Yearbook Chat with Jim

Welcome to another exciting Adviser of Note episode of "Yearbook Chat with Jim." In this episode, Jim Jordan talks with the legendary Brit Taylor, CJE, a star of Florida scholastic journalism with 30 years of experience at Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Florida. Brit is a passionate educator, dedicated to helping high school students grow and thrive in the world of publications. Brit shares his journey from junior high involvement in publications to becoming a full-time journalism and media production teacher. We also delve into the details of Hagerty High School's yearbook program, including its size, design and sales. Brit's enthusiasm shines through as he recounts his own high school experience and his early fascination with journalism. His transition from aspiring professional journalist to an educator is inspiring and insightful, with valuable advice for first-year advisers. As Brit navigates the challenges and evolving landscape of scholastic journalism, he emphasizes the importance of building a supportive community of advisers and staying flexible to meet the changing needs of students. Discover the moments that make Brit proud of his work and witness his dedication to helping students find their talents. This podcast is filled with wisdom for advisers and educators alike, with lessons, inspiration and a deep love for the world of student publications. Join us as we celebrate Brit Taylor as the Walsworth Yearbooks Adviser of Note for October and dive into the world of scholastic journalism and yearbook advising with this icon.

In the world of yearbooks, Susan Massy is a pretty big deal. Her program at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas, is NSPA’s most-winning program of their prestigious Pacemaker awards. Susan herself has received the JEA Lifetime Achievement Award, CSPA’s Gold Key, and was the 1999 National Yearbook Adviser of the Year. The Kansas High School Press Association has even dubbed their Student Journalist of the Year award the Susan Massy Award. But Susan doesn’t really care about all those awards. As she tells Jim in the interview, “it just feels like you’re talking about somebody else. I don’t see myself as that person.” What she really cares about is building her program and helping her students live up to their potential. “I don’t necessarily care whether we win an award this year. But what I care is that they think they’ve put out a better book than last year.” And now, after 45 years in the classroom, Susan Massy is retiring. But that doesn’t mean she’s leaving the yearbook world behind. Her summer is already booked with yearbook workshops and conferences. We haven’t seen the last of her. In this episode, Susan chats with host Jim Jordan about her teaching career, scholastic journalism and what it took to build her program.

Jim McCrossen is a mild-mannered yearbook adviser at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas. Behind his gentle demeanor is a person with a wealth of interesting life experiences and a passion for making the world a better place. One way he works to improve the world around him is through his role as a teacher and scholastic journalism adviser. After working as a photojournalist in southern California during the 80s – where he covered things like the 1984 summer Olympics, President Ronald Reagan and a visit from the Pope – McCrossen moved back to his home state of Kansas to pursue a teaching degree. He’s been at Blue Valley Northwest since it opened 30 years ago, and the insights he’s gained about teaching and yearbooks are invaluable.

In this episode, Jim chats with Tucker Love, from Shawnee Mission South High School in Shawnee, Kansas. Tucker is in his fifth year of advising the Heritage yearbook, and his staff were recently named NSPA Pacemaker Award finalists.

In this episode, host Jim Jordan chats with April van Buren, from Madison East High School in Madison, Wisconsin. April was named an NSPA Pioneer in 2022, NSPA awards to journalism educators who make substantial contributions to high school journalism programs and scholastic journalism education outside their primary employment. They discuss April’s journey as an educator, how she finds success at the scholastic journalism programs she instructs, and they even sneak in a quick side conversation about roller derby.

In this episode, Jim Jordan chats with Ben Langevin, the yearbook adviser at Oviedo High School in Oviedo, Florida. Ben was recently named a JEA Rising Star and his staff published an especially noteworthy yearbook in 2022.

Welcome to the sixth season of Yearbook Chat with Jim! In this season premiere, host Jim Jordan chats with Gary Lundgren, from the National Scholastic Press Association, about the state of yearbooks and scholastic journalism.

Jason Davis has had quite the journey. He grew up in Minnesota, but now lives in Arizona. His first job was as a fry cook in his family's restaurant, then as a professional journalist, and now is a teacher. He had no yearbook experience when he started advising, but how has one of the best middle school/junior high yearbook programs in the country. In this episode, Jason chats with Jim Jordan about his life and yearbook journey. He also shares excellent advice for fellow yearbookers. And, because it's important to Jason and Jim that people feel comfortable reaching out to them, they shared their emails. jason.davis@goaj.org jim.jordan@walsworth.com

Host Jim Jordan recently discovered that seven of the JEA State Journalists of the Year winners all have yearbook in their resumes AND their schools published their books with Walsworth Yearbooks. He believes strongly that yearbook students are also true scholastic journalists – just as much as newspaper, online and broadcast – and deserve this kind of recognition. On this episode, Jim chats with three of those State Journalists of the Year. Lucy is a four-year yearbook staffer. She has written for Idea file magazine and has been on this podcast with her dad, Jon, who is her adviser. Her book from 2021 recently earned a CSPA Silver Crown. Lucy plans to attend Penn State University in the fall. Kaitlin has been a member of the Prowler yearbook staff for three years, and has also been part of online, broadcast and livestream publications as well. She plans on attending the University of Kansas in the fall. Elizabeth is the editor of the yearbook and also writes for the online newspaper and is known to take a photo or two for all the publications. She plans on attending the University of Arkansas.

