WINTER 2014
Adviser Update
ROCK STAR
Continued from page 2A
— their basic ability to write songs
with meaning and to stay true to that
core value.
When I graduated college in 1995,
I had no idea what the future would
bring. Websites and tweets and
Facebook posts barely existed, if
they existed at all. But I adapted. I
recognized that what I did know —
namely, journalism and journalistic
storytelling — would never change;
the rest of these items were just tools
to help us tell those stories in different ways. Journalism is changing,
perhaps more so than any other area
of study, and we can either decide
to avoid those changes and become
irrelevant very quickly — become a
one-hit-wonder — or we can choose
to embrace those changes and adapt
them for our own needs.
Step 7: Party
This step shouldn’t be too difficult for
many of you but it bears mention.
It’s so important to celebrate what
you do with your students and with
your teaching community. Celebrate
everything. While we don’t do this job
for awards, we all know how difficult
they are to earn. Enjoy them. Celebrate milestones: the first deadline;
the last deadline; an awesome interview; a new feature on your website.
Give paper plate awards. Sing happy
birthday as loud and obnoxiously as
you can, or just give some deserving
kid a pat on the back and a heartfelt
congratulations for a job well-done.
Because what your students will
remember, the thing they will take
away from your class, is not that
great story they wrote or that amazing interview. They won’t recall how
they coded the heck out of that web
post or how they agonized over editing that one sentence just so.
No, what they will remember is the
experience. So Step Number 8 is for
you to remember why you’re here.
Step 8: Do it for the fans
You’re here for the fans — your students.
I’ve been to many concerts over
the years. And I couldn’t tell you
about individual guitar solos or drum
breaks. I couldn’t even tell you what
songs those groups played with any
kind of certainty.
But I could tell you if I enjoyed the
concert. I could tell you if I left feeling
happy or inspired or thoughtful.
Your students won’t remember
the specifics of your class, but they’ll
remember the experience. They’ll
remember the camaraderie. They’ll
remember feeling like they were part
of something worthwhile.
They’ll remember you and the way
you treated them day in and
day out.
On that note, on Nov. 3 I was
reminded of my own advice, when
one of my journalism rock star
friends, Grosse Point South adviser
Jeff Nardone, was taken from our
ranks far too soon. One of his former
students published a touching tribute
to his former teacher. In it, he said,
“One of the reasons I respected Mr.
Nardone so much was because he
never once tried to silence me or turn
me into something I’m not … Instead,
he told me to keep writing and to
never lose my passion for issues that
were important to me. He told me
to let him worry about the would-be
censors.”
These are powerful words that
encapsulate the very selfless
essence of what we do. That’s why
Jeff was one of the best.
And that’s why I’ve got a Bonus
Page 3A
Tip for you today. It’s a tip that I
hope you’ll take with you after you
leave here. It’s a tip that Jeff Nardone definitely understood. Just like
those bands I spoke of, you may not
remember these individual tips. But
hopefully, you’ll remember this.
Bonus tip: Believe in yourself
You are amazing at what you do. You,
all of you, are artists. Each of you
is honing your craft. Each of you is
contributing to the larger journalistic
community. You do important work.
You do valuable work.
But just remember, your products
are not made of paper and ink or of
HTML code. Rather, your products
are made of flesh and blood, of ideas
and personalities and hopes and
dreams. You get the opportunity to
work with those raw materials every
day. It’s a privilege and an honor.
This job isn’t easy. But it has the
potential to be amazing. You’ve got
the opportunity. You’ve got back
stage passes to the most awesome
job on the planet. So go. Spread your
music. I want to hear it played loud
and clear until my ears bleed.
So go. Go be a rock star. I believe
in you. You should, too.
Jim Streisel,
the 2013 DJNF National High School
Journalism Teacher of the Year, is the
adviser of the Carmel (Ind.) HS HiLite
newspaper and its website, www.hilite.
org. Streisel has written two journalism
textbooks, “High School Journalism: A
Practical Guide” and “Scholastic Web
Journalism: Connecting with Readers in
a Digital World.” He earned a 2012
Pioneer Award from the NSPA and was
named a 2012 DJNF Distinguished
Adviser. He was also named the 2011
Carmel Clay Schools Teacher of the
Year and the 2011 Indiana Journalism
Adviser of the Year. He can be
reached at jstreise@ccs.lk12.in.us.