Adviser Update Adviser Update Spring 2017 | Page 3
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L E T TER FROM EDITOR
By Adrienne L. Forgette, MJE
W
hen Emily Smith’s
email hit the JEA
Listserv the morning
of March 13 asking
for advice “near and far
regarding a sensitive topic,”
we did what we always do.
Journalism adviser legends
like Mary Stapp, Paul
Niwa, Ellen Austin, Mary
Kaye Downes and Steve
O’Donoghue gave her
concrete suggestions on
how to tackle the story her
students were writing.
By the end of the month,
when our colleague’s story
went viral and her staff was on
every national media outlet,
I’m sure we all felt like we had
an insider’s seat.
It was great seeing one of our
own being nationally praised
for her staff’s diligence in
reporting the truth. Our cover
story, “Climbing a Mountain”
starts on page 26 and features
the process she and her staff
walked through in telling
the story of an unqualified
principal.
If your school is like mine,
we have been delving into
design thinking and have
been charged with creating
innovative lessons using
design thinking principles.
After hearing Beatrice
Motamedi speak at CSPA, I
thought we could all benefit
from hearing how she helps
build empathy in her young
journalists by utilizing the
design thinking process.
Check out her story on page 6.
Finally, I’d like to thank the
Dow Jones News Fund for
giving me the chance to
oversee Adviser Update’s
transition into the digital
world. I’ve accepted a principal
position at Nardin Academy in
my hometown of Buffalo, New
York, and this will be my last
issue.
I look forward to being a
champion for scholastic
journalism from the
administrative end and
supporting press rights in
other avenues. Thank you
Ethan Pender and Yinuo Chen
for copy editing and designing
each issue.
For the next issue, the DJNF
Teacher of the Year, Lori
Keekley, will be serving as
guest editor. Please send any
submission ideas to Heather
Taylor at heather.taylor@
dowjones.com.
~ Adrienne Forgette
Editor-in-Chief
Adrienne Forgette is the Media Arts
Director at the Darlington School in
Rome, Georgia, where she advises the
Jabberwokk yearbook, Darlingtonian
online newspaper and Inkslinger
literary magazine. She holds a B.A. from
Colgate University and an M.A. from the
University of Maryland, College Park.
Email: mrsforgette@gmail.com