Publications bring back ideas, skills from conference
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| Photo by senior Danny McGrath |
 John Tinker, one of the plaintiffs in the landmark Tinker v. Des Moines case of 1969, was the spotlight speaker at a high school journalism conference attended by members of the yearbook and newspaper staffs on Friday, Oct. 15. Tinker addressed his experiences with the First Amendment and answered student questions during his sessions at the Kettle Moraine Press Association Fall Conference, which was held at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
At age 15, Tinker was suspended for wearing a black armband to school to protest the Vietnam War. He sued and his case eventually made it to the Supreme Court, which ruled that neither "students [nor] teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."
Students also had the opportunity to hear from journalism professionals during various sessions focusing on writing, photography, design, ethics, and more. The knowledge and skills will be applied to the eight remaining issues of the Talon Times, the 2011 yearbook "Listen Up, Here's the Story," and the literary magazine Mosaic.
The Talon Times staff also learned that it received a First Class rating from KEMPA for its 2009-2010 volume. Editor Anthony Szuhay says he plans to use comments from the critique to improve the student newspaper, particularly the opinions and sports sections. The staff earned a First Class rating from the National Scholastic Press Association, too. |
