Working on a computer without PhotoShop? Sumopaint offers professional and easy to use tools for creating and editing images within a browser … and it’s FREE. Sumopaint brings layers, overlays, filters, and effects… Watch out, Adobe!
Tags: illustration · photoNo Comments.
Puyallup Student Press:
Nationally recognized programs in peril
An informational meeting for parents & students
in the Puyallup School District with Q&A
Wednesday, November 5
7-9 p.m.
Please see wjea.net for more information.
Posted by Sharyn Mehner.
Students in Puyallup, Wash. have been stripped of their First Amendment rights.
On August 26, a new policy was implemented by the Puyallup School District to censor all verbal and written expression of students, effective beginning with the 2008-2009 school year. This policy will effect student publications, drama productions, assemblies and all other student led activities that are presented to the student body or the public.
This issue is not to be taken lightly. This policy gives the school’s administrators the right to view the publication or production at least 24 hours before its release to the public. They also reserve the right to alter or remove any content that they believe violates the verbal and written expression guidelines given in the policy.
In the past, the Puyallup School District has been valued as a district in support of student free expression, with administrators in favor of the students’ rights to express themselves. It is home to three nationally renowned news publications (The Commoner of Rogers H.S., JagWire of Emerald Ridge H.S., and The Vanguard of Puyallup H.S.), which for decades have won numerous national and state awards due to their freedom to publish hard-hitting and important issues about today’s society.
If this policy remains effective in the district, students will no longer be able to reach their full potential as journalists, actors, leaders, and people in general. Giving students the responsibility to act as professionals for their peers and the public, as well as make and fix their own mistakes has been one of the most effective learning tools in the district in recent years. It is a strategy that other districts have admired and adopted into their own curriculums. This district and the student work that results from their freedom to express themselves has, for many years, been held at a high standard. If these changes remain, both the quality of the district and its schools will suffer.
The recently REVISED policy can be read in full here (adopted October 21, 2008): http://www.puyallup.k12.wa.us/ourdistrict/policies/3000PDF/3220RFreedomOfExpression.pdf
————————————————-
Related Information:
In addition to the First Amendment rights taught in school, we also have the Washington State Constitution and the Washington Administrative Code, both of which clearly state that students have the right to free speech and press.
The 3220 Regulation is asking all administrators and advisers to break the law by censoring their students. With adults acting as censors, how long will the PSD stay out of the courts? Do we really want to spend taxpayers’ dollars fighting all of the potential lawsuits that will come from such a policy?
Washington State Constitution
ARTICLE I - DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
SECTION 5 FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.
Washington Administrative Code
WAC 392-400-215
Student rights. (2) All students possess the constitutional right to freedom of speech and press, the constitutional right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government and its representatives for a redress of grievances, the constitutional right to the free exercise of religion and to have their schools free from sectarian control or influence, subject to reasonable limitations upon the time, place, and manner of exercising such right.
News Tribune Article - How free is student speech in Puyallup?
DEBBY ABE; debby.abe@thenewstribune.com
Published: October 13th, 2008
Tags: No Comments.
Rep. Dave Upthegrove, who has been so instrumental in trying to pass student free press legislation in the state of Washington, has been honored for his work by the Journalism Education Association with its “Friend of Scholastic Journalism” award.
The award is “given to any individual or group making a significant contribution to scholastic journalism.” The author and primary sponsor of House Bill 1307 and ardent supporter of Senate Bill 6449, Upthegrove will be honored at the JEA/NSPA Fall National Journalism Convention in St. Louis this coming November.
Tags: No Comments.
Looking for a way to engage your students — specifically student journalists — in the 2008 presidential election? Check out the following project. It would be easy to convert run this product as a column in your publication.
You’ll have to hurry to register, though: Teachers must be registered by Sept. 8.
The full release follows after the jump.
Tags: No Comments.
The Pacific Lutheran University chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is hosting another First Amendment Free Food Festival on October 14 at 1:30 p.m.
But there’s more to this than just free food; check out last year’s event:
Could be an awesome object lesson on the First Amendment.
Tags: No Comments.
Looking for a change of venue or to get into journalism teaching and advising? The journalism job in Wenatchee has come open, posted here. Both The Apple Leaf newspaper and Wa Wa yearbook have won numerous awards from the NSPA, JEA and WJEA and enjoy strong administrative support for free press rights. There also is a strong parent booster group and, of course, amazing kids to work with.
Since I was the previous adviser there, feel free to contact me here with any questions.
Tags: 1 Comment
Looking for some inspiration as you’re heading into the new school year? A couple of years ago, Chip Scanlon at the Poynter Institute compiled 50 inspirational quotations from what he calls “writers and thinkers of every stripe.”
My favorite?
“I try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip.” — Elmore Leonard
I like it because as high school journalism advisers and writers, we’re always trying to figure out ways to engage our readers, to get them to read our stories. So often, we blame it on things like “this generation of kids” who “won’t read.” I say hogwash. Think like a reader and try to figure out a way to tell the story better.
Download the file and ask yourself: How can I use these quotes to inspire my staff this year?
As we roll toward the beginning of the school year, student press rights come to the forefront once again. The Journalism Education Association has put together a new Web site, jeapressrights.org, designed to help educators in that fight. It’s put together by the JEA Press Rights Commission, and includes teaching materials for the classroom. If you’re a student, it’s got research resources.
I think the coolest thing I saw was the Responsible Journalism link, which helps advisers and students fighting prior review and censorship formulate sound arguments for a free student press at their school.
Additionally, you’ll find a new RSS feed of student press law news from the SPLC in the sidebar under the links.
Tags: Journalism Education Association · Student Press Law CenterNo Comments.
Welcome to the new WJEA Blog! We sure hope you enjoy the changes we’ve made from our initial blog venture and will take some time to explore the new features around here — such as the pages links up at the top. Our hope is to make this an even better destination for all the latest news, tips and tricks for both advisers and student journalists in the state of Washington.
Let us know what you think!
Tags: 1 Comment
One of the main opponents of student free speech in the state of Washington, Everett School District superintendent Carol Whitehead, is retiring at the end of the summer — four months ahead of schedule.
Whitehead’s free speech legacy includes …
Whitehead said she decided to up the time frame of her retirement from January to September because of a recent threat on her life.
Tags: 1 Comment
SPLC NEWS