Massy, Watterson to receive honors at CSPA Convention

This week, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) announced the recipients of several individual honors the organization will be presenting at its upcoming Spring Convention, March 16-18 in New York City.

CSPA named four 2016 winners of its Gold Key award, including Susan Massy, yearbook adviser at Walsworth Yearbooks school Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, Kansas.

Massy’s Lair yearbook staff has been demonstrating excellence in writing and design for the past two decades, winning numerous CSPA Crown and National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Pacemaker Awards. In 1999, Massy was chosen Yearbook Adviser of the Year by the Journalism Education Association (JEA). In 2013, she was inducted into the Kansas Scholastic Press Association (KSPA) Hall of Fame. She is the author of the “Writing: Tell Me a Story” unit of Walsworth’s Yearbook Suite curriculum.

Gold Keys are presented annually by the CSPA “in recognition of outstanding devotion to the cause of the school press.”

This year’s other Gold Key winners included:

• Erinn Harris, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia
• Kristi Rathbun, Rock Canyon High School, Highlands Ranch, Colorado
• Mike Simons, Corning-Painted Post High School, Corning, New York

CSPA also announced that C. Bruce Watterson, Ph.D., has been named a winner of the Charles R. O’Malley Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Joe Humphrey of Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida will receive the James F. Paschal Award, which honors state or regional school press association officials who have distinguished themselves in the field.

Watterson is a public relations and communications consultant, who serves as one of the key instructors at the Walsworth Yearbooks Elite Weekend workshops. Watterson has received top honors from national and regional scholastic journalism associations, including CSPA’s Joseph W. Murphy Award in 2011. Known for his work with yearbook and magazine trends, particularly in design, graphics and packaging, Watterson has taught more than 500 workshops in 48 states plus China, Europe and Australia.

The O’Malley Award is named for the CSPA’s second director and is given to recognize “a sustained record of outstanding teaching” in support of student journalism or student publishing.