other issues…from how to recruit students…to advice to advisers…from memories of moments most proud…to those most embarrassing.

So, how does teaching journalism differ from the other disciplines? What is it about advising that makes Tammy Watkins say, after 25 years, “I can’t let it go. I guess they’ll pry the newspaper from my dead, grasping hands”?

What is it that as Tammy says makes students cry when they get named editor or cry because it’s their last press night before they go to college?

Ever hear anything like that about regular English classes? Not likely. So what’s in the journalism DNA that makes it a different animal?

Former j-student Marc LaFountain says this journalism “animal” does magic in high school. “It turns students into researchers, interviewers, writers, photographers, designers and more,” Marc says.

Karen Flowers says a j-adviser will “change a life when a student realizes he can make a difference in other students’ lives by what he covers and how he writes.” It’s the adviser who opens the door of opportunity for that j-student.

That special – and intimidating – opportunity a j-adviser has is evident in a story Karen tells.

“Jason sat in my Journalism I classroom with his head lowered. Long, blond hair fell over his shoulders. I had to fi nd some way to get through to him. His writing was the key. No one had ever encouraged him to write what he knew, what he felt, what he wanted to share with others. I challenged him to write a music review for the newspaper, even though J-I students didn’t normally write for publication. His review was accepted, and that was the beginning of his work on our newspaper. He went on to become the entertainment editor, challenging readers and administrators alike with his thought-provoking columns and reviews.”

At The Stinger’s Quill & Scroll banquet Jason’s senior year, his dad said to Karen, “Thank you for

Fort Johnson HS’s, November 1969 issue of The Odyssey. Fort Johnson later became James Island HS.

SCSPA 75 YearsOct. 15-17, 1925

■ Fall 1925 William M. Albergotti, principal of Greer HS, was calling for an association of schools that sponsored high school newspapers. ■ Albergotti moderated a session at the High School Conference in Columbia, S.C. to push his ideas.

1935

■ Albergotti’s efforts to establish such an organization, however, didn’t come to fruition until more than 10 years later when Fred Kendrick, an award-winning newspaper adviser at Greenville HS, helped make the school press association a reality.

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4saving my son.” She was shocked. Then he told her about the destructive path Jason had been headed down before taking journalism and how getting involved with the school newspaper had given his life a positive focus. Because of his work in journalism, Jason’s future was secure.

That’s one difference between being a regular teacher and being an adviser.Another difference, says Jana Hletko, is j-advisers teach “a product-based curriculum that allows

incredible opportunity for a teacher to see student growth.” Mary Ann Blaskowitz calls the student newspaper a “hold–in-your-hand product that can bring the greatest sense of pride and satisfaction and make students smile 50 years later when they pull it out of a trunk somewhere and share it with a grandchild.”

Try that with your 50-year-old British lit or calculus textbook.That “hold-in-your-hand product” gives Greg Davis a thrill every time the newspaper is

distributed. “One of the most satisfying things I’ve done as a teacher,” he says, “has been seeing that concrete

product in the hands of people all over the school. It sets newspaper advising apart from other sorts of teaching. The excitement and pressure of getting each publication ready for the printer ensures that being an adviser will never be a boring job.”

A third, huge difference is in the transparency of the j-teacher’s work. In most teachers’ classrooms only a few administrators see the results.

“But every time that newspaper comes out,” David Corley says, “the adviser and students put themselves out in public view for everyone to take shots. It’s like being a politician or Hollywood celebrity. Everyone has an opinion of your work, and they really do not hesitate to tell you.”

Also most non-j-teachers aren’t balancing their time between teaching and production. “Trying to teach students journalism and have them produce a newspaper each month meant being pulled in two directions – instruction or production,” David says.

On top of that instruction-or-production stress, broadcast advisers have technical challenges that even the print folks don’t see. Stella McCombs says she continually works to keep up with the latest trends in technology.

She says she needs to keep abreast of what’s going on in the “real world” of TV news and technology to put students ahead of the competition when they graduate.

Jana says publication advisers know their students in a different way from regular English teachers and that sets them apart from their peers. Similarly David writes: “I formed relationships with my journalism students that were far closer and far more in-depth than my relationships with students in my regular course load.”

Cindy Koon used that closer relationship to challenge her newspaper students to “best” her.

1936

■ Organization originated as the South Carolina High School Press Association. Name was changed to the South Carolina Scholastic Press Association during the fi rst business session at the April 1936 convention held in Greenville, S.C.■ Yancey S. Gilkerson, editor of the Greenville High News newspaper, presided over the fi rst convention. ■ Twenty-six schools sent 230 students and advisers.

1936-1937

■ Greenville HS hosted the association convention in April 1937. Attendees: 325. ■ President David Chewning, Greenville HS, presided.■ Fred Kendrick was named ‘permanent’ director, and a constitution for the organization was written.■ Ray A. Furr, a professor of journalism at Winthrop College, in cooperation with The State newspaper, instituted a Story-of-the-Month contest.■ Greenville High News won the award for best student paper in the state.

At the 2011 spring SCSPA conference, Dutch Fork HS literary magazine adviser Russell Young works on his iPad.

5When her current school – South Pointe – was to play Laurens in 2008 for the 4A football upper state championship, she pulled out her 1977 Laurens yearbook. (In a previous life she’d been a j-student at Laurens.)

“Out fell two ESNA awards I had totally forgotten about,” Cindy says. The awards were for best editorial and best feature from her senior year as editor of Laurens’ Sword and Shield.

She showed the awards to her staff and challenged and inspired them to “beat Koon.” They did, earning the ESNA Sweepstakes Award for 2008-2009.

Cindy says, “I think my old 1977 ESNAs really kicked off the competitiveness among my staff.” Like sports teams with returning lettermen, those “far closer” adviser-student relationships result

from returning staffs. That’s how the j-adviser Tressie Hays says she gets to teach the same students three or four years, so they can develop a trusting relationship. During that long association, the j-teacher gets to see in the students “a willingness to take risks.”

Former scholastic and professional journalist and now publication adviser Amanda Ledbetter says, “As advisers we must remember we are a part of our staff, not just teaching them. We have newsrooms, not classrooms.”

Relationships develop beyond the adviser’s own staff. Martha Herring says, “I value the working relationship I have with the yearbook, lit mag and broadcast advisers at my school. They get it. Other teachers don’t.”

Part of the “it” Martha refers to is the necessary student work ethic. The students learn, says Mary Ann, “a work ethic that will support them the rest of their lives.”

But how do teachers get such youngsters – that oxymoron of young-folks-with-a-work-ethic? How do j-teachers recruit passionate students by luring them into journalism with promises of hard work and loss of free time?

Phillip Caston says, “The hardest challenge is getting 20 or more teenagers to truly believe in what you’re trying to accomplish. You have to break through their walls of distrust, insecurity and ‘I’m too cool for that.’”

J-teachers know forming bonds is an important part of the recruiting to build a strong team. “I formed bonds with my journalism students,” David Corley says, “like the bonds that coaches

and teams feel.”

1937-1938

■ Spring convention: Held at Presbyterian College. Attendees: 340. ■ Albert Winn, Greenville HS: elected student president.

1938-1939

■ Spring convention: Held in Columbia. Attendees: 640. ■ Peck Whitcomb, Columbia HS, elected student president.

1939-1940

■ First association newspaper, The Convention-Ear, published in conjunction with the convention.■ First SCSPA director to receive CSPA’s Gold Key: Fred C. Kendrick. ■ Spring convention: Held April 11-12 at Edmunds HS in Sumter. Attendees: 400. ■ Ed Haynesworth, Sumter HS, elected student president.

Irmo Campus I MS students gather with advisers, Judy Mulkey and Beth Underwood, at a SCSPA conference.

6Lisa Ashton McCulley says, “Over the years advisers have had to focus more and more on

‘selling’ the advantages of being a part of a publications staff.” Successful j-coaches don’t passively wait for the blue chip players. David and his co-adviser Cindy

Koon taught the ninth and 10th grade honors English classes. The honors program became their almost exclusive recruiting ground. “Students didn’t go through our classes without hearing daily about the greatest writing instruction available at our school – journalism.”

When the time came for students to select classes, David and Cindy – like Fuller Brush sales reps – “went ‘door to door,’ getting every English teacher to give us a few minutes to sell our program to their students.”

Liz Simon visited the English classes to campaign for journalism. She designated one of her senior staffers as the public relations director and his job was to talk to targeted underclassmen about the power of the press, showing them j-students both “roamed the school and ruled the school.”

Dana Miley’s broadcast students “roam the school” in that they often get pulled out of class to videotape visiting dignitaries or special events. Classmates who don’t get pulled out of class see this privilege and subliminally that becomes a recruiting tool. More overtly Dana shows off her program when the school runs a career fair in the gym during February. The broadcast class sets up a booth, fully aware that registration for classes is the next month.

For Beth Underwood, a student’s ability to write was a recruiting prerequisite. She said she looked at teacher recommendations and relied heavily on the students’ essays. She knew from her experience she could teach students the design

techniques and photography, but “their writing skills needed to be strong from the start.”Over her four-year broadcast program, Stella McCombs culls her classes. She uses teacher

recommendations for entry into the fi rst year of broadcasting. To continue to the second year, a student has to have a B average, complete all projects and have Stella’s trust. To register for third and fourth years, which are honors level, the student must have the proven leadership and ability to run a production in Stella’s absence.

1940-1941

■ Spring convention: Held April 17-18 in Charleston. Attendees: 700. ■ William Chamberlain, Charleston HS, elected student president.

1941-1942

■ Spring convention: Held April 23-24 in Florence. Limited to 400 participants. ■ Bert Singleton, Florence HS, elected student president.

1942-1943

■ Spring convention was scheduled for Newberry but cancelled. Forty delegates attended a one-day business meeting in Columbia. ■ Curtis Gatlin, Newberry HS, elected student president.

Adviser Jana Hletko and Andrews HS’s newspaper, The Voice, staff show off awards they received in 2005 including Best SCSPA Newspaper and Adviser of the Year.

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Judy Mulkey, Campus I MS’s newspaper, Witness, adviser, talks with a student about the day’s classes at a conference.

Potential candidates for journalism may carry a preconceived, false notion that journalism is only for those interested in writing or photography, Marc LaFountain cautions. “There is probably a niche for most types of students… design, web publishing, advertising, circulation and business management.” Marc’s recruiting advice is current j-students must communicate those opportunities to candidates.

To keep his recruits from becoming free agents and jumping to some other elective, David Corley used parties.

“Our year began in the summer with swim parties at the lake – at which time we divided up the advertisers for sales. Each year ended with a cookout at our local newspaper offi ce. They were very supportive of our work. Each issue of the paper meant a party in our classroom – paid for out of our sales. Each time a fi rst-year journalist was published, we celebrated with a party.”

Martha Herring says, “I’ve learned to spot those with good work ethics, good writing abilities, an eye for design, those who are teachable. I then start recruiting them early.”

In contrast to Martha, former j-student Justin Fabiano would put passion ahead of all other recruiting factors. “Forget skill. Forget technique. Passion is the answer. You can teach someone to edit non-linearly, white balance a camera, or write in AP style.”

Passion was the common denominator of the three advisers in Marc LaFountain’s experience. Teaching journalism “was hard, challenging work, but they simply loved doing it.”

To recruit, Mary Ann sought diversity in personalities, skills and scholarship. “One of the most important lessons I wanted my students to learn was not about journalism,

but about life,” Mary Ann says. “I wanted them to learn fi rsthand the importance of respecting and working with all types of people.”

For Britt Holley Collins, the writing was her comfort zone, so she felt comfortable with teaching that aspect of journalism. Her recruiting emphasis was on design-savvy students.

“I went to college with the old-school mock up. I realized very fast that fi nding that balance between the writers and the designers would be the most important thing I could do to create a successful paper.”

If you build it, they will come. That approach must’ve worked for Ginger Dunker. She apparently built “a place or home for them to share their extraordinary, and sometimes strange and eccentric, talents.” She pulled in “staff members who were naturally drawn to the arts. They genuinely loved writing, design and music.”

David Corley, too, is aware of building an attractive program. He cautions that the j-classes are electives, so advisers must create a balance between making the classes fun and interesting and not

1943-1944

■ Reid H. Montgomery served as acting director while Director Fred Kendrick left to serve in the armed forces.

■ No spring convention planned. Sixty-two delegates attended a one-day business meeting in Columbia.■ Arthur Crabtree, Carlisle Military Academy, elected student president.

1944-1945

■ C.P. McInnis served as interim director while Acting Director Reid Montgomery left to serve in the armed forces.■ Spring convention planned, then cancelled. Unknown number of delegates attended a one-day business meeting in Columbia. ■ Bill Ferguson, Dreher HS, elected student president.

8too demanding. He says you want to get students to sign up, but you have to keep the requirements strenuous and demanding, so the students get a fi rst-class experience and so the classes attract quality students.

Phillip Caston toots that same horn: the reputation of the program itself as a draw. “If an adviser is a micro-managing dictator, students won’t want to join. The adviser and current

staff must create a reputation that it is truly an honor and a privilege to be a part of these classes. When word gets out that students run the classes, that professionalism and hard work are expected, and that it is fun as well as rewarding, the adviser will fi nd that he or she is turning away students every year.”

And former j-student Zac Baker’s answer is all about the classroom environment. He says a fun environment “is the best way to recruit high caliber reporters.”

Successful recruiting sometimes, though, takes a variety of weighted-course credit. Jana Hletko remembers her best two recruiting classes came the “two years our school district allowed us to give honors credit for the class.”

However, even the promise of honors credit is trumped when you’re competing against AP courses with their lure of college credit. Jana laments her successor had just that challenge. “The pressures on him to collect a staff were greater. The addition of two AP classes that met at the same time [as journalism] was a real kiss of death.”

Former editor Amy Mims says the same thing. “Smart, goal-oriented kids can now walk away from high

school with four or fi ve college credits by selecting AP coursework” instead of journalism.Greg Davis felt a measure of success when his recruiting efforts persuaded two rising seniors

to defect from the school’s International Baccalaureate Program in order to enroll in the newspaper class, “which I take as a sign of good things to come.” One technique Greg uses to build his staff is a Journalism Club. Its members may not have a j-class on their schedule. However, they can become involved and may be thereby persuaded to enroll the following term.

Sometimes the recruiting “ticket” is something as simple, yet as formidable and knotty, as the school’s class schedule. For Tammy Watkins, the school schedule worked in her favor.

