Plenty of Americans grow up watching pro wrestling. Only a small percentage grow up to cover the pro wrestling world as journalists. An even smaller number of those pro wrestling journalists are female. We’d venture to guess that Kari Williams is one of the only female, pro wrestling freelancers who started covering the circuit while in high school. Williams sat …
Mike Taylor, CJE, believes yearbook theme copy should be so strong that the school principal can read from it at graduation. Writing strong copy for the whole school year is no easy feat considering themes are typically developed in October. Some schools are even working on their 2020 themes now – in the spring of 2019! Taylor knows that it’s …
There are some yearbook staffs who continually impress, year after year. But how do they do it? Mike Taylor, CJE, host of Ask Mike, sat down to find out how. In this podcast episode, he interviewed the editors of three outstanding yearbooks. You can listen to their interviews on the new episode, ”What Sets These Yearbooks Apart from the Crowd?” …
Journalism is a challenging profession, especially when you choose to work in a country other than where you were raised. That’s part of what makes Jessica Rapp so impressive. The writer (and sometimes photographer) moved to Beijing, China, right after graduating from college at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. She fell in love with the energy of Beijing and, …
If you haven’t already, be sure to listen to the excellent season two bonus episode of Ask Mike. In the episode, titled “How Do I Create a Podcast?” Mike Taylor, CJE, and guest Samantha Jo Berry of Bridgeland High School in Houston, Texas, discuss the many benefits of adding podcasts to her journalism class curriculum. Whether the podcast stands alone …
It’s the time of year when many yearbook staffs are finishing their books. The only problem? There are still months left in the school year! If you’re looking for a journalism skill-building activity for your yearbook staff, Mike Taylor, CJE, has an option for you: podcasts! The possibilities of scholastic journalism keep expanding, and many schools are turning to podcasts …
The benefits of art and writing as a means to process trauma are widely acknowledged, and the survivors of the February 14, 2018, school shooting in Parkland, Florida, have turned that means of therapy into a book. “Parkland Speaks: Survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas Share Their Stories” was published by Crown Books, a division of Random House, in February of …
Four years ago, the yearbook program at Williamsville North High School in Williamsville, New York, was fine. They weren’t creating award-winning or journalistic yearbooks, but their yearbook club was creating image-based books that the community liked well enough. “It was a big picture book,” said yearbook adviser Erin DeVantier. This is fairly standard in their part of the country; most …
Matt Schott has been teaching at Francis Howell Central High School for more than a decade, but he didn’t take a direct path to teaching. He shared his story with Behind the Byline hosts Evan Blackwell and Jenica Hallman. You can listen to their conversation at walsworthyearbooks.com/podcasts. Student Journalist Schott began his journalism journey in his Chicago-area high school. He …
A beacon for student journalism, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) is only weeks away from its 95th annual Spring Convention in New York City. What better time for Mike Taylor, CJE, to interview the organization’s executive director, Ed Sullivan? For the first episode of the Ask Mike podcast’s second season, Taylor and Sullivan discuss Sullivan’s history, CSPA, and the …