Adviser Update Spring 2016 | Page 11

11 and dozens of hands shot in the air, I knew we had an exciting future ahead of us. here, you see the energy each time they come in the lab -- they can’t contain themselves,” Belanger said. Now in its second year, Down Under includes four Winfield faculty members, six Tesserae mentors and a wonderful, enthusiastic group of 20 third-fifth graders with a core of nine veterans from the first edition. The Tesserae/Down Under partnership isn’t unique in the world of scholastic journalism; there are other programs bringing together high school mentors and younger journalistsin-training across the country. Tom Gayda, who advises multiple publications at North Central High School (Ind.), helped create a collaborative opportunity for his students and a group of elementary school students this winter. In the media lab at Corning-Painted Post High School, junior Aimee Spisak checks in with fellow Tesserae staff member Jake Russell and his team. Russell, a junior, and the four students in his coverage group were developing mods for a spread on Winfield’s recent spirit week festivities. Even though they were new to Tesserae in September, a group of our first-year staff members jumped at the chance to mentor students for Down Under’s second edition, junior Mira Belanger among them. “I like working with kids a lot, and I like the idea of teaching little kids. I love yearbook so much, and wanted to share that. Everyone should get that sense of camaraderie and of doing something together,” Belanger said. “The [software and resources] that we use and that we’re taught for Tesserae, it’s being used by professionals. The kids aren’t going to be using InDesign, but our online program gets them ready, they can say, when they come to the high school, ‘Oh, I did this in 5th grade,’ and they’ll be ready to go.” Our mentors have found that working with 20 elementary school students can be be invigorating, too. “The kids are very energetic. They’re here to enjoy it, to have a good time with their friends or make new friends; I saw that with the fifth to the third graders on the day we brought in new members. They want to be The fifth grade students met with Gayda’s editors for some skills development and training early in the day on Jan. 30, then had a whirlwind day of interviews with the sectionalsbound girls varsity basketball team, a tour of the gymnasium with the athletic director, a guest talk with a sports reporter from the Indy Star, and a press conference with the boys coach prior to their game that night. The editors and Gayda split their MIKE SIMONS Mike Simons, MJE, is the adviser of Tesserae, the award-winning yearbook at Corning-Painted Post High School in Corning, NY, and serves as the president of the Columbia Scholastic Press Advisers’ Association. Recognized as a 2015 JEA Distinguished Yearbook Adviser, Simons presents regularly at camps and workshops nationwide and can most often be found with a cup of coffee in hand. Simons founded and advises his son’s elementary school yearbook, Down Under, and his high school staffs have been recognized multiple times with CSPA Crown and NSPA Pacemaker awards. He and his wife li ve in upstate New York with their four young children. mentees into four groups at game time: reporting, social media, video and photography; the fifth graders had notebooks and press passes in hand as they covered the game. Matt Rasgorshek, adviser at Westside High School in Omaha, responded to interest from April Bridwell, a colleague at Swanson Elementary, who wanted to give her students an opportunity to learn more about video broadcast production. “We jumped at the chance and worked with [Bridwell’s students] throughout the year. We’d go to their school and help them with writing, on-air presence, do some postshow analysis, and more. The sixth graders loved it as did my students. They thought it was pretty fulfilling,” Rasgorshek said. The 6th grade students’ production aired every other week and continues this year. The long-term payoffs for partnerships like these will come to fruition if and when former mentees join a high school publication staff. In the meantime, younger students who share in journalism-based activities and team-driven projects will come away with skills that will make them better students and classmates as they continue their path through elementary school. There are other rewards to be had in the short-term, though. “When the book comes in, and my kids look at that and they say, ‘We did that with Mira,’ that would make me really happy,” Belanger said. “When they see all the hard work they put into it, and go from the screen in front of them to holding it in their hands, to see their faces on that day -- that’ll be awesome. I can’t wait -- that’ll be really rewarding.”