“What really helped the Tribal Tribune take off as far as numbers of staffers was going to a block

1945-1946

■ Reid H. Montgomery returned from military duty and became the director.■ The Carolina Editor newsletter fi rst published.■ Spring convention: Held at Newberry College. Attendees: 500. ■ Reggie Mattox, Columbia HS, elected student president.

1946-1947

■ Spring convention: Held in Columbia. Attendees: 500. ■ Bill Cassels, Columbia HS, elected student president.

1947-1948

■ Spring convention: Held in Greenville. ■ Dotty Hesse, Greenville HS, elected the fi rst female student president of SCSPA.

Members of the Aynor HS broadcast staff, AHS News, were recipients of the 2011 Most Improved Broadcast Award.

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Second-year Socastee MS adviser Martha Herring talks with Lisa Hucks and other students in 1986. Hucks went on to be editor-in-chief of The Sentinel at Socastee HS.

schedule. It opened up lots of kids’ schedules to have time to take several electives, and we defi nitely have benefi tted from that.”

Phillip Caston puts the recruiting onus on the very folks who’ll either suffer or benefi t: the editors. He says advisers should “trust (editors) to go out and recruit the best among the student body – people they know will work hard.” In fact he and his editors use an interview process which the editors control.

That doesn’t sound at all like Amanda Ledbetter, who says j-students “will learn by doing. So, stop doing all the talking. Stop passing out all the papers and just sit down beside them and watch them take off.”

Cece von Kolnitz Nunn – perhaps more attuned to what motivates the potential j-students because she was one – suggests other problems with recruiting. She says the reason print journalism recruitment is off is the “same reason newspaper readership is declining – the cell phone and the computer.” Her solution? “Every high school newspaper should have an online version.”

That answer sounds like what Amy Goodwin says. “Sadly, the days of print are beginning to wane. As more and more people move to online media,

we need to shift our focus to match the times.”However, as Cece says, “The importance of knowing how to write and communicate well will

never go away, no matter what happens to printed newspapers.”While Christopher Rosa doesn’t offer a specifi c recruiting gimmick, he makes a good point. All

students, schools and staffs are different, so each particular staff needs to ask: “What do we have at our school that can persuade potential students to join our staff?”

Sports programs, like Little League, are often egalitarian – the coach must accept all comers and everybody plays. Some j-programs are like that. At Irmo Middle, Judy Mulkey says, “Students were scheduled into my class, so I could not choose a staff.”

Paul Martin fully appreciates feeder school journalism the way a major league coach appreciates the farm team. To recruit, Paul visits and speaks “to students at the feeder schools. My biggest asset is the journalism teacher at our freshman campus.”

People change. So do recruiting styles. The longer Amy Goodwin advises, the less selective her recruiting efforts have become.

“In the last nine years,” she says, “I found I can work with just about anyone.” She says she even has accepted self-contained students “because they have talents we can benefi t from and they get so much from being in this kind of course.”

1948-1949

■ Reid H. Montgomery, SCSPA director (1943-1944, 1945-1955): recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key award. ■ Spring convention: Held in Charleston. Attendees: 800. ■ Margaret Davenport, St. Andrew’s Parish HS, elected student president.

1949-1950

■ “More than 180 S.C. high schools have student newspapers... Girl editors outnumber boys 4 to 1... The average paper has a staff of 25 people, a woman faculty advisor, and a girl editor... The average cost per printed paper ranges from $175 to $15; for mimeographed papers, $20 to $3.50,” from a survey printed in The Carolina Editor, April 14, 1950. ■ Spring convention: Held in Anderson. Attendees: 500.■ Donny Wilder, Clinton HS, elected student president.

10When the right combination of adviser charisma and student ability and enthusiasm come

together, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. “When you do fi nally get them on the same page and have them not only believing in you but

believing in themselves,” Phillip Caston says, “It’s something magical.”

“So how’d you get involved?” is not an unrelated question to recruitment. Andy Bosman “inherited” his SCSPA involvement from his mother. When he was a seventh

grader, she was his middle school yearbook adviser. Then through an SCSPA conference session Sharon Johnson Bayles taught, Andy was introduced to the SCSPA network.

“I attended the fall 1981 conference and was hooked,” Andy says. He and the rest of the Northwestern HS’s yearbook staff regularly attended SCSPA after that.

Kicking and screaming her reluctance, Leslie Dennis was led by adviser Kim Stokes through four years of newspaper journalism. Only the fi rst step on that road was completely voluntary. Leslie signed up for Journalism I because “I heard it was an easy A.”

At the end of that semester, Leslie decided not to take the follow-up course because she didn’t want the after-school responsibilities. “But Kim tracked me down and told me I had potential. I had talent. I had never heard that [compliment].” So Leslie re-upped.

“That year the newspaper covered the touchy subject of Title IX funding within their school’s athletic department.” Leslie says the administration and coaches gave some push-back. “We received angry phone calls and emails all year,” Leslie recalls. “While this was exhilarating, I didn’t want any of it.” So she did not sign up for Journalism III.

(The reader should be seeing a predictable pattern.) Leslie was barely out of the guidance offi ce from not signing up for J-III when Kim Stokes ambushed her. “She said she needed me, the paper needed me and the school needed me,” Leslie says. “So I turned around and signed up.”

Kim made Leslie the managing editor and she attended CJI and SCSPA’s Redesign Workshop. That year the work pace at The Pitchfork was “exhilarating.”

Leslie says, “ We would stay until 9 p.m. during deadline week, ordering in from the Mexican restaurant, dancing to Shakira, editing, designing and writing. But by the end of the year, I was

beat. Six staff members doing a 16-page paper monthly with an adviser on maternity leave takes its toll.”

Once again she decided not to return to the staff, this time because of looming AP classes. “When I told Kim at school, I stood my ground. I remember driving home crying because it was the hardest decision.” When she pulled into the driveway, her dad was waiting for her. “I just got off the phone with Kim,” he says. “You’re not quitting.”

To make a long story short, Leslie and Kim Stokes wrapped up their The Pitchfork journalism

1950-1951

■ 25th Anniversary Spring convention: Held April 19-20 at Newberry College, with 145 schools represented. ■ The largest number of newspapers on record– 99– was submitted for critique, with 10 of them rated as All-State papers. ■ Joe Detyens, St. Andrew’s Parish HS, elected student president.

1951-1952

■ Spring convention: Held April 3-4 in Spartanburg. Attendees: 400. ■ Allen Savitz, Abbeville HS, elected student president.

1952-1953

■ Spring convention: Held April 23-24 at Winthrop College. ■ Frank White, from Spartanburg HS, elected student president.

Kim Stokes advised Lugoff-Elgin HS’s newspaper and yearbook and was an active SCSPA Board member.

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Amanda Ledbetter was a SCSPA Piedmont representative in 1998-1999 while a student at Spartanburg HS working on the Norse News. She now advises Oakbrook Preparatory School’s newspaper and yearbook.

experiences at the same time, with Leslie earning SCSPA Journalist of the Year. “It was more her award than mine,” Leslie says. “Kim Stokes changed the path of my life.”

The proof is in the pudding, for Leslie continues down the path Kim put her on and now works in the scholastic journalism offi ce at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications as the Scholastic Press Manager.

With Jamie Williams, the magic started at the SCSPA conferences. “I was awed by the talented fellow journalists who gathered at the Holiday Inn (where SCSPA conferences were held) each fall and spring and learned more than I could have imagined about writing, design and leadership.”

Phillip Caston’s ninth grade English teacher passed out information about joining the Spartanburg HS newspaper staff.

“The guy who sat in front of me says, ‘This stuff looks good on your college applications.’ So I signed up. So much for my goal of being an architect after that day. If I had never joined my high school newspaper, I would be sitting at some desk in an architecture fi rm, miserable, instead of working to enrich the lives of young people. However, I would probably be making more money.”

Justin Fabiano remembers being formally invited to high school journalism. “I remember I was sitting in freshman Algebra II when I received a half sheet of paper signed by

the broadcast adviser, Stella McCombs. It says: ‘Justin, on behalf of the Real TV staff of Stratford High School, I invite you to apply for Broadcast Journalism I because of your good academic standing in the freshman class of 2007.’

I was elated. I was going to be on closed circuit high school television for eight minutes a day! How cool does that sound to a 14-year-old?”

The draw for Allison Aiken was her school’s two advisers. “Everyone in the school wanted to be on staff with Ms. (Becky) Bannon and Mrs. (Martha) Herring” Allison says.

Erin McClam says he fell in love with journalism because of a movie, All the President’s Men, he saw on TV as a little kid. Karen Flowers remembers the night he was really hooked. “He came into the publication room after covering the chaos of a school board meeting and just bubbled over with excitement. He couldn’t wait to write the story.”

1953-1954

■ Spring convention: Held in Greenville. Attendees: 400. ■ Carol Linn Till, Charleston HS, elected student president.

1954-1955

■ Reid H. Montgomery notes his intention of stepping down as director.■ Spring convention: Held in Columbia, with 127 schools represented. ■ Paul Hammond, Sumter HS, elected student president.

12For j-student Christopher Rosa, getting involved was about writing and telling a story… “and

above all, seeing my name in print!”Paul Martin got out of the news business to become a teacher. Then he became a j-teacher by

accident when he was handed the job after someone else didn’t want it any longer.

The “unforeseeable curriculum” (for the adviser, at least) is another difference between journalism and other courses. For other teachers, the course-of-instruction changes little from year to year. Not with j-teachers. With journalism there is, Tressie Hays says, “the freshness of each year – always a new yearbook theme, new story ideas, new page designs.”

Evelyn Anderson says the same. “I loved the variety of advising. No two days were ever alike.”

In that vein of unpredictability, Lisa McCulley says, “Each day’s news report brings teachable moments and opportunities to show students the important things in life: responsibility, humanity, accountability, creativity and teamwork.”

Martha Herring, like Tressie, looks forward to renewal. She says, “The seniors left us two days before the end of school. My underclassmen started planning for next year. They wanted to know what they could do. How refreshing. Next year will surely be better.”

Fresh. New. Rejuvenating. But overwhelming, too. “Publications advisers demand so much more than a typical

classroom teacher. We ask them,” Lisa says, “to juggle the same things we do as adults. Most of the time they give us that and more, but sometimes it can feel like the sky is falling.”

The sky does fall. Stress comes in all forms. One is the constant need for money. “Few other public educators are responsible for raising all the funding for their programs,” Lisa says.

Another stress is the double-edged sword of high visibility and the

1955-1956

■ Fletcher Ferguson, Abbeville HS, becomes the new director of SCSPA.■ Spring convention: Held in Anderson. Attendees: 400. ■ Caroline Mikell, Columbia HS, elected student president.

1956-1957

■ Spring convention: Held in Sumter. ■ Valerie Swygert elected student president.

Dean Charles Bierbauer and Beth Underwood, Dutch Fork MS adviser and 2007 Montgomery Adviser of the Year, celebrate with Amy Medlock-Greene, Dutch Fork HS adviser and 2008 Adviser of the Year.

A better question would be what has scholastic journalism NOT done for me! It has made me a better writer, reader, editor, leader, follower, citizen, adviser, teacher, mentor and friend. It has opened doors of opportunity which I otherwise would not have encountered. It has allowed me to travel across the country, meet a plethora of interesting people and see the United States through new eyes. It has made me fall in love with American history. It has taught me about media law and the US legal and justice systems. It has turned me into a fontaholic. It has made points and picas rule my life. It has taught me how to be a better photographer and designer. It has made jump cuts, clipped audio, and editing fl aws stand out in everything I watch. It has taught me about the power of the media and that what is edited out is often as important as what was included. It has increased my respect for brevity, clarity and deadlines. It has allowed me to touch the lives of hundreds of students, who in turn have touched the lives of hundreds more. It has given me a voice, and has given a voice to the voiceless both within my school and beyond. It has infected me, inspired me, enlightened me. It has given me an identity. It has made me ME.

Amy Medlock-Greene, adviser of Dutch Fork HS’s newspaper/newsmagazine, The Renaissance, 1998 to present; broadcast, The Silver Screen Report, 2004 to present; and the online print and broadcast collaboration, foxfusion.org, 2010 to present

13

Tressie Hays, Lexington HS newspaper, yearbook and broadcast adviser, received the Montgomery Adviser-of-the-Year award in 2004.

scrutiny from other faculty that comes with it. As Dana Miley put it, “How would you like the entire faculty sitting in your class and afterward talking smack?” Because, she says, that’s what broadcast journalism regularly requires, broadcasting to the entire school what the class has been taught to do.

The reporters themselves are highly visible, often released from class to gather interviews and stories. Greg Davis says, “Other teachers are sometimes critical of j-advisers since we have to send students into the halls to complete their assignments. It stinks to feel as if my colleagues scorn the newspaper class for having a lack of structure.”

David Corley says, “Pressure to have a successful program but still please the school administration was the reason I left advising. School administrators want a journalism program that is a cheerleader for the school and its programs. If the journalists have a negative view, the administrators want a heads-up so they can solve the problem before the paper comes out. If the students want to touch on controversy, administrators don’t want that article in the paper. My administration was very supportive and never told my students they could not do an article. Still, every time the paper came out, we hurt someone’s feelings or created a controversy that ended me up in the principal’s offi ce for scolding. It became too much always to be a center of controversy and concern.”

The closest middle school adviser Beth Underwood came to quitting was when she tallied the number of hours she worked.

“The stipend I was earning amounted to 17 cents an hour,” she says. “I took this to my district and asked to be given the same stipend as the high school advisers. They agreed.”

Martha Herring writes about another stress: deadlines. “The stress level is high; it’s living on constant deadlines.”

Constant deadlines lead to another stress – time management and long hours.Mary Ann Blaskowitz says, “To continually nurture an atmosphere of excellence” requires long

hours. Ginger Dunker says, “Working many extra hours without pay has often tempted me to quit.”But support systems help, especially family. “It’s diffi cult to be an adviser,” Tammy Watkins says. “There’s a heavy time commitment, and

some people get burned out pretty quickly. If I didn’t have a supportive husband and children who are understanding, I don’t think I would still be doing this.”

1957-1958

■ Harry S. Ashmore, former Greenville High News staff member and editor of the Arkansas Gazette, won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorials on the integration crisis in 1958.■ Spring convention: Held April 30-May 1 in Columbia. Hosted by USC’s School of Journalism. ■ Jimmy Mann elected student president.

1958-1959

■ Member newspaper advisers met at the Russell House Sept. 27 for the purpose of forming an organization to help promote the work of SCSPA. Alice B. Carter, newspaper adviser at Columbia HS, presided over the advisers’ association.■ Columbia becomes ‘permanent’ site for SCSPA conventions. ■ Judy Hart elected student president.

