Scholastic Journalism Week: Celebration Time

By Jeanne Acton, UIL Journalism Director | Tuesday, February 07, 2012 9:28 AM

It’s time to party.

Or at least celebrate.

Feb. 19-25 is Scholastic Journalism Week.

Too often, advisers and students forget to celebrate and honor themselves. Deadlines rule the roost in journalism rooms — especially in February.

But I urge you to take time to celebrate yourselves and celebrate what your students do. After all, it is because of your hard work and solid publications that scholastic journalism continues to thrive in Texas today.

The Journalism Education Association has compiled a list of ways to celebrate the week. You can view the list at: http://www.jea.org/resources/jweek/index.html.

One of the JEA ideas is a to take a portrait of each staff member and showcase the photos in the school. I love this idea. It would be great exposure (no pun intended) for your students and program. Plus, your kids are so often behind the camera and story that they don’t get to be in the spotlight.

One idea that popped into my head in the middle of the night was to entice the cheerleaders to make spirit signs (like they do for football games) for your staffers and post them in the halls throughout the school. The cheerleaders could also make a big paper run-through sign for your staff to come ripping through one day that week.

Or maybe you simply have a Scholastic Journalism Feast Day where every staffer brings a favorite food dish to share. During the meal, your staffers can take turns recognizing each other for his/her contributions to scholastic journalism.

Mark Newton, the JEA president and publications adviser in Colorado, said the coolest way he and his staff celebrated the week was with First Amendment root beer floats. They called them — Freedom Floats, and students received one scoop of ice cream for every First Amendment Freedom they could name. His students held the celebration at lunch, and it was a hit.

I think what is of the utmost importance is that the celebration should not be dependent solely on you. Get your staff involved. Get other students. Get other teachers. Heck, maybe your administration would jump on board.

I know it’s hard to fit one more thing into your schedule and into your day. But I truly believe even one day of celebration will rejuvenate you and your staffs.

And if you do decide to jump into the celebration, please take some photos and send them to me. I would love to make a slide show for our website on how Texas journalists celebrated Scholastic Journalism Week.

Go forth and celebrate!