Host Jim Jordan recently discovered that six of the JEA State Journalists of the Year winners all have yearbook in their resumes AND their schools published their books with Walsworth Yearbooks. He believes strongly that yearbook students are also true scholastic journalists – just as much as newspaper, online and broadcast – and deserve this kind of recognition. On this episode, Jim chats with three of those State Journalists of the Year. Annie is a four-year staffer on The Highlander Online and the Tartan yearbook. She does social media for both publications and she recently finished her yearbook with just six staffers. In the future, she wants to be a health journalist and a global health advocate. Audrey is a four-year yearbook staffer and a two-year editor-in-chief of the Ayrie yearbook. The 2021 book recently received a Silver Crown award from CSPA. She plans on majoring in journalism with a minor in religious studies at the University Of Arkansas. Asher has been a member of the Red & Black school newspaper for three and a half years and and she's been on the yearbook staff for two years. She's been published in The New York Times and USA Today. So far she's been accepted into Harvard, Northwestern and Wellesley and will be making that decision soon.

Monica Rodriguez – known to her students as M-rod – is the yearbook adviser at Gulliver Preparatory Upper School in Pinecrest, Florida. All of Monica's three staffs – the Reflections literary magazine, the Raider Voice news and and print magazine, and the Raider yearbook – received Crown and Pacemaker Finalist recognition in 2021. It's particularly exciting as this is the first time the Raider yearbook has earned Pacemaker recognition from NSPA. She took time to chat with Jim about her career as both a teacher and a yearbook sales rep, and what it means to see her students receive the recognition they worked so hard for.

When NSPA announced the three 2021 recipients of their prestigious Pioneer Award and Jim saw long-time friend Leland Mallett on the list, he knew he wanted Leland to come on the podcast again. In this episode, Jim and Leland chat about what this award means to Leland, how the yearbook world has changed over his 22-year career, and what the last two years have been like while they produced a yearbook during COVID. If you'd like to see some of the covers and spreads discussed in the episode, this year's cover, last year's cover, the shoe spread, and the giant type spread can be viewed on our website.

When JEA announced their 2021 Rising Stars and three Walsworth Yearbooks advisers were on the list, Jim Jordan knew he had to get them on his podcast. His third and final interview was with Carly Gates, from Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the previous interviews with Rising Stars Laurel Wicke and Joanna Chadwick.

When JEA announced their 2021 Rising Stars and three Walsworth Yearbooks advisers were on the list, Jim Jordan knew he had to get them on his podcast. His second interview was with Joanna Chadwick, the yearbook adviser at Derby High School in Derby, Kansas. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the previous interview with Rising Star Laurel Wicke, and stay tuned for the third and final JEA Rising Star episode.

When JEA announced their 2021 Rising Stars and three Walsworth Yearbooks advisers were on the list, Jim Jordan knew he had to get them on his podcast. His first interview was with Laurel Wicke, the yearbook adviser at Drake Middle School in Arvada, Colorado. Stay tuned this week for interviews with two more JEA Rising Stars.

Karen Johnson, MJE, always knew she wanted to be a teacher and a coach. When she started college, she realized that social studies (which often seems to go hand-in-hand with coaching) wasn't really for her. It wasn't long before she switched to English, then added a journalism minor. Since then, she's been a yearbook adviser at tiny schools and at large schools. She's working on her sixth book at Kearney High School, and has helped build a strong program at the school. In addition to this interview, you can learn more about Karen on our blog. About your host, Jim Jordan: Jim Jordan is a Special Consultant for Walsworth Yearbooks. He is former yearbook adviser at Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California. Jim was the 1996 JEA Yearbook Adviser of the Year, and shares his expertise with students and advisers at workshops and conventions across the country. Jim is the lead mentor for Walsworth's Adviser Mentor Program.

Bobby Hawthorne is a master storyteller and journalist. He's well known in the scholastic journalism world, and can frequently be found teaching at journalism workshops and seminars. In this episode, Hawthorne and your host, Jim Jordan, share what it takes to be a good journalist and tell a great story in your yearbook. You can find more episodes of Yearbook Chat with Jim on the Walsworth Yearbooks website.

Elizabeth Luna sort of happened into graphic design, then wanted more, and now she's the yearbook adviser at a school that just won its first Pacemaker. She shared their journey over the last several years, and what it's like being the adviser of a small yearbook program. You can read more about this Adviser of Note on our blog.

Here it is! The official 50th episode! And what a great person to interview. Ronna Sparks-Woodward loves yearbooks. She knew while she was still in high school that she wanted to be a teacher, and specifically that she wanted to be a yearbook adviser. She has turned her passion for a yearbooks into a career, and shares the insights she's gained on this 50th episode of "Yearbook Chat with Jim."

It's our 50th episode! Today, we're sharing a mini-episode to reflect on where this podcast has taken us since we launched in 2018. Thank you to everyone who has been on this podcast journey with Jim and the Walsworth Yearbooks Podcast Network.