14However, even family patience can be tried by long deadlines. David Corley says for his staff to

put out nine 16-page issues each year, they had to work evenings. “There were never enough hours in the school day to get the paper done,” David says.

“Therefore, the students and I worked on the production aspects of the paper in the evenings – and by evenings I mean late nights and wee hours of the morning as well – and on weekends. There were many times my wife called to see if I had lost my mind, and if my students’ parents were OK with their being out in the middle of the night to fi nish the paper.”

Students also commented on the long hours for advisers. “We spent many late nights working on an issue,” Amy Mims says. “Now that I am an adult, I

appreciate even more the amount of time the advisers devoted to us and to our paper. What sacrifi ces I now see on the adult end.”

Erin McClam remembers the irony of spending hours and hours, late at night, longing for his own bed while “putting the newspaper to bed.” His experience was pre-digital, when cropping photos was “like an awful combination of arts-and-crafts time and math class. First, you had to cut out black construction paper and precisely cut it to fi ll the box on the physical printout of the newspaper where the photo was going. Then you had to use a proportion wheel, which looked like a giant spy-decoder ring, to fi gure out the dimensions for cropping your photo. Then you had to tape the photo to a piece of paper and mark it off accordingly. More than once I saw the sun come up while I was doing this.”

When the adviser cannot stay late into the night, j-students can be resourceful. Ashley Gardner lived across the street from her school. On leaving at the end of an afternoon’s work in the newsroom – when staffers

anticipated night work – Ashley would leave the newsroom window unlocked. That night the j-staff would meet at her house, walk to school and let themselves in through that window.

“We would work until the wee hours of morning,” Ashley says. “The next day our adviser was always fl abbergasted when she saw how much work we’d done since the previous ‘afternoon.’ We would just look at each other and smile.”

Legal woes will also create inordinate stress. As Tammy Watkins says, “The cons are defi nitely the long hours at school and the worries about getting sued.”

1959-1960

■ School of Journalism’s Dean George Buchanan announces a new graduate course in journalism would be available for teachers during the 1960 summer school session.■ Spring convention: Held April 22-23 in Columbia.■ Doug Richardson elected student president.

1960-1961

■ Fletcher Ferguson, director of SCSPA, asks– during a January 1961 business meeting– to be released as director at the close of the 1961 academic school year.■ The District II workshop: Held Sept. 29 in USC’s Drayton Hall. ■ Frank Pierce, Cheraw HS, elected student president.

Tammy Watkins and the Wando HS Tribal Tribune newspaper staff won Best in State for the fi rst time in 1993.

15For Martha Herring that’s what happened – the inordinate stress – when a local photographer

wanted to advertise in The Prowler. “After I looked at what she wanted to run, we declined. It was a series of ‘pin up’ girl photos more

suitable for a gentleman’s magazine. She was furious, called my principal and the district offi ce and threatened to sue.”

But Martha says her staff had learned at an SCSPA conference to publish an advertising policy that gave them the right to refuse certain advertising. When she told the principal what was going on and cautioned that the photographer had a lawyer, the principal says, “That’s OK. We have a lawyer, too. Bring it on.”

In 2009 Phillip Caston’s staff ran a centerspread on life as a homosexual at J.L. Mann HS. In the same issue, a staff columnist wrote about dealing with her teenage pregnancy. Several members of the community and the PTSA were taken aback. People who had no affi liation with J.L. Mann were raising complaints.

“The issue was especially trying for editor Ashley Brown and her mother, who was PTSA president at the time. Thankfully, our principal, Susan Hughes, stood strong behind us, and we handled the criticism well. We had a productive meeting with the PTSA, and the complaints subsided after that. That issue was our award-winning one for the year, and both the centerspread and the column won fi rst-place honors.”

Phillip also nominated his principal for the SCSPA Scroggins Award. She won.

Mary Ann Blaskowitz’s legal dilemma also had a happy ending. Her staff sent DHEC an FOI request for an asbestos report on their school. The report was eye-opening, as were the newspaper’s subsequent stories. Those stories, Mary Ann says, helped kick into place a massive effort to rid the school of asbestos. Not, however, without “a good bit of anxiety at the district level and a number of back-and-forth conversations.”

To their credit, the school and district administrators did not try to stop the students’ story. Mary Ann says, “The staff writers who handled it eventually received an Editorial Leadership Award from the National Scholastic Press Association.”

A not so happy ending was with the Stratford HS broadcast staff during an incident in 2003. Justin Fabiano was a freshman when North Charleston police made a just-before-school-started drug raid with drawn weapons. For authorizing the raid, the principal took heat from parents, local and even national media.

1961-1962

■ Earl A. McIntyre, a faculty member in USC’s School of Journalism, becomes the new director.■ The SCSPA Bulletin became the offi cial newsletter.■ Spring convention held April 27, 1962, at USC’s Drayton Hall, with a banquet in the evening at Columbia’s Wade Hampton Hotel. Schools were limited to six delegates each.■ Unknown: student president.

1962-1963

■ USC becomes ‘permanent’ home of SCSPA.■ Spring convention: Held in Columbia.■ Unknown: student president.

Susan Hughes, J.L. Mann HS principal and 2009 Scroggins Award recipient, talks with Trei Turman at school in 2009.

16“The faculty thought it best that the student television show not heighten these criticisms,” Justin

says, “so the broadcast staff was not allowed to report on the issue.” When James Island parents, students and teachers were in the throes

of the controversy to apply for charter school status, Dana Miley and Leisel Paradis’s broadcast staff aired a Trojan News Network news segment in which students and faculty were interviewed about the potential charter status. The staff was trying to get pro and con responses. Except no respondent voiced a con opinion. A few students complained to their parents who went to the principal about the one-sided coverage. The two advisers were summoned to replay and explain the video.

“We did not apologize for anything,” Dana says. “We just explained we were not ‘pushing charter’ on the readers. Our students were trying to run a balanced story, but it seemed one-sided.”

Prior review was a consequence of Britt Collins’s “dropping the ball” at Irmo HS.

“I had some kids run a feature on things to do in our community over the weekend,” Britt says. “I had been a part of the planning. I had seen drafts, but things had gotten hectic, and I had not seen the fi nal version that went in the actual paper. Most of the suggestions were tame – rent movies, get Sonic milkshakes, walk around the Harbison pond, etc.”

But the fi nal example was a fl imfl am involving deceitful use of store receipts.

“I dropped the ball,” Britt says. “The result was awful. Parents complained; local businesses that advertised in our paper complained. It was BAD. I had to apologize to the rest of the faculty. I had to apologize to the administration. We wrote a staff editorial on journalistic integrity. We had to send out a letter of apology to people who advertised with us. Then for two months we were on prior review.”

A momentary lapse is pivotal in Martha Herring’s story. Her problem did not escalate beyond the school, but the result was one long-lasting headache. One of her “humor” columnists wrote a rant about “emo kids” (educable mentally handicapped), and referred to them as “scumbags.” The obvious gaffe slipped by Martha at a late-night session.

“My phone rang for weeks,” Martha says. “The lingering bad feeling

1963-1964

■ Virginia Van Seters, Dreher HS, and Mary Ann Wilkinson, Fairfax HS, become the fi rst recipients of SCSPA scholarships to attend USC’s School of Journalism.■ Spring convention: Held April 3 in Columbia.■ Unknown: student president.

1964-1965

■ Spring convention: Held April 23. Schools were limited to six delegates each.■ Unknown: student president.

I have attended SCSPA as a student and an adviser. Although the class sessions have been helpful, to me SCSPA provides so much more than just curriculum enhancement. It’s a chance to make memories with my students. After the awards ceremony, we like to celebrate our success or encourage ourselves by getting ice cream at the Marble Slab before leaving the Russell House. On the bus ride home we discuss the sessions we attended and browse through the publications we took from the exchange table. Then we excitedly brainstorm ways to implement those ideas. Every time we attend an SCSPA conference, our passion is reignited, and we are motivated to go back and work harder in spite of all the obstacles we face as scholastic journalists.

The knowledge and tips I gather at SCSPA make my life so much easier. Every piece of information, each new technique, all the story ideas and handouts my students and I acquire means less time I have to spend researching and planning. Those hours of work I no longer have to do means more time I have to spend with my beautiful family.

Being a part of SCSPA has helped me fi nd an answer to almost all of my questions about advising and teaching journalism. The only solution it hasn’t provided is how to balance teaching and advising with raising three kids. Maybe that answer will come in the next 75 years.

Jenny Proctor, adviser of Lugoff-Elgin HS’s newspaper, The Pitchfork, 2007-2011; yearbook, Kaleidoscope, 2004 to present; student at Camden HS and editor of the Gold & Black yearbook, 1999

17

Mary Ann Blaskowitz, former adviser of Camden HS’s newspaper, Palmetto Leaf, Kershaw County director of communications and 1994 Scroggins Award recipient.

Scholastic journalism gave me a renewed enthusiasm for teaching writing and challenged me to learn new skills like graphic design, photography and computer skills. I loved working with my students and was so proud of their accomplishments and awards that they won in SCSPA competitions. The long hours and stress were all worth it. Many of my students went on to use skills they learned in journalism in their careers as computer technicians, photographers, sales representatives, teachers, etc.

Becky Dukes, adviser of Branchville HS’s newspaper, The Beehive, and yearbook, Yellow Jacket, 1996-2001; SCSPA Midlands representative and vice chairperson; current Allendale Fairfax MS Curriculum Facilitator

(for me) died down only when every kid who was here then had graduated. I’ll never forget it but would love to.”

David Corley’s worst controversy was over a music review in which the reviewer used the word “bitch’n” as in (‘80s speak) “gnarly.” David allowed the unusual praise to slide but fretted that he’d be called, once again, to the principal’s offi ce. Friday when the newspaper went out, no call to the principal’s offi ce.

“But on Monday one of my students said his preacher talked about me in church Sunday regarding the music review, but not because of ‘bitch’n’,” David says. “According to the minister, the article had another issue – a line that read that the album was ‘almost satanic.’ We got letters. We lost advertisers. There were petitions for my resignation. People said the paper was encouraging Satanism.”

But controversial situations, though nerve-wracking and stressful for advisers, often brought about positive change, as at Landrum HS when one of Amy Goodwin’s students lambasted the cafeteria for its lack of food choices. The cafeteria manager got her dander up, the principal and superintendent got involved, but ultimately the menu selections improved.

“It’s diffi cult to put out a student newspaper without someone getting angry,” Tammy Watkins says. “I had a student who had an apoplectic fi t – no joking – red face, saliva coming out of his mouth because we dared to criticize the soccer team.”

Not all challenges to students on publication staffs involve legalities. Some challenges were quite personal. Cece von Kolnitz Nunn says she was shy about interviewing but learned to cope. Even now as a professional journalist, she continues “to learn more about interviewing whenever I get a chance.”

Erin McClam’s biggest challenge will ring a bell with many scholastic journalists – juggling the demands of other classes with journalism’s demands, “except that journalism wasn’t really demanding at all. Even the diffi cult days were fun.”

A by-product of “most embarrassing moment” is the embedded “lesson-learned.” Allyson Bird learned about word choice.

“We printed a story about a girl who had gone to a camp for pregnant teens. Unfortunately the

1965-1966

■ Dean Albert T. Scroggins introduced George Crutchfi eld as the new director of SCSPA during the spring convention. ■ Spring convention: Held April 15. Attendees: 450.■ Unknown: student president.

1966-1967

■ Spring convention: Held April 17. Attendees: 350. ■ Unknown: student president.

1967-1968

■ Dean Albert Scroggins suggests during a fall executive committee meeting the possibility of expanding the facilities of SCSPA to include a yearbook division and possibly a literary magazine division.■ New dues, from $4 to $6, began this fall.■ Spring convention: Held April 26. Attendees: 350, representing 58 schools (with limit of six attendees per school).■ Mike Metcalf, Wade Hampton (Greenville) HS, elected student president.

18story’s reporter used the phrase ‘work camp.’ The girl’s parents took issue. To mollify them the newspaper staff took permanent markers to all 1,400 copies of that issue of The Odyssey, carefully editing the word ‘work.’”

Martha Herring writes about a “most embarrassing moment” that should serve as a cautionary tale for all presenters. At the end of Martha’s diffi cult fi rst year as newspaper adviser at the new Carolina Forest HS, “one of the spring SCSPA conference presenters put our paper up on the screen and trashed it pretty thoroughly. It was so embarrassing.”

Dana Miley opines the immediacy of the broadcast medium makes it more vulnerable than print to shooting oneself in the foot. Like mispronunciations. A TNN anchor at James Island HS, reporting on Spirit Week, encouraged viewers to patronize “the drinking booth.” She meant to say “dunking booth.” On another occasion even the cameraman played a role when the pair of short-

skirted anchors shifted their legs and accidentally “fl ashed” the viewers.

Phillip Caston’s embarrassing moment goes back to his junior year at Spartanburg HS when he wrote a column about funding certain sports receive.

“I got a fact wrong and the athletic director came up to the classroom and chewed me out in front of everyone,” Phillip says. “His reaction was unprofessional, but it taught me that getting the facts absolutely right is crucial to any story.”

Erin McClam made a similar character-building faux pas. During his sophomore year he blew off a story about the new band instructor. “Blew off ” not as in missed the deadline. “Blew off ” as in “Just didn’t do it.” He had been too terrifi ed to walk up to the band instructor and ask for an interview and equally terrifi ed to tell the student editors. The week before the paper was to go to press, the editors discovered he had nothing.

“The adviser chewed me out pretty good. I’ll never forget it. I’ve been neurotic about deadlines ever since,” Erin says.

He says he learned people far up the newspaper’s food chain are counting on each reporter and each story. “You blow off your feature on the band director, and everyone else has to scramble to cover for you.”

Evelyn Anderson’s “moment” was less embarrassing than frustrating – even panic-inducing! One year her yearbook company called her in April asking where the last 50 pages for the fi nal yearbook deadline (due in February) were. Apparently the post offi ce had lost them. This was long, long ago in the days before computers and digital photography. Ergo, no backup!

1968-1969

■ Perry Ashley becomes director of SCSPA.■ Spring convention: Held April 18 at USC’s Drayton Hall. Attendees: 410.■ Unknown: student president.

