ADVISING
ADVISERS
By Mitch Eden
Advice from previous
Dow Jones News Fund
Teachers of the Year
A
Mitch Eden
Mitch Eden, MJE, advises The
Kirkwood Call newspaper,
Pioneer yearbook and
thekirkwoodcall.com website
at Kirkwood High School in
Kirkwood, Missouri. He has
been teaching scholastic
journalism 20 years and loves
working with passionate
young people to help them
become better people and
better journalists while
creating the best publications
possible. Mitch was named
the Dow Jones News Fund
National Journalism Teacher
of the Year in 2015.
s you begin to head
into your second year
or twenty-second year
of advising, summer
is a time for reflection and
planning. What better way
to begin the latter than
hearing from some of the
best advisers in the country
and former DJNF National
High School Journalism
Teachers of the Year?
The question was simple: If
you had one piece of advice
to pass along to advisers it
would be… The answers
were inspiring, thoughtful
and helpful. Consider
yourself mentored by some
of the best around. Here we
go...
Educate yourself! Get your eyes
and hands on as many examples
of excellent publications or
other media in the field in which
you are advising, such as a high
school newspaper or yearbook
or website, to see what can be
accomplished and, as important,
to see the tremendous diversity
among the leaders. Then, follow
your muse and follow your dream.
Rather than being fixated on rules
and trends, with your students,
come up with your own vision for
your own school and community.
Judge the results by how engaged
your students, faculty, parents and
people in the community are in
what you are offering.
Wayne Brasler
1981 DJNF TOY
Expect change. As a result, if you
ever feel like you’re approaching
mastery, the bar is sure to move
up or just around like a crazy
carnival game. I am much nearer
the end of this amazing journey
as an adviser, and yet in so many
ways I am just beginning to learn.
That makes it tough, that makes it
fun. What a great combination!
Don Bott
2002 DJNF TOY
My emphases today would be
threefold because of social media:
1. I would emphasize ethics,
explaining how today’s media are
not setting a good example.
2. Stress even stronger writing
skills. Students too often do not
have these skills by the time they