From the Top

A Class Gesture

We depend on teachers, but do we support them enough?

At our recent NIE2004 Conference in Los Angeles, Robert Tadjiki, a special education teacher in Bend, Ore., just happened to be in the area with his students and came to talk to us at Wednesday’s lunch. These things tend to happen more when you’re close to a place like Universal Studios.

One by one, as the students got up to speak before the 200 or so attendees–showing poise that many of us wish we had–they told of the huge impact of their teacher and the newspaper in their classroom.

Now I’m still pretty new at the intricacies of NIE, but one thing that I can identify with is the importance of teachers. NIE professionals have told me on more than one occasion how vital teacher workshops are to their success. If teachers don’t know how to use the papers, then even the best of NIE programs will not succeed.

Linda Rowe, a teacher in Pennsylvania, has served as a wonderful voice for NIE of late. Back in February, she accompanied us to a full Board meeting of the NAA, and won over a group of publishers the same way she has won over audiences at our NIE Conferences, and, more importantly, students in her classroom.

On the student journalism side, journalism teachers and school newspaper advisers also stand on the forefront of any impact we hope to make. We have talked about providing more training for advisers. If we are going to maintain the quality and number of school newspapers, then we must reach the advisers and journalism teachers and provide them the educational tools and media partnerships to be successful.

Our Student/Newspaper Partnership grants are an opportunity for newspapers and advisers to work together to ensure success. But the grants can’t do it all, and we continue to develop tools and foster relationships.

The more we can help each other in reaching out to and working with teachers the better. Share those workshop stories, affadavit secrets, adviser training tips, advice from journalism teachers who perhaps have as many boys as girls on their staff, and other such tidbits.

As we continue to plan and grow, we are also trying to impart ways to help you work better with the teachers that you depend on. Anyone who was at that luncheon in Los Angeles could see the difference that an amazing teacher can make.

Sincerely,

Margaret Vassilikos
Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
NAA and NAA Foundation
(703) 902-1629
vassm@naa.org

Published Oct 11, 2004