1969-1970

■ Co-directors now served SCSPA, with Perry Ashley directing the YB Division and James McElveen directing the NP Division.■ First YB/MG Division was begun, although MG staffs were not invited to attend conventions until 1975. ■ First yearbook critiques were offered.■ First Journalist of the Year awarded: Jane McFaddin, Manning HS.■ First YB/MG student president: Thom Nicoll, Parker HS.■ John Goforth, Blacksburg HS, elected NP student president.

Erin McClam, Irmo HS newspaper editor and 1996 Journalist of the Year, and Cece von Kolnitz, Irmo HS newspaper features editor and 1995 Journalist of the Year.

19“My principal got a substitute for me,” Evelyn says, “and we redid the last 50 pages of the book in

about four days. What a nightmare!”Allison Aiken won the SCSPA scholarship in a sweet-n-sour, proud-n-chagrined moment. The

award came at the spring conference when newspaper and not yearbook awards are given. Since she was on the yearbook, she skipped the end-of-day awards ceremony.

“A SCSPA undergrad assistant, Stephanie Cole, had to fi nd me out in the hallway and make me come to the presentation,” Allison says.

Similarly Leslie Dennis’ 15 minutes of fame snuck up on her during the SCSPA awards ceremony. During the drone of names and applause, while Leslie was “zoning out,” her best friend, seated next to her, began weeping with joy. Lagging behind the rest of the assembled multitude, Leslie gradually grasped that she, Leslie Dennis, had just been named the SCSPA Journalist of the Year.

Perhaps fearing the statute of limitations has yet to run out for her embarrassing moment, Amy Mims says, “I’m actually afraid to admit this, but here goes.”

“The staff was to work at school one Saturday, and Mr. [David] Corley, our fearless adviser, did not have his school key. I actually broke into the school and walked around to the front doors to let everybody else in.”

Karen Flowers remembers an end-of-the year staff party when she found out a little secret the staff had kept from her for three years.

“After all the gifts had been given out at the party, the editor said there was one more, and she handed me a small white box beautifully wrapped,” Karen says. “I was so excited thinking it must contain a piece of jewelry from the staff. Instead it contained fi ve keys. Seems one time when I had the fl u, the editor asked for my key to get something out of the pub room, promising just to get what she needed and leave. The fi ve keys were what they had made through the next years from my key for various staff members. I couldn’t get angry because they had told me the truth….fi nally.”

Travel fi ascos could be a subset of embarrassing moments. Martha Herring took some students to Charleston for a redesign clinic at James Island HS. Her

district insisted the students drive themselves, and two of her boys got lost “in the James Island Piggly Wiggly parking lot.” This was long before GPS and cell phones. Martha remembers the two lost sheep as her “Road Scholars.”

Martha also remembers when her bus driver got lost and stopped by the police during a JEA

1970-1971

■ James McElveen announced the balance in the budget: $747.33, with 43 members joining to date.■ First fall yearbook convention: Held Sept. 23. Attendees 233. Attendees paid $7.50 each.■ Spring newspaper convention: Held April 15. Attendees: 300. Convention attendees paid $7.50 each. ■ Kit Shackelford, Greenville Senior HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ John Stevenson, Spartanburg HS, elected NP student president.

1971-1972

■ Harold Hayes becomes SCSPA director. ■ SCSPA offi cer advisers’ association met to discuss journalism certifi cation. ■ Fall yearbook convention: Held Sept. 22.■ Spring newspaper convention: Held April 13, at USC’s Capstone House. Attendees: 200. ■ Paula Carter, Greenville Senior HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Knox White, Greenville Senior HS, elected NP student president.

Bill Rogers, S.C. Press Association executive director, and Dean Charles Bierbauer present the 2003 Journalist of the Year award to Leslie Dennis, Lugoff-Elgin HS newspaper editor.

20convention in D.C. Tammy Watkins was on that same trip, though her recollection has more exclamation marks and capital letters.

“We kept driving around and around Washington,” Tammy says. “We actually arrived in the city about 11 p.m., but we didn’t get to the hotel until about 1 a.m. And that was after our bus driver went on a road clearly marked as not being accessible to 18-wheel vehicles – and got us stopped in front of the Pentagon. A patrol offi cer got on the bus with HIS GUN DRAWN!!!!!! I was going to take his

picture, but changed my mind after I saw the gun.”Mary Ann Blaskowitz’s recollection of a travel fi asco is also of

a shared bus trip with her staff, David Knight’s Spring Valley staff and Karen Flowers’ Irmo staff to Little Rock, Ark. for a national convention. The bus broke down somewhere in North Carolina about 9 p.m., and they had to wait for another bus to be brought from Columbia.

“While we waited in the middle of the night, Conway Twitty’s huge ‘Twitty Bird’ bus pulled in beside us. It was one of those funny, surreal moments!” Mary Ann says.

Long trips to national conventions are understandably full of mishap. But a short trip from Charleston to Columbia shouldn’t be a problem, right? Ask Tammy Watkins and Stella McCombs.

“Our busload of 50 kids was stuck on the Don Holt Bridge for TWO AND A HALF HOURS after a truck jackknifed on the road, throwing the driver into the lane going the other way. It was a mess,” Tammy says. “We chose to watch Ferris Bueller and have a dance party on the bus. Then the kids voted to keep going to the conference after

the accident was fi nally cleaned up. We got there in time for lunch, the yearbook awards ceremony, and one class.”

What a difference just 30 minutes can make. In 2004 Stella had two mini-buses of students loaded to leave for the fall SCSPA conference.

“We were just about to pull out when my principal called and said we could not travel to Columbia because of the forecast of heavy rains,” Stella says. “The yearbook staff had already left 30 minutes earlier and attended the conference.”

Parking issues were another set of embarrassing moments. The fi rst year Phillip Caston took his yearbook staff to the fall conference, Leslie Dennis

assured him his short bus would fi t into the parking garage. “Needless to say, several South Carolina students had a good laugh that day as I almost got the bus wedged under the ceiling of the garage.”

Lisa McCulley remembers when she hit the entrance sign to the parking lot with the roof of the

1972-1973

■ Fall yearbook convention: Held Sept. 27.■ Spring newspaper convention: Held April 4.■ Melanie Greene, Eastside HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Fran MacRae, Wade Hampton (Greenville) HS, elected NP student president.

1973-1974

■ Fall yearbook convention: Held Sept. 26. Attendees: 340.■ Spring newspaper conference: Held April 3.■ Alan Wilson, Seneca Senior HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Mike Daisley, Greenville HS, elected NP student president.

SJMC Director Carol Pardun and CMCIS Dean Charles Bierbauer present Christopher Rosa, Lexington HS newspaper editor and SCSPA newspaper representative, with the 2011 Journalist of the Year.

21van, and Amy Goodwin, in a self-deprecating admission, remembers parking not in the designated college garage, but in the Senate parking garage, from which she was escorted by security offi cers. “A blonde moment,” she says.

David Corley has a funny memory of a fall conference and helium balloons. The Sword and Shield staff ran a candidate for every SCSPA offi ce and brought helium balloons to give out with candidate names attached.

“We rented a helium tank, parked down below the Carolina Coliseum, and began fi lling balloons,” David says. The staff walked hundreds of balloons up to Russell House, and those balloons eventually rested on the ceilings of every room of the fall conference. “The next year, balloons were banned from SCSPA.”

Proudest memories are often associated with SCSPA awards, and they often show the good-natured rivalry among staffs.

David Corley: The fi rst year the newspaper won a Palmetto was a proud moment for David and his staff. “It took us two or three years to build our program, and all that time we watched Spring Valley (David Knight) and Irmo (Karen Flowers) and the other big schools with fantastic programs win year in and year out. At every conference we felt like ‘red-headed step children’ to the great programs.”

This goal of beating schools like Spring Valley and Irmo HS also inspired Cindy Koon (who gets the award for most exclamation points used in a response, followed closely by Tammy Watkins). When Cindy Koon and David Corley advised the Laurens HS Sword and Shield, “the aggravating Irmo staff always won the Palmetto Award in our class. Their adviser was our secret foe – Mrs. Journalism in South Carolina, Karen Flowers.” The Sword and Shield advisers and staff set a goal of knocking off The Stinger and, “at least for a year, got that Palmetto Award away from Irmo!!!!!!!”

Other proud moments related to students, staffs and personal awards and accomplishments.

Jana Hletko: “When our little high school won best newspaper in the state.”

Marc LaFountain: “To this day I don’t know if I am more proud of anything as I am of getting the SCSPA Journalist of the Year.”

Stella McCombs: “Each time my students are recognized on the state, regional or national level.”

1974-1975

■ Dennis Jones becomes director of SCSPA.■ Alice C. James, Hillcrest (Dalzell) HS YB adviser: recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key Award.■ Fall yearbook convention and inaugural NP Adviser/Two-staffer Workshop: Held Sept. 24, at the Carolina Inn. Attendees: 376. ■ Becki Hendricks, Southside HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Sarah Windham, Wade Hampton (Greenville) HS, elected NP student president.

1975-1976

■ Magazine evaluations fi rst offered.■ Fall yearbook convention: Held Oct. 7. Attendees: 278.■ Spring newspaper convention: Held April 28.■ Layne Bailey, Eastside HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Steve Adams, Greenville HS, elected NP student president.

Kathy Fuller’s Irmo MS newspaper staff gathers to celebrate their awards at a spring SCSPA conference. Ten members of this staff went on to Irmo HS’s newspaper, The Stinger, and became editors.

22Christopher Rosa: “My fi rst proud moment was when the fi rst story I ever wrote, on my school’s

production of ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ made the front page of the newspaper.”Beth Underwood: “Seeing the growth and the accomplishments of my staff members. It never

gets old.”Liz Simon says she was so proud every year when the fi rst box of yearbooks was opened, and “we

saw the fi nished product. The same with each issue of the newspaper.”Chuck Walker felt both pride and a sense of enduring infl uence during the 2010 Fall SCSPA

conference.“I presented two sessions with my current students,”

Chuck says. “Sitting in the audience was a former student who is now herself a yearbook adviser. After the session I met with some current USC students who were former newspaper and yearbook editors. Then I had lunch with some of my fellow advisers with whom I worked at WUSC when I was a graduate adviser for student media. Finally I visited the current WUSC station manager who was my former student. I am blessed to be part of this story.”

Paul Martin remembers when one of his students’ “text-messaging-addiction story was published in the regional newspaper (Herald-Journal in Spartanburg). The student, Skyler Evans, contacted sources at a medical clinic at London and interviewed local psychologists. Most importantly, no other major publication had yet reported on this phenomenon. She was the fi rst to cover it.”

Martha Herring’s proudest moment took about 18 years before culmination. She was pregnant with her daughter, Megan, at SCSPA’s 50th anniversary. Eighteen years later Megan – president of the newspaper division – won the SCSPA scholarship and graduated to work in the SCSPA offi ce.

“I credit SCSPA and the caring individuals in it as one reason for her success,” Martha says.In the same vein of family pride, Tammy Watkins remembers “my son, Connor, went to Wando

to work on the Tribal Tribune when he was two weeks old.” Family pride times 3 = Cindy Koon. In her third decade with SCSPA, Cindy attended a fall

conference with her daughter, Katy, the poetry editor at Northwestern HS’s lit mag, Visions.“We boarded the buses to return to Rock Hill,” Cindy says, “and Katy held an award for First

Place in Short Story in the magazine individual awards.” Alluding to “losing” track of her own ESNA awards, Cindy added, “We won’t tuck [Katy’s award]

into her yearbook. That baby is framed and on the WALL!!!!!”

1976-1977

■ Fall yearbook/literary magazine convention: Held Oct. 5. Attendees: 250. ■ Newspaper Adviser/Two-staffer Workshop: Held Oct. 21. Attendees: 80.■ Spring newspaper convention: Held April 14. Attendees: 400. ■ Inaugural YB Adviser/Two-staffer Workshop: Held April 28. Attendees: 50.■ Melissa Edeburn, Hillcrest (Dalzell) HS, elected YB/MG student president.

1977-1978

■ Executive Board met Jan. 18 in what Director Dennis Jones said was the “fi rst joint session of the NP and YB/MG divisions.”■ J. Grady Locklear, Sumter HS literary MG adviser: recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key Award.■ Fall YB/MG convention was held Oct. 4. Attendees: 300. ■ Spring newspaper convention was held April 27. Attendees: 400.■ Spring YB/MG Adviser/Two-Staffer Workshop: Held May 4.■ Bill Mattox, D.W. Daniel HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Cindy Schafer, Irmo HS, elected NP student president.

Dutch Fork HS’s newspaper, The Renaissance, and broadcast, The Silver Screen Report, adviser Amy Medlock-Greene gathers with her staffs at a SCSPA conference.

23

Scholastic journalism laid the groundwork for what I would later choose as my profession – public relations. As a member of SCSPA, I was able to enjoy learning opportunities which can’t be taught in a classroom. At SCSPA conferences I learned how to network with my peers – perhaps the most valuable skill of any in my profession. I was also able to keep up-to-date on the best practices in scholastic journalism, continuing to learn from nationally famous teachers and journalists.

Being involved with SCSPA has been one of the most infl uential experiences of my life, primarily because it led me to the University of South Carolina where I received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications in the spring of 2009.

Megan Herring Bagwell, editor of Carolina Forest HS’s newspaper, The Prowler, 2003-2005

Phillip Caston reported a sense of déjà vu for his proudest moment. The moment was not when he won Journalist of the Year in 1997. Twelve years later though, after Ashley Brown had worked with him since his fi rst year as the J.L. Mann adviser, she won the same JOY honor.

“I saw an inexperienced girl turn into a strong woman in three years,” Phillip says, “and when she won the award, I felt like my own daughter had made me proud.”

Vindication was at the heart of Tressie Hays’ proudest moment. She works in a district that has had prior review. Years ago when the district moved to the 4 x 4 block schedule, her students published an editorial against the schedule change. The district offi ce folks were not happy with the editorial, but Tressie’s

principal said it was well-written, and he saw no reason that it should not have been printed. He took quite a bit of heat. The piece won fi rst place in a Media Women of South Carolina contest. Tressie says, “It felt sweet when the school board recognized the award at one of their meetings.”

Erin McClam proudly remembers his senior year putting out a four-section fi nal edition that included a whole section with photos of the school year in review.

In Amy Mim’s junior year, students were banned from driving buses in South Carolina, the same year Amy was an associate editor and photographer. The ban was controversial because the families of many of the student drivers counted on that income.

“I snapped a shot of a number of drivers in heated discussion with transportation folks,” Amy says, “which seemed like no particularly special photo.” In fact that photo reverberated throughout the school and helped propel the debate to the state level.

