Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Nancy Hastings is a retired adviser of the Paragon yearbook and Crier newspaper at Munster High School in Munster, IN, where she she advised both for 38 years. Her publications have earned numerous honors including Gold and Silver Crowns, NSPA Pacemakers, Quill and Scroll Gallups, and Indiana High School Press Association Hoosier Stars. The former 1997 National Yearbook Adviser of the Year, she has received an NSPA Pioneer Award, CSPA Gold Key, the Ella Sengenberger Indiana Journalism Teacher of the Year, and JEA Lifetime Achievement Award. Currently serving as Indiana’s JEA State Director, she has been inducted into Ball State University’s Journalism Hall of Fame.

Bobby Hawthorne is a writer and writing instructor. He is the author of The Radical Write, a textbook on reporting and writing for student publications. For 20 years, he directed the Texas Interscholastic League Press Conference, one of the nation's largest scholastic press associations. In 2005, he retired from the University Interscholastic League where he served as director of academics. In 2007, he received Carl Towley Award from the Journalism Education Association, its highest honor, and the Charles R. O’Malley Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, based at Columbia University in New York City. Hawthorne is also the author of Longhorn Football: An Illustrated History, published in 2007 by the University of Texas Press. In 2009, he wrote, designed and edited a 240-page illustrated history of the UIL as part of the League’s 100th anniversary celebration. In 2010, he wrote the text for a landscape photo book, Home Field, published by UT Press.

Sean Kelly is an award-winning visual journalist and illustrator whose work appears in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone and Businessweek, among other publications. His visual commentaries are published on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. Kelly teaches a seminar on creative thinking which helps journalists develop ideas and be more innovative. He is a speaker at Columbia Scholastic Press Association and College Media Advisors, and a judge for the Gold Circle awards at CSPA. Corporate clients include American Express, Viacom, IBM and The Smithsonian Institution. Kelly’s work has been exhibited by The Society of Illustrators and featured on the CBS News program Face The Nation. The National Cartoonists Society named him Best Newspaper Illustrator in 2007. Kelly graduated from Brown University and studied at Rhode Island School of Design.

Mark Murray is coordinator of technology systems for Arlington Independent School District in Arlington, Texas. He also serves as the executive director of the Association of Texas Photography Instructors and the consultant for the Photo Imaging Education Association. He is a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops around the country, including the JEA/NSPA conferences, Carolina Journalism Institute and Dallas County Publication Workshop. During his tenure as photography instructor at Lamar High School in Arlington, he was one of the advisers to élan, Lamar's literary/art magazine, a Pacemaker and Silver Crown winner. He received the Gold Key from CSPA in 2004.

Cheryl Pell is a former high school English and journalism teacher and is currently a faculty member at the Michigan State University School of Journalism in East Lansing, Mich. She has been the executive director of Michigan Interscholastic Press Association since 1987. Pell teaches publication design at MSU and is co-adviser of the MSU Society for News Design student affiliate. She directs courses for publication advisers at MSU and teaches a study abroad course in visual communication in Spain every spring. Pell is a field instructor and adviser for journalism education students. Pell has received the JEA Medal of Merit award, the CSPA James F. Paschal award, the NSPA Pioneer Award, the AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Division Educator of the Year award and the MIPA John V. Field award. In 2007 she was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.

Jessica Rodriguez is a multi-media journalist and editor with magazine roots that show. As an undergraduate at Cornell University, where she received a BA in English in 1999, she wrote for and edited various student publications. Her professional career began 11 years ago as an assistant at Teen People magazine. In 2000, Jessica blended her love for writing and culture as the Features Editor of Urban Latino, a national publication for young U.S. Latinos. In 2004, Jessica received a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and continued combining her passion for culture and journalism in the digital realm. She would serve as editor and site producer of MiGente.com, a social networking site for U.S. Latinos, and then Digital Content Manager of several community websites for Si TV,  a U.S. Latino cable network. She returned to print in 2007 as editor-in-chief of Batanga Latin Music magazine and oversaw Latino University magazine as its editorial director.  Most recently, Jessica co-founded and launched ‘LLERO.net, a Latino men’s newsletter and website. Jessica has shared her journalistic experiences with students as an adjunct journalism professor at Adelphi University and been a judge for the National Association of Alternative Weeklies press competition.

C. Randy Stano is professor of practice in visual journalism and journalism in the School of Communications and editorial adviser for the Ibis yearbook at the University of Miami. He is the former director of editorial art and design for The Miami Herald and the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, NY. Stano was assistant art director at the Kansas City Times and part of its Pulitzer Prize-winning team in 1982 and the Herald’s in 1993. A former president of the Society of News Design, Stano also chaired the southeast region, contest and quick course committees for SND. While teaching at A.N. McCallum High School in Austin, TX during the 1970’s, Stano was the school’s publications adviser and the DJNF National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year in 1974. Stano has received numerous awards for art/design directing from SND, National Headliners Club, Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, Print and many other design contests. He works as a consultant and judge for numerous art/design competitions. Stano received the CSPA Gold Key in 1980.

C. Bruce Watterson, chair of CSPAA’s Committee on Judging Standards and Practices, retired as chief communications officer at the Darlington School, Rome, GA and returned to the college-level as a writing and journalism professor half-time and as a freelance communications consultant. He also teaches courses in journalism/communication on the college level and lectures to press groups and publication workshops annually. A past finalist for Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Teacher of the Year, he holds the CSPA Gold Key, the NSPA Pioneer Award, the JEA Medal of Merit, the Southern Interscholastic Press Association’s Distinguished Adviser Award and the Kay Phillip’s Service Award from North Carolina Scholastic Media Association. Watterson has been honored by College Media Advisers for his work with the collegiate press nationally. He has been a national officer for CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education). He has spoken on frequently to press groups in 46 states and internationally as part of the Center for Independent Journalism Foundation.

Randy Yeip is a graphics editor at The Wall Street Journal. He coordinates graphics coverage for the U.S. News section and has directed the Journal's election graphics since 2006. Prior to that, he was a designer and graphic artist at The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. Yeip  holds a bachelor's and master's degree in journalism from Michigan State University, and was a staff member of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association summer workshop for 11 years. He has participated in critiques and judging for CSPA, MIPA, National Scholastic Press Association and Pennsylvania Scholastic Press Association.

Kathleen D. Zwiebel was the 1998 Dow Jones Newspaper Fund National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year. She is the former adviser for five publications at Pottsville Area High School in Pottsville, PA. In the past the publications have received national and state honors from CSPA, NSPA and PSPA. A 1996 CSPA Gold Key recipient, Zwiebel also received the CSPA Diamond Jubilee Award, Charles R. O’Malley Award for Excellence in Teaching, NSPA Pioneer Award, JEA Medal of Merit and PSPA Teacher of the Year. She serves as past president of the Columbia Scholastic Press Advisers Association and chairs its committee on Judging Standards.