NSPA welcomes Crag to the Hall of Fame

In 1987, the National Scholastic Press Association established a Hall of Fame award to recognize the continuous outstanding achievement of student publications that have earned 10 All-American ratings from our publication critique service within an 11-year span. The critique is a comprehensive, written evaluation of a student publication given by professional journalists, experienced media advisers and other professionals who serve on the NSPA board of judges.

This spring, NSPA inducted three exceptional student publications into the Hall of Fame:

The Syracusan (Yearbook), Syracuse (Kansas) High School
Crag (Yearbook), Turner Ashby High School, Bridgewater, Virginia
The Broadview (Newspaper), Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, San Francisco

These publications exhibited excellence in a broad range of categories including coverage, writing, design, and more.

NSPA contacted Leslie Stevens, adviser of Hall of Fame inductee Crag Yearbook of Turner Ashby High School, for a Q&A. Stevens has been a yearbook adviser for over 10 years. When she began working at Turner Ashby in 2004, the yearbook program had only 20 students involved. Today, the program has over 115 students, with 38 members on the yearbook staff.

NSPA: Tell us a little about the yearbook program at Turner Ashby.

I teach four different levels of photojournalism. I have about 80 students in my Photojournalism 1 classes. In these classes, students learn the foundations of yearbook journalism, the rules and requirements for pages, and the expectations of what it means to be on our staff. These entry-level students aren’t staff members, but they take the first year to learn everything about the yearbook. They spend time on various theme and copy projects, experiment with photography, have fun creating original layouts, and work with interviewing and attending events.

The students who stick with it enroll in Photojournalism 2, 3, or 4 the remaining years. These are the classes that create the “staff.” This year’s staff has 38 members. Each staff member is responsible for six different deadlines and coverage for that deadline.

NSPA: What have you done to ensure the success of Crag for so many years?

I think having the entry level of Photojournalism 1 has been vital to our success. I’m able to take lots of time focusing on writing and revision, photography composition, and elements of theme and the consistency to the rest of the book. We’ve been able to focus on voice and coverage and “what would you do?” situations without the burden of a deadline or publication to get out.

These students and I have time to hone skills that will be necessary for the remaining years, and students find their strengths through the activities and projects.

When they become members of the “staff” at year two, they know all they need to know and can start work the first day. My older students in Photo 3 and 4 are sometimes mixed with the Level 2 students, and they are experts who are great mentors. It’s a well-oiled machine by the time the students get to Levels 3 and 4, and the students use me as a resource rather than a teacher because I’ve taught them all they need to know that first year.

NSPA: What have been some obstacles/challenges you and your staffs have had to overcome throughout the years?

One of the biggest challenges we’ve had to overcome was the loss of sections during budget cuts between 2010 and 2013. With fewer sections, it was harder to have more of those entry-level students, and so I didn’t have as many students to prepare for the subsequent levels. This required much more work from the older staff members, but everyone worked harder together and we were able to continue our success.

NSPA: What does being inducted into the NSPA Hall of Fame mean to you and your staff?

Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is a huge honor. It’s a culmination of years of work, and I’m both happy for and proud of my students to receive the recognition.

Not many people see the hours of thought and second-guessing and rewriting that happens in [our program], but I’ve seen it for years. It’s nice that someone else sees the hard work, dedication, and success, too.

It’s also been so nice to see staff members from previous years excited to see that the books they contributed to have led to this induction. I have several students on staff whose siblings were on the staffs of previous books, and it’s cool for them to see that they have all contributed to this award.

New Hall of Fame inductions are made twice per year and are honored at our JEA/NSPA High School Journalism Conventions. See the full list of NSPA All-American Hall of Fame inductees here. The other two spring Hall of Fame inductees will be featured in future posts.