“Even though the outcome was not changed and 18-year-olds are no longer able to drive buses, the reaction to this story and photo are imprinted in my mind,” Amy says.

1978-1979

■ Individual MG competitions began.■ Albert T. Scroggins Jr., USC, College of Journalism dean: recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key Award.■ Fall NP Adviser/Two-staff plus one Workshop: Held Oct. 10.■ Spring newspaper convention: Held March 29. Attendees: 400. ■ Spring YB/MG Adviser/Two-staff Workshop: Held May 3.■ Lisa Kaye Harris, Summerville HS, elected YB/MG student president; Dan Rorabaugh, Orangeburg-Wilkinson HS, elected NP student president.

1979-1980

■ Ann Herlong (NP) and Jack Hillwig (YB/MG) appointed new co-directors.■ Inaugural issue of Scholastic Focus, SCSPA’s annual magazine.■ Fall YB/MG convention: Held Oct. 2. Attendees: 488. ■ Newspaper Adviser/Three-staffer Workshop: Held Nov. 6.■ Spring newspaper convention: Held April 22. Attendees: 408. ■ YB/MG Workshop: Held May 6. Attendees: 53.■ Joye Mears, Wardlaw Academy, elected YB/MG student president; Scott Bessent, North Myrtle Beach HS, elected NP student president.

Phillip Caston, J.L. Mann HS newspaper and yearbook adviser and 1997 Journalist of the Year, and Patricia Deas, Socastee HS’s newspaper adviser and former SCSPA chair, present the 2009 Journalist of the Year award to Ashley Brown, J.L Mann HS’s newspaper editor.

24When Ashley Gardner was a junior seeking to balance her research on a wrestling feature for

the yearbook, she planned to interview parents, wrestlers, the coach and a nurse about the practice of cutting weight. Getting wind of this, the coach sought her out and threatened her.

“He did not allow players to cut weight,” Ashley says the coach told her, and he predicted the proposed article would “ruin his program.” When he asked to read and approve her article in advance, she demurred but encouraged him to buy a yearbook.

That’s when he warned that if he had even one parent withdraw his child from the program, he would ruin Ashley’s academic and professional career.

The principal summoned her and expressed reservations, fi nally giving grudging approval.

After the Kaleidoscope yearbook was published, the coach not only praised Ashley for covering all angles and leaving bias out of the article, he recommended her for a coveted job as one of only two journalists to cover booster club and athletic events.

Wow. Nice story.

You infer not a little pride in several advisers who alluded to “success stories” of j-students who became professional journalists; none more than Lisa McCulley. She listed the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, the Kansas City Star, the Charleston Post & Courier and the Washington Post as newspapers former students had worked on. Still others of her graduates have returned to scholastic journalism as advisers themselves.

In fact Phillip Caston, adviser at J. L. Mann HS, was once editor of Lisa’s Norse News and SCSPA Journalist of the Year. Of such students, Lisa says, “I can’t think of anything more rewarding as a professional.”

You hear the same message in David Corley’s answer. “The current adviser of our school paper is one of my former students [Amy George]. I have a number of students who are professional journalists, web designers and English teachers – or who just have a love of writing – that I think fi nd their roots in my journalism class.”

As a professional, fi rst in Florida and now in Charleston, Allyson Bird is proud of a range of experiences: from a South Florida ghetto where her interview was with a woman striving to

1980-1981

■ SCSPA became the offi cial newsletter.■ First undergraduate assistant: Jill Hancock.■ Fall YB convention and NP Adviser/Three-staffer workshop: Held Sept. 23. Attendees: 750.■ Spring convention: Held April 30 (Newspaper convention) and May 5 (Yearbook/Magazine Adviser/Two-staffer workshop). ■ Rodney Howell, Middleton HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Jaynie Carroll, Irmo HS, elected NP student president.

1981-1982

■ Ann Herlong becomes solo director and recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key Award.■ Fall J-Day (YB convention and NP Adviser/Three-staffer workshop): Held Sept. 22. ■ Spring conference: Held April 29. Attendees: 400.■ Rodney Howell, Middleton HS, elected YB/MG student president and fi rst student to be elected student president for two consecutive years.■ Teresa Lollis, Easley HS, elected NP student president.

Scholastic journalism has encouraged my educational philosophy: that teenage students are intelligent and deserve to have their voices heard in high school. I have seen teenagers act as adults in the way they lead, the way they create and the way they connect to others. I wish everyone could see how a yearbook staff works - the skills involved in creating a book would amaze people. Watching scholastic journalists work would give the world faith in our future - if students can create a yearbook, they can run a country. Scholastic journalism has also given me a school family and put me in the position to help teenagers fi nd their niche in high school and their career choice.

SCSPA has helped because I feel I have colleagues who understand both the diffi culties and pleasures of scholastic journalism. I also feel I have a network of colleagues to rely upon when I need help with any facet of being an adviser. My school’s program has been strengthened by learning about other schools’ programs.

SCSPA has provided many of my students with the opportunity to be student-leaders outside of the school. Being on the SCSPA board and teaching classes at SCSPA has given confi dence and pride to my student editors.

Deborah Gascon, adviser of Crayton MS’s newspaper, The Cavalier, 1997-1999; and Dutch Fork HS’s yearbook, The Legacy, 2000 to present

25stop AIDs by handing out one condom at a time…to the Mexican border, shaking down strangers on why someone murdered a local family alongside a Florida turnpike…to Merritt Island for a space shuttle launch and landing…to jumping from a cruise ship onto a pilot boat, 13 miles off Charleston.

“It all started in that second-fl oor classroom at James Island HS,” Allyson says.

With Tammy Watkins, the pride seems to have started with Hurricane Hugo.

“By 1989, I had a pretty good staff and a wonderful editor. That was the year of Hurricane Hugo. We were out of school three weeks, but power was restored to the school by week two. My staff of 15 started coming in every day to work on getting an issue out for the fi rst day we came back to school.

Several of them lived on either Isle of Palms or Sullivan’s Island, and their homes were destroyed. [Because of martial law] those kids couldn’t even go out there. They said being able to come to work on the paper took their minds off of what was going on. I think we gave the paper out the second day we were back to school. The staffers were very proud.”

That single experience alone justifi es Tammy’s modest “boast” that she’s “given students a chance to be real journalists.”

Pride-by-association shows as Andy Bosman remembered SCSPA people and events. “The middle school element of SCSPA was amazing. At the spring conference you could count on spirited competition between Judy Mulkey’s Irmo MS and Martha Herring’s St. James MS. And I can’t forget Judy’s rendition of the ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ line dance.”

Andy recalls a long list of people who have played a role in SCSPA’s story.

“The undergrad assistants I knew: Marc LaFountain, April Skeen, Michelle Gilchrist, Clifton Chestnut, Allison Aiken and Jamie Williams. Bruce Konkle, too, has that passion for scholastic journalism, especially for advancing journalism as an accredited course.

1982-1983

■ Fall J-Day (YB/MG conference and NP Adviser/Two-staffer workshop): Held Sept. 23. Attendees: 660.■ Spring conference: Held April 21. Attendees: 565.■ Unknown: YB/MG student president.■ Laura Hill, Irmo HS, elected NP student president.

1983-1984

■ Most Improved Newspaper Award created.■ Amendment to SCSPA’s constitution on Oct. 6 to give the executive board the authority to incorporate SCSPA as a non-profi t educational organization and to draw up by-laws for the corporation.■ The Albert T. Scroggins Award was established to honor Dean Scroggins, the college’s dean since 1965. ■ Renee Sharpe, Airport HS, elected YB/MG student president ■ Heather McAdams, Camden HS, elected NP student president.

Anna Hicks, principal of Irmo HS, receives the 1995 Scroggins Award from Andy Bosman, fi rst four-year undergraduate assistant (1987-1991) and fi rst scholastic press manager (1993-1997) while Director Bruce Konkle looks on.

Scholastic journalism provided me the tools to teach and to enhance publications all over the United States.Additionally, I have been able to meet and to make friends with some of the greatest people on earth...My teaching of journalism was in workshops and conferences only, and through the lives and schools that I touched, I helped to found and to establish countless magazines throughout the country.

I have remained active in scholastic journalism after retirement by judging for various organizations, including SCSPA. This has enabled me to watch fi rst-hand the strong growth of South Carolina magazines. Thanks, SCSPA.

J. Grady Locklear, founder and adviser of Edmunds/Sumter HS’s magazine, Signature, 1967-1997

26David Knight brought comedy and energy to his teaching; the students laughed and learned. Karen Flowers was an amazing adviser who was loved by her students and had a remarkable passion for advancing scholastic journalism.”

Regarding that journalism luminary Karen Flowers, imagine following in her footsteps as an adviser! That was Britt Collins’s experience. She calls Karen irreplaceable. “I took over at Irmo HS after one of the greatest advisers in the history of scholastic journalism left.” That mantle was heavy and Britt felt entrusted with “the history of the paper itself.”

On the subject of David Knight, whom Karen Flowers calls Mister SCSPA, Leslie Dennis waxes to near idolatry. She fi rst met David in 1999 when she walked into one of his SCSPA sessions late and tried to quietly take a back row seat. Already lecturing and without pausing, David strode to her, fi rmly escorted her to a front row seat and insisted she introduce herself to the audience. Leslie never again was late to one of his sessions.

“It didn’t take long for me to fall in love – head over heels, madly in love with this goofy, twitching, self-deprecating, country bumpkin. He stole my journalism heart,” she now admits.

Despite Andy’s vast memory of luminaries, Mary Ann Blaskowitz likely had more “most proud moments” than any other respondent: “My proudest moments were when I remained quiet, watched my students struggle with editorial or staff decisions and then observed them come together to make mature decisions. Watching true student leadership come out on top was an absolute joy!”

SCSPA has done a great deal…and it’s easy to refer to the organization in human-like terms. But SCSPA is not anthropomorphic. There are names – people – behind what the organization has done. What it achieves, it achieves in the person of its best advisers and students. For example, Ginger Dunker’s staff was the “fi rst in the state to have both a DVD and music CD production, thus a multi-media literary magazine.”

Andy Bosman, in his partnership with Bruce Konkle, helped “introduce the Mac and desktop publishing to our South Carolina programs. And I redesigned the SCSPA and SIPA logos.”

In the course of teaching her staffs to think “what if ?” and to ask “why not?” Mary Ann Blaskowitz made tangible advances for high school journalism. Along with Spring Valley HS, her Camden HS newspaper was one of the fi rst two South Carolina high school newspapers to own a computerized typesetter. That typesetter was replaced within a few short years with a small, square

1984-1985

■ Mary Ann Blaskowitz, Camden HS NP adviser, recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key Award.■ Karen Flowers, Irmo HS NP adviser, named Distinguished Adviser by the NSPA.■ Spring (NP) J-Day: Held April 16, with a separate YB/MG adviser/ editor workshop held in USC’s Law Center. Attendees: 500.■ Bruce Littlefi eld, Brookland-Cayce HS, elected YB/MG student president. ■ Amy Gaskins, Cheraw HS, elected NP student president.

1985-1986

■ Bruce Konkle becomes new SCSPA director.■ The Reid H. Montgomery Adviser-of-the-Year Award was established in December by SCSPA’s Executive Board.■ First recipient of the Reid H. Montgomery Award: J. Grady Locklear, MG adviser at Sumter HS.■ Perspective became the offi cial newsletter.■ Suzy Aaron, Brookland-Cayce HS, YB/MG student president.■ Unknown: NP student president.

Amy Medlock-Greene, Dutch Fork HS’s newspaper and broadcast adviser and 2008 Montgomery Adviser of the Year, presents the 2009 Adviser-of-the-Year award to Ginger Dunker, South Aiken HS’s literary magazine adviser.

27

St. James MS literary magazine staffer Stephanie Walker fi nishes putting up the good news on the marquee. Both the literary magazine, Insights Outward, and the yearbook, The Tale Feather, won the top honors in the state in 1994.

machine with a tiny screen—the district’s fi rst Apple Macintosh. “Desktop publishing was the new thing, and we were on the cutting edge because we believed we could be.”

On a large scale, Amy Goodwin contributed to the health of South Carolina high school journalism when she chaired a task force charged with developing state standards in this discipline. In January 2011, she again chaired a committee to add journalism to the core curriculum standards.

The people Mary Ann Blaskowitz’s students interviewed were not limited to those within the walls of the school.

“Why couldn’t they interview someone they heard about from last night’s professional newscast? What if they could get in touch with that California teen mentioned in a magazine they read?”

Convincing her administration to install a telephone with a long distance connection in the newspaper offi ce opened the world to Mary Ann’s students. They interviewed government offi cials, movie stars and newsmakers. Using a simple telephone, their creativity and their initiative, her students went after the story. Mary Ann “tried to fi ll the newspaper offi ce and my students with a belief in ‘possibility’ and

the feel of the excitement it brings. That was my greatest contribution to student journalism.”

Several respondents remembered that fi rst wave of computers-in-journalism. Some of them led the surge. Some sound like they were pulled along with the current of change.

Tammy Watkins still remembers — with some chagrin — her fi rst Mac in her journalism class. “I couldn’t fi gure out how to turn it on, and I had to get Brian Barrie, one of my newspaper students, out of class every day to turn it on for me. (I’m a slow learner.)”

Marc LaFountain writes: “On my middle school newspaper we transitioned from a Smith Corona word processor and headline stencils to a Mac Plus, PageMaker and a LaserWriter. It was pretty heady stuff for an eighth

1986-1987

■ 50th Anniversary Fall conference: Held Oct. 19, 1986, following a special Sunday evening 50th anniversary banquet held at the Radisson Hotel. Attendees: 220 ■ Spring conference: Held April 21. Attendees: 515.■ SCSPA added three more award opportunities for yearbook staffs: Best Photograph, Best Spread Design and Best Feature Story.■ Lisa Joyner, Lugoff-Elgin HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Abby Herdon, Cheraw HS, elected NP student president.

1987-1988

■ Bruce Konkle, SCSPA director, Bobby Hawthorne (Texas) and Julie Dodd (Florida) were awarded with the NSPA’s Pioneer Award. ■ Bruce Konkle: awarded CSPA’s Gold Key Award. ■ Mary Ann Blaskowitz, from Camden HS, named a Dow Jones Distinguished Adviser of the Year.■ Membership dues increased from $20 to $30.■ Beth Pritchard, South Aiken HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Shev Rush, Camden HS, elected NP student president.

