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Northern California students journalists showed that they lead the nation in writing, design and leadership in this year’s Journalist of the Year competition.

Congratulations to Christophe Haubursin, who was selected by the JEANC Journalist of the Year selection committee as this year’s Northern California Journalist of the Year and recipient of the $500 Arnetta Garcin Memorial Scholarship. Haubursin is Managing Editor of El Estoque newsmagazine and news website at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, Calif.

Please join us in congratulating all three scholarship winners:

The winning portfolios demonstrated exceptional skill in writing and design. Scholarship recipients clearly have an understanding of the importance of leadership and courage in the newsroom. Judges commented that winners showed perseverance and strength in the face of adversity, as well as distinct and developed voice as writers.

Haubursin’s portfolio will move on to the national Journalist of the Year judging, which will take place at the national convention in Seattle. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on April 15.

February 15 is the deadline to send portfolios for this year’s Journalist of the Year competition. Advisers may nominate one student journalist for the award. For contest details, please visit http://jea.org/home/awards-honors-2/journalist-of-the-year/portfolio/.

The journalist with the winning portfolio will be awarded JEANC’s Arnetta Garcin Memorial Scholarship and qualifies for a travel stipend to attend the JEA/NSPA National Convention in Seattle.

For more specifics and to view a sample portfolio, read a message posted by the committee chair last year at http://jeanc.org/2011/01/journalist-of-the-year-portfolios-due-feb-15/.

Entries must be received by the committee at the following address by Feb. 15:

JOY Competition
℅ CNPA Services
2000 O St., Suite 120
Sacramento CA 95811-5299

Contact us at jeanc@jeanc.org with questions.

2011 was a record year for the annual contest! JEANC received 458 entries from 32 different publications this year and ultimately handed out 174 awards in 35 categories.

Judges from around the nation had incredibly positive feedback for the group and indicated that their jobs were tough this year.

We congratulate all winners for their hard-earned awards and all staffs for setting the bar high for scholastic journalism in the region and the nation.

A list of winners can be found here. Advisers wishing to order duplicate or corrected certificates can do so here.

We look forward to the 2012 contest!

1. Get your students recognition for their work.

Your kids work hard. You know that. But does your school community know that? Sometimes the work that student journalists do can be pretty thankless. That’s why we created this opportunity for your students to gain recognition for their hard work. And while your students get that much-deserved individual recognition, you have the opportunity to remind teachers, community members, and your school board just how valuable your program is. It’s a win-win.

2. It’s as easy as it gets.

This will be the third all-digital version of our annual contest, and the feedback has been unanimous—it’s so much easier than before! Rather than cutting out clips, mounting them, and shipping them off, staffs are able to take their press-ready PDFs, downsize them, and upload them directly through the JEANC site. What may have taken hours to prepare before can now be done in less time and without the mess.

3. Use the awards as a part of your end-of-year celebrations.

One of the biggest perks of our annual contest is the opportunity to get your students recognized for their hard work in the same year they created it. This makes our contest particularly unique. Some advisers announce their award winners at an end-of-year banquet or awards ceremony. You could even announce it to the whole school through your morning announcements or at a rally! No matter how you take advantage of the earlier recognition, your kids will appreciate getting that acknowledgment before they forget about the work they did (especially seniors!).

4. Individuals are recognized for rising above.

Sometimes you have a student who really shines on your staff or who excels in one particular field. Because the annual contest offers a breadth of categories for your students to enter, you get the chance to gain recognition for those individuals who rise above the norm. Whether it’s one spectacular feature story or a yearbook photo that’s worth more than a thousand words, we think it’s great to highlight and reward students’ individual accomplishments in addition to staff accomplishments.

5. Maximize your JEANC membership.

The annual contest is only open to JEANC members. Seize the opportunity to get the most out of your membership by entering your students’ work in the contest by April 22, 2011. For full details and requirements, visit the Annual Contest FAQs or the guidelines to read Before you Enter.

Palo Alto student George Brown reports for Viking sports magazine from the CIF volleyball championship sidelines.

Congratulations to George Brown of Palo Alto High School, the California High School Journalist of the Year. Brown is co-editor-in-chief of Viking sports magazine (Ellen Austin, adviser) and the official state winner for the national Journalist of the Year competition from the Journalism Education Association.

The JEANC scholarship committee met Feb. 26, 2011 at San Francisco State University to evaluate student portfolios and select scholarship recipients.

Please join JEANC in honoring all three of this year’s Arnetta Garcin Memorial Scholarship winners:

First Place: George Brown, Palo Alto High School (Ellen Austin, adviser)

Second Place: Alison Sale, Granite Bay High School (Karl Grubaugh, adviser)

Third Place: Ben Breuner, Redwood High School (Tom Sivertsen, adviser)

Each of this year’s applicants in the JOY competition demonstrated excellence in journalism. Portfolios were professional quality and included outstanding examples of writing, leadership and courage. The scholarship committee was impressed by the thorough research, eye-catching design, reader-relevant stories and each candidate’s personal commitment to serving their readers. These students truly exemplify outstanding high school journalism.