SCSPA has provided me with valuable connections to other publication advisers. From the workshops and SCSPA publications, I learned about current trends and ideas that not only helped me teach my students, but also helped my staff improve and become better journalists. SCSPA also offered important avenues for my students to become leaders on the state level as SCSPA offi cers.

Richard Gay, adviser of Lancaster HS’s yearbook, Rambler, 1984 to present and literary magazine, Callisto, 2007 to present

28grader who hadn’t had much computer experience. It felt very much like the future had arrived in our classroom.”

When Liz Simon began advising yearbook in 1975, her students used pica rulers, typewriters, darkrooms “and carbon copies of everything.” By the time she retired in 1999, the staffs were often “more skilled than the ‘older’ advisers when it came to technology.”

The same trans-generational experience was Beth Underwood’s, too. “When I began, copy was typed on copy sheets and layouts were put on quads (duplicate sheets). Pictures were sent to the plant to be placed on the pages. The last year was totally online. Everything was done online.”

Evelyn Anderson agreed. “When I started the yearbook, it was the Dark Ages. We typed copy with Xs at the top of the copy sheet to indicate column width. Computers had revolutionized everything by the time I retired.”

Advice to teachers who are about to assume the journalism-adviser mantle?

“Don’t do it unless you love it,” Judy Mulkey says. “Then the rewards are great.”

Paul Martin: “You can only teach them. You can’t do the paper for them.”

Ginger Dunker: “You must love it and be a risk-taker.”Lisa McCulley: “Not everyone is cut out for the job.”Britt Collins suggests co-advisers if the two of you can operate

from the same page. “I think this type of arrangement could help retain advisers.”

It might take co-advisers to fi ll the bill for Ashley Gardner, who foresees that for j-students, the adviser must “be there through breakups, car wrecks, deaths of friends, stressful assignments and typical adolescent overdramatic meltdowns.”

Christopher Rosa identifi es a balancing act that is a lot easier to explain than to do. “A great j-adviser,” he says, “knows the balance between giving staff members their freedom to

work and knowing when to step in. If an adviser is too involved, staff members may feel like they are being babied.”

Christopher says if the adviser is not involved enough, the staff may lack direction, from the editors – domino-style – down to the reporters. Those without self-motivation miss deadlines.

“The unimaginative write humdrum stories. And the rebels rebel. A car crash is bound to occur,”

1988-1989

■ The Story-of-the-Month contest was renamed the Excellence In Scholastic Newspaper Awards in October by James D’Alessio, Midlands representative from North Central HS.■ In spring, SCSPA offered a second scholarship for a high school senior to study journalism at the University of South Carolina. ■ Individual yearbook competitions began.■ SCSPA added Computer Graphics category to the ESNA competition. ■ Melissa Throne, South Aiken HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ James D’Alessio, North Central HS, elected NP student president.

1989-1990

■ SCSPA actively solicited the support of the South Carolina Congress for naming the week of Jan. 7, as National Journalism Education Week.■ Karen Flowers, Irmo HS NP adviser, awarded Dow Jones Newspaper Fund’s 1990 National High School Distinguished Adviser of the Year.■ SCSPA initiated the ESNA Sweepstakes Awards. ■ SCSPA Gazette became the offi cial SCSPA conference awards list.■ April Leigh Skeen, Lugoff-Elgin HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ David Haller, Summerville HS: elected NP student president.

Zachary Baker, Dutch Fork HS newspaper and broadcast student, receives the 2009 SCSPA Scholarship from Patricia Deas, Socastee HS’s newspaper adviser and former SCSPA chair.

29

Scholastic journalism helped provide a great hands-on environment where I could excel in my writing as well as learn how to work with a cohesive team of peers to produce a bi-monthly newspaper. Working under deadlines while still being a student can really test the nerves, but I believe that students who are prepared in the environment scholastic journalism presents are prepared for anything.

SCSPA helped fi rst and foremost fi nancially. I was a scholarship winner, and that became one of the deciding factors in my coming into USC’s journalism program. It also helped me network with other student journalists from around the state, many who came to USC and were my classmates where we continued to learn how to hone our journalistic skills into something even greater.

Zach Lamb, editor of Hanahan HS’s newspaper, The Word, 2005-2007; 2007 S.C. Press Association Scholarship winner; May 2011 graduate of the SJMC with Mass Communications major; worked with student media, student government, Greek Life and SJMC Student Services

1990-1991

■ By September, Journalism II was added to the state’s Defi ned Minimum Program. This modifi cation allowed students to receive credit units for two journalism courses. ■ SCSPA added the Most Improved Newspaper Staff Award in April. ■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 24. Attendees: 706.■ Spring conference: Held April 30. Attendees: 600.■ Miki Cobb, Airport HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Steve Hunt, Irmo HS, elected NP student president.

1991-1992

■ Marc LaFountain, Irmo HS: named a fi nalist in JEA’s National High School Journalist competition in 1992.■ Fall conferences: Held Sept. 27 (YB/MG) and Sept. 30 (NP). Attendees: 525 (YB/MG) and 670 (NP).■ Spring conference: Held April 28. Attendees: 471.■ Rebecca Edwards, Summerville HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Priest O. Etheredge, Saluda HS, elected NP student president.

Christopher says. But once the adviser has taught the editors how to drive, “he/she should take a step back and let the editors take the steering wheel.”

Greg Davis has a cautionary tale for new advisers. His message is to hang in there.“When my second issue of The Odyssey came out,” he says, remembering his fi rst year advising, “I

was very proud of the staff.” So when the principal sent him a “See me” note, Greg assumed he was being invited down to the principal’s offi ce to be congratulated. Actually the principal seemed not to see anything in the paper beyond an advice column on teen pregnancies complicated by issues of paternity.

“The principal demanded to see all ensuing issues before they went to press,” Greg says, and now admits, “that day was the closest I ever came to quitting as adviser.”

But the pendulum swung and the principal became a huge supporter. “When we covered controversial teacher layoffs in the fi nal issue,” Greg remembers, “some of my friends said, ‘It’s been nice knowing you,’ implying I’d get the ax myself for daring to cover such a sensitive topic.” Not at all. The principal applauded the balanced coverage.

Phillip Caston’s advice reminds us that you cannot learn to swim without getting into the water. In this case, the “water” is a newsroom atmosphere.

“Coming in lukewarm,” he says, “is a recipe for disaster. Before I took over yearbook at J.L. Mann, the students had gone through four teachers in four years. Too many advisers take a traditional classroom setting into newspaper and yearbook classes. Then they sit back and wonder why they’re doing all the work.

“You must treat the classes like a real newsroom – which, essentially, is a business. You can’t get impatient after the fi rst year and want to quit.

“Rely heavily on the advice of more experienced advisers and journalism organizations like SCSPA,” he added.

“Finally, put your trust and responsibility in your best students. Don’t make the mistake of choosing leaders based on seniority. Cultivate the ones who have the drive and initiative. You may run the risk of being accused of playing favorites, but after all, we’re running a business here, and you need your best people running the show.”

The same learn-to-swim metaphor echoes in Liz Simon’s advice: “Jump in head fi rst.” When she retired from Lugoff-Elgin, Liz became a librarian at a private, 700-student academy for nine years. Her ninth year, she was asked to advise the academy yearbook.

30The former adviser had moved away. Despite being nine years behind in the technology, she jumped in. That fi nal year “was fi lled with excitement and pride to last a lifetime. The yearbook staff kept me young and reminded me of the joy of creating a much-loved product.”

It’s not always a bed of roses. Tammy Watkins knows. “There will be bad days,” she says, “and there will be times when you hate it because the kids have disappointed you or done something stupid. But overall, it’s worth it.”

Her less emotional advice is rock solid – join SCSPA so you can get smart on what you can and cannot do legally. Once you educate yourself and your “students about journalism ethics and laws, then principals can begin to trust you.”

Evelyn Anderson: Don’t underestimate the importance of building a sense of camaraderie by “celebrating birthdays and holidays, having pizza on work afternoons, taking fi eld trips and attending summer camps.”

Amy Goodwin repeats the advice about having enthusiasm, but she adds a further nugget of wisdom – fi nd some way to make the product better each time.

Amy Mims: “Put the time in…Be a role model…Teach the power of the pen and freedom of speech…Know that the impact you make will follow students the rest of their lives.”

Erin McClam: “Give the students fl exibility to write about what interests them. At The Stinger, we started every issue with a brainstorming session. Nothing was off the table. Nobody wants to work for a school paper where you’re constrained to writing about the curriculum or class schedules.”

David Corley: “Good teachers, like good actors, make it look easy and natural. When you walk into the classroom of an effective teacher, everything just seems to run with a rhythm.”

And Lisa McCulley: “SCSPA is the single most helpful organization I could recommend to any new adviser. The critiques and contests are extremely important for the growth of any publication.”

Which echoes what Tammy Watkins says to new advisers: “Even if you don’t bring your kids to a conference the fi rst time, you should come. You will learn so much.”

When Karen Flowers talks to advisers, she always tells them not to worry about what they don’t know. They just need one thing to begin their journey in scholastic journalism: passion.

Other advice from former students: Cece von Kolnitz Nunn says, “Get former students who are now professionals and travel and

meet amazing people and are covering stories around the world to speak with the students.”

1992-1993

■ David Knight, Lancaster County Schools and an instructor at SCSPA, CJI and SIPA, recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key.■ Best public relations materials competition offered for staffs. ■ Fall conferences: Held Oct. 2 (YB/MG) and Monday, Oct. 5 (NP). Attendees: 1,192. ■ Spring conference: Held May 4, 1993. Attendees: 741. ■ Latisha Brownlee, Abbeville HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Wendy Eck, Summerville HS, elected NP student president.

1993-1994

■ Bruce Konkle, SCSPA director, recipient of CSPAA’s James F. Paschal Award, as the top scholastic press association director in the country.■ Karen Flowers, Irmo HS NP adviser, recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key Award. ■ Andy Bosman, a former undergraduate assistant for SCSPA, was hired as the fi rst Scholastic Press Manager for SCSPA and SIPA. He also served as director of CJI.■ Robbyn McKinzie, Keenan HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Tieffa Harper, Summerville HS, elected NP student president.

Scholastic journalism has been an exhilarating experience. The joy I get when I help a student journalist explore an old story from a new angle or simply grow as a writer is priceless. Several students have reached new levels of maturity both personally and in writing. This is what teaching the next generation is all about for me.

Scott Compton, adviser of Chapin HS’s newspaper, Chapin Claw, 2007 to present, and the literary magazine, Revolution, 2010 to present

31

Amy Goodwin, Landrum HS newspaper and yearbook adviser, and staff celebrate receiving the Class 1 Palmetto Award for the Cardinal Cavalcade newspaper at 2011 spring SCSPA conference.

1994-1995

■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 25. Attendees: 1,126.■ Spring conference: Held May 1. Attendees: 582.■ Jessica Barfi eld, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Mary Beauchene, Summerville HS, elected NP student president.

1995-1996

■ SCSPA website created to highlight association’s activities.■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 25. Attendees: 1,094.■ Spring conference: Held April 29. Attendees: 620.■ Angie Moser, Saluda HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ JoEvelyn Ivey, Socastee HS, elected NP student president.

Zac Baker’s advice is disarming in its simplicity – friendship. “I felt that my adviser not only had a genuine interest in my academic life, but also in my future

career…the sort of friendship that only an adviser and student could have.”Erin McClam: “Bombard students with examples. Show them what works. In Mrs. Flowers’

classes we read The State every day and talked about what worked and what didn’t. Same with design. She searched out examples from all over the country. Obviously the best way to learn journalism is to do it. The next most important thing is to read and study the work of those who do it well.”

A double-edged sword is the independence of teaching journalism. Lisa McCulley alludes to this when she says, “Publication advisers enjoy a sense of freedom

that other educators do not experience.” You get a leeway that comes with being one-of-a-kind. But the fl ip side is the loss of the camaraderie of fellow teachers. J-advisers typically have no shoulder to cry on, no mentor to go to within their school.

Evelyn Anderson says, “So often the journalism adviser is the only teacher of that subject in the school, and there is no one to share with who really understands the unique problems/joys related to publications. It can be lonely.”

Britt Collins remembers the loneliness of this job. “I felt very alone when I did it. I was often the only

adult in the school very late at night and very early in the morning. I felt like no other teacher was dealing with the stresses and problems that I faced every day.”

Added to that loneliness, Martha Herring says, is the fact journalism advisers are usually the new teachers. Lots of them move on quickly. “No wonder. Some are simply overwhelmed and not passionate about journalism. Others don’t have the support of their administrators.”

And often there’s not enough of that independence. Paul Martin writes of “the overall dread and indignity of having to take a copy of the paper to administration. It’s very demeaning.”

Of course, now we segue to the benefi ts of SCSPA. “SCSPA puts you in touch with people who understand precisely your situation and who can relate.

Having an experienced adviser you can call on is one of the essential needs for a new adviser,” in Evelyn Anderson’s opinion.

32Neither ‘S’ in SCSPA stands for Stagnant. In her

25-year membership, Martha Herring has seen the organization change with the times.

“We made a broadcast critique available, we’ve gone to an online version of Perspectives, we now register online for conferences, we have a listserv…SCSPA has to continue to keep up with the changing times.”

So why the decline in SCSPA membership and conference attendance?

The three biggest reasons, Ginger Dunker says, are “(1) Lack of money (2) Lack of money and (3) Lack of money.”

Evelyn Anderson says the same thing. Money, and “the issue of students missing classes to attend conferences.”

Paul Martin’s list of woes includes rising production costs.The middle schools where Beth Underwood taught were

increasingly underfunded. She says, “Some schools are producing paperback yearbooks (often produced by adults) or not producing a book at all.”

Zac Baker sees funding as the problem, too, even at the college level. “Career and Technical Education has received less and less funding over the years.” This lack of funding means the scholastic journalism program can’t afford the latest production equipment thus hurting their ability to recruit.

Tammy Watkins also points to the school principals. “Budget cuts, obviously, but I think some of it has to do with

principals who are afraid of any type of controversy.”A solution, Tammy says, is for “advisers to educate themselves about

student journalism – through SCSPA, SIPA, NSPA – and then educate their students about journalism ethics and laws. Then principals can begin to trust them and the students as well.”

Tressie Hays cites the red tape that has become a deterrent. “Way too much is involved in bringing kids to the conference,” she says. “The past couple of years

1996-1997

■ Linda Owens Whitlaw, former SCSPA graduate assistant, recipient of CSPA’s Gold Key Award.■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 30. Attendees: 1,081.■ Spring conference: Held April 28. Attendees: 684.■ Kelly Ergle, Saluda HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ David Schoolfi eld, Camden HS, elected NP student president.

1997-1998

■ Most Improved Yearbook award and Most Improved Magazine award created.■ Scholastic Review replaces Scholastic Focus.■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 29. Attendees: 1,200.■ Spring conference: Held April 27. Attendees: 700.■ Meredith Miller, Saluda HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Marlee Beckham, Camden HS, elected NP student president.

Kendra Jones, Zach Wilson, Jennevieve Sevilla and Dylan Gunnels, South Aiken HS’s smallest and last Hoofbeats newspaper staff, published fi ve issues during the 2010-2011 school year.

As a fi rst-year adviser, I took this year to get my feet wet and was looking forward to next year being a wonderful year full of conferences, great lesson plans and fabulous publications. SCSPA was going to be a major tool for me in accomplishing those goals.

Unfortunately, our school is discontinuing the journalism program because of a lack of enrollment and a few new, similar options - such as Digital Media Literacy.

Unfortunately, this year was my fi rst year... and my last!

Megan McDaniel Scholer, adviser of South Aiken HS’s newspaper, Hoofbeats, 2010-2011

33

1998-1999

■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 28. Attendees: 1,000. ■ Spring conference: Held April 26. Attendees: 660.■ David Reed, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Jamilla Washington, James Island HS, elected NP student president.

1999-2000

■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 27. Attendees: 824.■ Spring conference: Held April 24. Attendees: 525.■ Stephanie Ferrell, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Maranda Williams, Camden HS, elected NP student president.

I was required to get approval from a district leadership team in addition to all the paperwork and approval I already had to do.”

That’s Liz Simon’s guess – “the fi eld trip restrictions…and AP students who don’t want to miss class for a conference fi eld trip.”

Amy Goodwin sees yet a different problem. She says SCSPA’s promotional material is often fi ltered out and unread by administrative people who are overwhelmed with emails and paperwork. As a result, many new j-advisers don’t know that a valuable resource like SCSPA is out there.

You hear that theme of opportunity in Tammy Watkins’s response: “The adviser before me had belonged to SCSPA only one year, but he didn’t like the competition part. WHAT WAS HE THINKING???”

Why the decline in j-student enrollment? Marc LaFountain’s answer is for colleges. He thinks fewer students

are seeing journalism as a viable career because conventional print and broadcast journalism is downsizing.

“The immediacy of online professional journalism and online social networks,” he writes, “likely makes monthly, semi-annual or annual scholastic publications seem antiquated to students. After all, Facebook and Twitter are pumping info at students in real-time 24/7. I don’t think schools have to abandon print publications, but I think they need to embrace online publications and social media. And, they need to have an online presence that is updated weekly if not daily in some way. It’s what the world now wants and expects.”

That which passionate high school j-students fi nd appealing – the fast pace and weighty responsibilities – may repel candidates looking for an easy elective. “Those students may feel like they are stressing, and working hard in an elective class may be unappealing,” Christopher Rosa notes.

Advice to SCSPA? Paul Martin hopes that as more papers go online and move away from print, advisers will take

advantage of the new online evaluation SCSPA has begun offering. Students need, he thinks, to know the ins-and-outs of web design and how it pertains to publications.

Dana Miley would like to see more broadcast professionals teaching more broadcast sessions at the conferences.

Erin McClam is hopeful that online journalism will revitalize high school journalism. “Online journalism has an appeal to students today and can draw them back in.”

I still remember the basic skills I learned in my high school journalism classes and at SCSPA. I have a passion and interest in scholastic journalism for this reason. Without high school newspapers and programs like SCSPA, we would not have new generations of reporters, editors and designers with a passion for the news.

Today’s news business is struggling to redefi ne how it will fi t into the marketplace, and high school journalists will be the ones there to make sure the basic journalistic principles don’t die out with the bottom line.

Elizabeth “Liz” White McCarthy, editor of Lugoff-Elgin HS’s newsmagazine, The Pitchfork, 2003-04; 2004 S.C. Scholastic Press Association Scholarship winner; editor of the Daily Gamecock, 2007; 2008 graduate of the SJMC with bachelors in print journalism; received masters degree in journalism and public affairs from American University; currently a reporter for the Bureau of National Affairs in Washington, D.C.

34Judy Mulkey’s advice to SCSPA is to “continue to reach out to middle schools which have publications

and to offer training classes or workshops, even onsite.”Liz Simon says, “Try a personal sales call to the schools who were once members. I became involved in

SCSPA because of another adviser in our county who convinced me to join.” Also, Liz thinks competition gets too much emphasis. “It took me a long time to convince my staff it was not about winning awards.”

And Tammy Watkins praises SCSPA. “I’ve always felt like one of SCSPA’s strengths was that it adjusts to new trends in journalism quickly. The conferences always offer good classes on the newest technology (Soundslides, convergence, etc.), so I hope they’ll keep that up.”

Has SCSPA had lasting effects? Is Facebook popular? Does Prince Valiant favor one hair style? Is “the Google” a research tool?If not for Karen Flowers and The Stinger experience, Cece Von Kolnitz Nunn says, “I wouldn’t be in

newspapers, wouldn’t have met my husband (colleagues at the StarNews in Wilmington, N.C.), wouldn’t be writing and copy editing in one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. (Wilmington, N.C.).”

It was her affi liation with SCSPA that gave Beth Underwood both advising skills and a forum for learning from other advisers.

Like an incurable bug, journalism resurfaced in Cindy Koon many miles from South Carolina and SCSPA. In 1989 she left advising in Laurens, S.C. for Alaska where she started a school newspaper in an Eskimo village and then moved to Bethel, Alaska and advised the newspaper at Bethel Regional HS.

Eight years after winning Journalist of the Year, Leslie Dennis is ensconced in the scholastic journalism offi ce at the USC campus.

“There isn’t anything I can fi nd that can match this job,” she explains. “I love this organization and … these people… the David Knights, the Bruce Konkles, the Martha Herrings, the Karen Flowerses, the Amy Goodwins, the Amy Medlock-Greenes…these people who are dedicated to journalism, high school, education and students.”

Jamie Williams also spent his USC years working in the offi ces. Now “not a day goes by that I don’t write, speak or create something that goes back to the communication foundation I gained more than 20 years ago. I would not be who I am or achieved what I have without SCSPA.”

With Christopher Rosa, the j-experience has been an elixir that all parents would want for their sons or daughters. “It has made me responsible, conscientious, honest and…passionate for journalism…and given me a taste of my dreams.”

Erin McClam writes, “My whole life would be different without it. High school journalism was where

2000-2001

■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 25. Attendees: 829.■ Spring conference: Held April 23. Attendees: 600.■ Scott Sowell, Lancaster HS: elected, YB/MG student president.■ Allyson Bird, James Island HS, elected NP student president.

2001-2002

■ Mini-newspaper evaluation service began.■ Members now had the option to join for three years ($100) instead of just paying for one year ($40).■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 24. Attendees: 700.■ Spring conference: Held April 22. Attendees: 600.■ Jenna Walters, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Aaron Gentry, Wando HS, elected NP student president.

Scholastic journalism has enabled me to see many students grow and develop as writers and thinkers. I have developed several close friendships with former journalism students as well.

SCSPA evaluations help reinforce what I am teaching in the classroom. Students are able to see I am not just quoting something out of a textbook and that there are standards that both professional and student journalists must adhere to.

Brenda McPeeks, adviser of Sumter HS’s newsmagazine, The Cock’s Quill, 2010 to present

35

2002-2003

■ Karen Flowers becomes new SCSPA director.■ First online registration for conferences and membership.■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 23 at the Russell House. Attendees: 850. Advisers paid $17; students paid $12. ■ Spring conference: Held April 28 at the Russell House. Attendees: 550.■ Janna Jay, Lugoff-Elgin HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Amanda Alpert, Dutch Fork HS, elected NP student president.

2003-2004

■ Restructured constitution and by-laws to allow home-schooling association publications to be members, and allow them to enter evaluation services and award competitions.■ Restructured constitution and by-laws to allow school broadcasting programs to be members, and allow them to enter evaluation services and award competitions.■ Michael Cooper, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Zach Pavkov, Wando HS, elected NP student president.

I realized that the newsroom, full of constant chatter and populated by bright people with open minds and broad interests, was the happiest place for me. That I later got paid to spend time in one remains mind-boggling to me.”

The SCSPA infl uence on Tammy Watkins began when she was editor of the Hartsville HS High Notes 35 years ago and went to SCSPA conferences. “Those positive experiences are what led me to become involved with SCSPA when I became an adviser.”

The effect of journalism and SCSPA on Amy Mims has been to give her a love of writing. Now a principal, she writes the school’s newsletters.

“Of all the skills I have learned,” she says, “writing has been my most powerful tool. I can honestly say that my high school journalism experiences played an important role in getting me where I am today.”

SCSPA gave Andy Bosman his foundation as a marketing executive. He credits SCSPA for his writing and design skills. “I learned fi rsthand general business management and the importance of a strong constituents network.”

In fact, all respondents rave in the warmest terms about the camaraderie, the learning, the fun of SCSPA. Amy Goodwin has a good image: “I may have a passion for journalism, but SCSPA is the pilot light that keeps it burning.”

From Karen Flowers: “Teaching and advising journalism students in high school 28 years and working with students and advisers 11 more as director of our state and regional organizations has defi ned who I am and provided a passion in my life.”

In words that likely speak for many former j-students, Marc LaFountain writes, “I would be a somewhat different person leading a somewhat different life if journalism hadn’t shaped me.”

In words that likely speak for many advisers, Mary Ann Blaskowitz writes, SCSPA “‘grew me’ professionally, and I cannot imagine advising a newspaper without an association with SCSPA.”

“Thank you,” she writes, “to all those SCSPA mentors and leaders of the USC School of Journalism who for 75 years have supported high school journalism students and teachers. You have truly made a difference!”

Marc LaFountain, editor of Irmo HS’s The Stinger, 1992 co-Journalist of the Year with Michelle Gilchrist, Lugoff-Elgin HS. LaFountain was an SCSPA undergraduate assistant in 1992-1995.

36

2004-2005

■ Schopress listserv begun.■ Fall conference was held Sept. 27. Attendees: 563. ■ Spring conference was held April 25. Attendees: 463.■ Matthew Carborne, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Megan Herring, Carolina Forest HS, elected NP student president.

2005-2006

■ Introduction of new broadcast individual competitions (Anchor for a News Program; Best Graphics; Feature Story; News Story; Public Service Announcement, Sports coverage; Reporter).■ Broadcast and literary magazine evaluations were for “Best of SCSPA” since there was limited competition (5 broadcasts; 7 literary magazines).■ Class size changes were instituted for newspaper evaluations. ■ Zach Toman, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Dustin Silbereisen, Dutch Fork HS, elected NP student president.

To collect material for this book, our history’s writer, Will Felts, contacted people from lists the SCSPA offi ce provided. He wove the responses of all who got back to him into our SCSPA story.

Below are those respondents:

Allison Aiken, editor of the Socastee HS’s 1996 yearbook, The Chief, now Communications

Specialist with Ingersoll Rand in Davidson, N.C.

Evelyn G. Anderson, adviser of Riverside HS’s yearbook, Sakamow, 1980-03

Zac Baker, staff member of Dutch Fork HS’s newspaper, The Renaissance, and broadcast program,

The Silver Screen Report, current visual communications major at the University of South Carolina

Allyson Bird, editor of the James Island HS’s 2000-02 newspaper, The Odyssey, currently with the

Charleston Post and Courier

Mary Ann Blaskowitz, adviser of Camden HS’s

newspaper, Palmetto Leaf, 1971-88

Andy Bosman, editor of Northwestern HS’s

yearbook, Aeneid, SCSPA Undergraduate Assistant

1987-91, fi rst Scholastic Press Manager 1993-97,

CJI director 1994-97, currently Chief Marketing and

Communications Offi cer, Navigant Consulting, Inc.,

Chicago, Ill.

Phillip Caston, 1997 Journalist of the Year,

editor of Spartanburg HS’s newspaper, Norse News,

Center for Public Integrity at Charleston’s Post

and Courier, Capitol News Service at Spartanburg’s

Herald Journal, adviser of J.L. Mann HS’s newspaper,

Mannuscript, and yearbook, Talismann, 2006 to present

Britt Holley Collins, adviser of the Irmo HS’s

newspaper, The Stinger, 2000-02

David Corley, co-adviser of the Laurens District 55 HS’s newspaper, Sword and Shield, 1984-89,

currently teaches English at Laurens HS

Greg Davis, adviser of James Island Charter HS’s newspaper, The Odyssey, 2008-11

2009 Adviser-of-the-Year nominees Liza Bethel (Beaufort HS), Chuck Walker (Nation Ford HS), Michelle Tallada (Myrtle Beach HS), Phillip Caston (J.L. Mann HS), Scott Compton (Chapin HS) and Eliza-beth Lusby (Clinton HS) pose with the 2009 Montgomery Adviser of the Year, Ginger Dunker (South Aiken HS).

37

2006-2007

■ Board votes to realign leadership: creates one division (YB/MG & NP/BC) instead of two, beginning with 2008 spring elections.■ Board creates copyright and plagiarism policy to go into effect Aug. 1, 2007.■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 25. Attendees: 600. ■ Spring conference: Held April 30. Attendees: 500. ■ Otteria Miller, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president.■ Ebbie Yazdani, Dutch Fork HS, elected NP student president.

2007-2008

■ First Year Perspective is published only online.■ SCSPA Adviser Staff Development held in Greenville in August.■ Adviser conference registration fees raised to $30; ESNA & individual contests to $60; Mini-Evaluations to $25 for 2009-2010.■ Fall conference: Held Oct. 1. Attendees: 571 ■ Spring conference: Held April 28. Attendees: 483.■ Steven Khoury, Lancaster HS, elected YB/MG student president ■ Anthony Miller, Carolina Forest HS, elected NP student president.

The 1940 issue of The Convention-Ear, the SCSPA convention newspaper.