Winners demonstrated thoughtful reflection on each journalistic experience and had a wide range of journalistic activities within and beyond the school’s student media. Brown’s portfolio showcased in-depth reporting and important stories, but also included experiences with live blogging and timely, professional use of Twitter and Facebook to report breaking news, in addition to dealing with online comments, video editing and more. His outstanding practice with the mobile, multidimensional responsibilities of reporting demonstrate not just what good journalism has been but what good journalism is becoming.

JEA’s national Journalist of the Year results will be announced April 17, 2011 in Anaheim at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention.

The National Scholastic Press Association recently announced the yearbook finalists in its annual Pacemaker award contest. Congratulations to these Northern California schools. Visit the organization’s website to see a complete list of finalists.

Titanium, Antelope HS, Antelope, Calif.
Neda Talebi, Anna Cheban, editors
Pete LeBlanc, adviser

Nugget, Cupertino HS, Cupertino, Calif.
Dennis Rong, Steven La, editors
Leslie Robledo, adviser

Decamhian, Del Campo HS, Fair Oaks, Calif.
Delaney Rakestaw, editor
Jim Jordan, adviser

Rampages, Casa Roble HS, Orangevale, Calif.
Corey Lau, Molly Burke, Marissa Leever, Ian Luttrell, editors
Dan Austin, adviser

Wings, Arrowhead Christian Academy, Redlands, Calif.
Jenna Geers, Janise Marvin, editors
Crystal Kazmierski, adviser

Tonitrus, Rocklin HS, Rocklin, Calif.
Kayla Phillips, Jenna Merserau, Jessy Clarke, editors
Casey Nichols, adviser

Details, Whitney HS, Rocklin, Calif.
Elizabeth Grover, Sara Roudebush, editors
Sarah Nichols, adviser

Wingspan, James C. Enochs HS, Modesto, Calif.
Salvador Jimenez, editor
Tamra McCarthy, adviser

Shield, Thomas Downey HS, Modesto, Calif.
Bethany Benson, Tyler Dycus, Zach Maher, editors
Heather Jacquemin/John Haley Scott, advisers

Valhalla, Lynbrook HS, San Jose, Calif.
Vincent Yu, Annie Li, Pooja Makhijani, editors
Jim Schussler/Nancy Belmont, advisers

Enter your top seniors in the Journalist of the Year competition by Feb. 15, 2010. Creating a portfolio is a time-consuming task but provides a powerful reflection opportunity for your best student journalists and can lead to state and national recognition.

The state competition is aligned with JEA’s national Journalist of the Year competition, so please refer to the official guidelines and submission information.

A panel of qualified journalism educators evaluates each year’s portfolios to determine local winners. The Northern California winner receives JEANC’s Arnetta Garcin Memorial Scholarship and then competes with the Southern California entry for the official state spot in the national competition. Results will be announced via Twitter in mid-March and student winners will receive official recognition by mail.

Last year’s winner, Ina Herlihy (Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, San Francisco), went on to win the national Journalist of the Year title from JEA and a $5,000 scholarship. Herlihy has made her portfolio available in the interest of helping future applicants plan and prepare the best entries possible. Click here to see part of Herlihy’s 2010 portfolio.

Members of the local and national scholarship committees note the importance of following instructions and having a wide variety of journalistic experiences evidenced in portfolio entries. Students who do well in this competition demonstrate courage and leadership in addition to outstanding skills in writing, design, photography or other forms of journalism.

As you help your students prepare their portfolios, consider these helpful hints:

1. Mail portfolios to the state director, Sarah Nichols, at the new JEANC headquarters.
JOY Competition

℅ CNPA Services

2000 O St., Suite 120

Sacramento CA 95811-5299
Please note that the Feb. 15, 2011 deadline is a “received by” date and plan accordingly.

2. Organize portfolios according to the guidelines under the Preparing Your Portfolio section from JEA. Clips and work samples will represent four key areas:

(1) Skilled and creative use of media content – writing, production, photography, etc.
(2) Inquiring mind and investigative persistence resulting in in-depth study or studies of issues important to the local high school audience, high school students in general,         or society.
(3) Courageous and responsible handling of sensitive issues — local or societal — despite threat of or actual censorship.
(4) Variety of journalistic experiences, each handled in a quality manner — newspaper, yearbook, broadcast, photography, Web design, other design work, community and other outside-of-school journalistic work, etc.

3. Check your membership status. You must be a current JEANC and JEA member in order for your students to be eligible. Scholarship opportunities and awards are just another benefit of your membership. (If you receive this message and are not a JEA member, I’d love to share with you the benefits JEA has to offer and extend you a free membership if you are new to the organization, so please get in touch with me.)

This info and other great news, resources and information is available at our website, http://jeanc.org, and you can contact me directly with any questions. We’d love to see all of your outstanding seniors recognized for their efforts in scholastic journalism.

Sincerely,

Sarah Nichols, MJE
Northern California state director, JEA
past president/scholarship committee, JEANC