Leslie Dennis, 2003 Journalist of the Year, editor of Lugoff-Elgin HS’s newspaper, The Pitchfork,

Scholastic Press Manager 2007 to present

Ginger Dunker, adviser of South Aiken HS’s literary magazine, Calliope, 1994 to present

Justin Fabiano, 2005-07 broadcast student on Stratford HS’s Real TV, 2011 electronic

journalism graduate of the University of South Carolina

Karen Flowers, adviser of Airport HS’s newspaper, The Eyrie, 1972-79 and Irmo HS’s

newspaper, The Stinger, 1979-00, Professionals Reaching Out

director at the University of South Carolina 2000-02, SCSPA

Director 2002 to present and SIPA Director 2005 to present

Ashley Gardner, 2007 Journalist of the Year, Student Life

Editor of Lugoff-Elgin HS’s yearbook, Kaleidoscope, SCSPA offi ce

assistant 2007 to present, will graduate with Bachelor of Arts in

Education in 2012

Amy Goodwin, adviser of the Bethune HS’s yearbook, The

Wildcat, 1988-89; Ninety Six HS’s newspaper, The Prowler, 1994-

98; Dorman HS’s

newspaper, The

Cavalier, 1999-02;

and Landrum HS’s

literary magazine,

Wingspan, 2008, and both the newspaper, Cardinal

Cavalcade, and yearbook, The Cardinal, 2002-present

Tressie Hays, adviser of Goose Creek HS’s

newspaper, 1989-95, and GCHS’s yearbook 1991-95;

Lexington HS’s newspaper, The Wildcat, since 2000;

yearbook, Cat’s Paw, since 1996, and broadcast, Not

Another News Show, since 2004

Martha Herring, adviser of the Socastee MS’s

newspaper, The Tribe Scribe, 1984-89; St. James MS’s

newspaper, Eagle’s Eye, and literary magazine, Insights

Outward, 1989-97; and Carolina Forest HS’s newspaper,

The Prowler, 1997 to present

SpringBroadcaSt/newSpaper & Magazine/YearBook

conference

APRIL 27, 2009South CARoLInA SChoLAStIC PReSS ASSoCIAtIon

School of Journalism and Mass Communications • university of South Carolina • Columbia

EXTRAVAGANZA

MondAy

2009 Spring Conference program

38

2008-2009

■ Board voted to establish individual student memberships, and 61 were secured this year.■ First year for photography contest to help yearbook staffs.■ First year for digital submissions of most competitions.■ First year a yearbook scholarship sponsored by Jostens began being offered.■ First Jostens Yearbook Scholarship recipient, Lori Lynn Cox, Lugoff-Elgin HS. ■ Justin Daniels, Dutch Fork HS, elected student president.

2009-2010

■ Dr. Al Leonard, principal at South Pointe (Rock Hill) HS, won JEA’s Administrator of the Year award.■ Director Karen H. Flowers awarded CSPAA’s James F. Paschal Award during CSPA’s March 2010 convention.■ Digital evaluations of publications began.■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 28. Attendees: 693.■ Spring conference: Held April 26. Attendees: 377. ■ Max Fowler, Lugoff-Elgin HS, elected student president.

2009 J.L. Mann HS Mannuscript staff gets together after the spring conference to take a staff photo with principal Susan Hughes (center).

Jana Hletko, adviser of

Andrews HS’s newspaper, The Voice,

1993-06

Cece von Kolnitz Nunn, 1995

Journalist of the Year, features

editor of Irmo HS’s newspaper, The

Stinger, current features reporter for

the StarNews in Wilmington, N.C.

Cindy Koon, co-editor of

Laurens District 55 HS’s newspaper,

Sword and Shield, 1976-77; co-adviser

of Sword and Shield, 1984-89; adviser

to Ayaprun HS’s newspaper, Jaeger

Voice, in Newtok, Alaska, 1989-91;

adviser to Bethel Regional HS’s

newspaper, Warrior Beat, in Bethel,

Alaska, 2001-02; adviser of South Pointe HS’s newspaper, SPiN, 2005 to present

Marc LaFountain, 1992 co-Journalist of the Year, editor of Irmo HS’s newspaper, The Stinger,

current vice president of community support at Tumblr

Amanda Ridley Ledbetter, editor of the Spartanburg HS’s

newspaper, Norse News; SCSPA Piedmont representative, 1998-

99; reporter for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, 2003-06; adviser

of Oakbrook Preparatory School’s newspaper, The Silver Scroll, and

yearbook, Equites Christi, 2006 to present

Paul Martin, sports writer for the Gaffney Ledger, 2001-02;

contributing writer for Spartanburg’s Herald-Journal, 2002-07; adviser of

Dorman HS’s newspaper, The Cavalier, 2005 to present

Erin McClam, 1996 Journalist of the Year, editor of Irmo HS’s

newspaper, The Stinger, currently editor and writer on the Top Stories

Desk of the Associated Press in New York

Stella McCombs, adviser of Stratford HS’s broadcast program,

Real TV, 2002 to present

Being an adviser of scholastic media has provided me with a greater opportunity to get to know my students. Witnessing their sense of imagination and creativity is amazing. As a fi rst-year adviser, the support of the SCSPA has been invaluable to me. Through the Carolina Journalism Institute, I was able to strengthen my skills as a photographer so that I could truly be a benefi t to my students.

If ever I have a concern, I know there is always someone willing to assist.

Kai Brailey, adviser of Chapin MS’s yearbook, Eagle, and newspaper, Eagle Exclusive, 2010 to present

39

2010-2011

■ First SCSPA First Amendment Liaison Established. ■ Fall conference: Held Sept. 27 at the Russell House. Attendees: 674. ■ Spring conference: Held May 2 at the Russell House. Attendees: 231. ■ Charmaine McKinley, Dutch Fork HS, elected student president.

2011-2012 ■ The Bruce E. Konkle Rising Star Award is awarded for the fi rst time at the 75th anniversary reception. ■ 75th Anniversary Fall Conference and Celebration: Oct. 16-17 held at the Columbia Marriott.■ Katie Jones, J.L. Mann HS, elected student president.

Lisa Ashton McCulley, adviser of

Spartanburg HS’s yearbook, SAGA, since 1988;

newspaper, Norse News, since 1990; and literary

magazine, First Circle, 1997-08

Dana Miley, adviser of James Island

Charter HS’s broadcast program, Trojan News

Network, 2002 to present

Amy Mims,

1989 Journalist of

the Year, editor of

Laurens District 55

HS’s newspaper, Sword and Shield, currently chief area 1 offi cer for Chicago

public schools

Judy Mulkey, adviser of Irmo Campus I MS’s newspaper, The Witness,

1982-00, CJI faculty 1984-00

Christopher Rosa, 2011 Journalist of the Year, editor of Lexington

HS’s newspaper, The Wildcat, entertainment editor for Not Another News

Show, 2010-11 SCSPA newspaper representative

Liz Simon, adviser of Lugoff-Elgin HS’s yearbook, Kaleidoscope, 1975-

99

Beth Underwood, adviser of Chester HS’s yearbook, Cestrian, 1973-

79; Irmo Campus I MS’s yearbook, Expo, 1987-98; and Dutch Fork MS’s

yearbook, Footprints, 1998-2010

Chuck Walker, adviser of Nation Ford HS’s yearbook, The Ford,

newspaper, The Talon, literary magazine, Voices, 2007 to present, and

broadcast program, NAFO News, 2009 to present

Tammy Watkins, co-editor of Hartsville HS’s newspaper, High Notes,

1976-77, adviser of Wando HS’s newspaper, Tribal Tribune, 1985 to present

Jamie Williams, staff member of Abbeville HS’s yearbook, The

Panther, 1991; SCSPA undergraduate assistant, 1992-95; CJI graduate

coordinator, 1996; current director of the Honors College at Clemson

University

It’s hard to believe I have been involved with scholastic journalism for over 25 years. I fi rst began attending SCSPA conferences and workshops in 1985 as a novice yearbook adviser at Eastside HS when Evelyn Anderson, yearbook adviser at Riverside HS, encouraged me to become a member.

Bruce Konkle, who was the SCSPA Director, was so supportive. Anytime I had a question about photography or my staff, he would help me with an answer or a referral to someone who had experienced that same thing. I still have the letter he sent on behalf of SCSPA when my son Brad was born.

At the conferences I learned so much from listening to other yearbook advisers and attending the various classes. Having that bond with others as I struggled through that fi rst year was invaluable. As I have gained more experience through the years, I have never lost that desire to learn from others, share yearbook war stories, and attend the conferences. They never grow stale, and I learn something new all the time. Thanks, SCSPA, for being there for me both then and now.

Rene Horton, adviser of Eastside HS’s yearbook, Aurea Aquila, 1985-1991; Lexington MS’s yearbook, Cat Tracks, 1996-2000 and Pleasant Hill MS’s yearbook, Cougar Pride, 2006 to present

40

Perspective Serving South Carolina

scholastic journalists

since 1936

SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATIONWinter 2011

DATELINE2011

February 25

SCSPA Scholarships deadline

March 4-6

SIPA Convention and

Competition

March 11

Newspaper evaluation,

broadcast evaulation

and broadcast individual

competition received in

office deadline

March 15

ESNA deadline

March 22

SCSPA officer nominations

and Adviser of the

Year, Scroggins and

Most Improved Awards deadline

April 1

SCSPA Spring Conference

earlybird registration deadline

April 8

SCSPA Photography

Contest deadline

May 2

SCSPA Spring Conference

at the USC Russell House

May 12

Carolina Journalism

Institute earlybird

registration deadline

June 8-12

Carolina Journalism Institute

See the SCSPA website

(scspa.sc.edu) for a

detailed master calendar.

Theysayasyougetold

er,themoreyoustartto

slowdowninlife.How

ever,asSCSPAprepares

tocelebrateits75t

hbirthdaythisyear,schol

astic

journalismcouldnotbe

morealive.

Throughouttheplannin

g,JennaEckel,third-

yearpublicrelationmajo

r,hasbeentheSCSPA7

5th

AnniversaryIntern.

“Myprimaryinvolvementi

nplanningthe75t

h

anniversaryhasbeencre

atingandmaintainingan

invitationdatabase,”Eck

elsaid.“Somemoretas

ks

includeplanningthehist

ory,managingmultiple

mailingmessagestotho

seinthedatabaseand

startingtocreatetheban

quetandfallconference

onOct.17.”

Eckelsaidtheanniversar

ycelebrationcanactas

areunionforformersch

olasticjournalismstaffs.

“I’mreallyexcitedtohav

esuchalargedatabase

becauseitgivesstaffsth

eopportunitytoreunite

attheanniversary,”Ecke

lsaid,“andallowsold

friendstocometogether

yearslatertodiscussho

w

theyareinvolvingjourn

alismintheirlivestoday

.”

FormerSCSPAdirector

BruceKonklesaidthe

upcominganniversarywi

llbebetterthanthe50

th

anniversarycelebratedin

1986.

“Ialwayshopeeachyear

SCSPAenhancesits

75 years and counting!

SCSPA plans upcoming anniversary

offeringtomembers,and

puttingonanevenbette

r

anniversarycelebration2

5yearsafterthe50

th

goesalongwiththatway

ofthinking,especially

foraformerdirectoroft

heorganization,”Konkl

e

said.“Everyorganizatio

nshouldalwayswantto

strengthenwhatitdoesfo

ritsmembers.”

KonklesaidSCSPAhas

morethanjustageto

celebrate.

“Bymyestimate,more

than45,000student

journalistsandpublicati

onadvisershaveattende

d

SCSPAconferencesand

workshopsinColumbia

sincetheorganizationma

deUSCitspermanent

homeintheearly1960s

,”Konklesaid.“That’s

quiteanachievement,an

dthat’ssomething

thatshouldbecelebrated

andappreciatedby

allschoolanduniversity

facultymembersand

administration.”

Thisyear’sspecialguest

speakerisBobby

Hawthorne,authorofThe Radical Write,and

who,formorethan30y

ears,hashelpedstudent

journalistsappreciatethe

importanceofgreat

writinginscholasticpub

lications.

“Hetrulyisnowa‘pion

eer’ineverysenseof

Anniversary continued on page 5

Former SCSPA

director Bruce

Konkle, SCSPA

75th anniversary

intern Jenna

Eckel, and former

Dutch Fork MS

yearbook adviser

Beth Underwood

meet in the School

of Journalism to

discuss the 75th

anniversary and

fall conference.

P erspective Serving South Carolina scholastic journalists since 1936

SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION

Spring 2011DATELINE

2011May 30

Carolina Journalism Institute cancellation deadline

June 10SCSPA Magazine/

Yearbook individual competition, evaluation, and most improved competition deadline

June 8-12Carolina Journalism Institute

June 29SCSPA Board retreat

July 1SIPA Magazine/Yearbook evaluation deadline

August 5SCSPA Fall Board Meeting

October 16SCSPA 75th Anniversary celebration – Marriott hotelOctober 17SCSPA Fall Conference – Marriott hotelSee the SCSPA website (scspa.sc.edu) for a detailed master calendar.

Rene Horton receives Adviser-of-the-Year Award

The Reid H. Montgomery Adviser-of-

the-Year Award honors the memory of a

past director of SCSPA and former faculty

member of the School of Journalism and Mass

Communications. The award is presented to

an adviser who exemplifies a high standard of

excellence in service to scholastic journalism,

as this year’s recipient, Rene Horton, has. Horton advises

the Cougar Pride yearbook at Pleasant

Hill MS. David Patrick, Jostens

yearbook representative who

nominated Horton, said

Horton’s “dedication to a high

standard of journalistic excellence is obvious

when you see the quality of publications

year in and year out, the rapport with students, the almost infinite

hours put in work and the huge desire to make

others successful.” Horton also advised the Eastside HS

yearbook, Aurea Aquila (1985-91), and the

Lexington MS yearbook, Cat Tracks (1996-2000).

Lexington HS adviser Tressie Hays said

Horton is determined and dedicated to

scholastic journalism in general and yearbook

journalism specifically.

“She is creative and a quick thinker

when helping other advisers who run into

problems,” Hays said. “When situations get

difficult or projects look hard, Rene always

shows a ‘we can do this’ attitude, that then

transfers to those she has to lead. If you are looking for an adviser

who is a proven leader, dedicated to the groups

she joins and who is true to her word, you are

looking for Rene Horton – a levelheaded, caring,

responsible person on whom you could totally

depend on in good and bad times to carry on.”Horton’s principal, Dr.

Bill Coon, said Horton has even given up her planning

period several times in order to be able to produce

a quality yearbook.“With her yearbook

staff she has logged countless hours before

school, after school, at home in the evenings

and at school on the weekends in order to put

together a high quality representation of our

school,” Coon said.Horton’s passion revolves around her

students and her school. “She is a class act,” Coon said, “master

teacher, awesome adviser, and the consummate

professional.”

Rene Horton (left) with 2010

Adviser of the Year, Amy Goodwin