Thank you for everything.

These are my not-so-final thoughts on our last two weeks together.
Some silly little suggestions:

• Name tents for the presenters. It would have been less distracting if I didn't have to rustle through my syllabus every time I forgot a presenter's name.
• More "Cronkite School" stuff for purchase - the more the name is in my room, the more I will be able to talk about it. (I bought an ASU pennant to go over my desk)
• If it is possible to have laundry services available through Taylor place, that would be way cheaper than the hotel, and way more convenient than the closest laundromat.
• A contact sheet so we can all have each other's phone numbers at the very beginning - for just in case situations (like poor Lisa).
• I know this was a hectic situation this year for Anita, but I would have loved to have gotten to know her better.

This was the most valuable education! I NEEDED this. I love teaching journalism, but I was really doubting my ability to pull it off this coming year, until this institute. I now feel like, not only can I pull it off, I am going to ROCK IT! Thank you so much for that. There is so much to be said for confidence in teaching, and now I have that.

Anita, Thank you for everything you did for us. I felt like I could come to you for anything. You really added special touches to this experience that I will remember forever. Your photobomb at the game is still my favorite photo from the whole Institute! I can't wait to send kids to the SJI program, and to the Cronkite School in general! I am going to miss your smile.

Fellow fellows - Man! That was a blast! I am so glad I was able to laugh with you, struggle with you, learn with you, and during Gregory's speech, cry with you - as I am now while writing this. Even though we had all of those amazing speakers and leaders, being there with you really made it special. Although some of us will stay in touch for many years to come, I know that lives get busy and connections get lost. If that day comes, please know that each and every one of you has had an impact on me and made me a better teacher, and a better person. I will always look back on this experience with a smile and an aching heart. I will treasure your friendships always.

Alan, I am going to steal one of Steve's words, Sensei. I think we all feel that way. Thank you for being so willing to share all of your trade secrets. I know teachers help each other out, but very few are willing to sell the store to help out a newb. I will be in contact, I know I will. And I know you will respond, and that is a great feeling. At the beginning of the institute, I blogged about wanting four things: dirty hands, community, a better-educated echo, and to be a student again. You satisfied #2, #3 and #4. Thank you for making me feel connected to the journalism community. I now feel like I have a lifeline to save me when I am in the trenches. Thank you for being my better-educated echo. I loved bouncing my ideas off of you. And thank you for helping me embrace my inner-student by constantly teaching me your tricks of the trade.

Steve: As teachers, we all understand what it is like to have to get through 30+ papers in one evening, thank you for giving us the time and attention, on an individual basis, that we needed to become better writers and better educators. And boy is that just a tiny fraction of what I am thankful for.

Your diligence to keep things on time was inspirational. Somewhere, in some terribly boring faculty meeting, a teacher gave out some crazy math (sorry Cherita) about how wasting one minute of every class added up to several days of lost teaching in one year. Never once did I feel like my time was being wasted.

You provided us with an inspirational model. So many times we were leaving class talking about how great your pedagogy was. You joke about it, but you have got it NAILED. There were times, during longer-winded segments, I thought to myself, "If Steve were teaching this, we would have had at least three 2-minute drills by now!"

Blog posts are only supposed to be around 500 words or so -- see I did my homework -- so I don't want to go on forever, I already have, so I will end with this: I have 180+ students that spend at least a semester in my class every year. If I do the math right (sorry again Cherita if I am wrong) 180ish students times 35 teachers...that is around 6,300 students that you affect every year through your inspiration and devotion to the teachers in this program. You have been doing this for eight years now -- more math -- 50,400 students impacted by your generosity. It would take me 280 years to have the opportunity to see that many students, and something tells me I won't make it that long. So, thank you. Thank you from me, my students, and every student who has and will have the opportunity to be better at their craft as a direct result of what you do at the Reynolds Institute every year.
Kristen Morey
Fremont High School
Ogden, Utah

Awards video, Storify and maddening irony

Here you are giving six-words awards and certificates to each other. It's raw video, and the sound is a little hot at points.

Reynolds Institute alumnus Brian Heyman, watching the proceedings from afar, prepared this Storify of our two weeks together. I've been through it twice already. It's something to savor.

It's good to see someone channeling her "inner Steve Elliott," even if it meant inducing a spit take by noting politely that your certificates of completion have a proper noun error. You will receive new ones in the mail. Oy.

Steve Elliott
Arizona State University
Phoenix

Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?

Somehow as I was up late packing last night I totally forgot to finish up my last bloggity blog. SO good morning, Blogger!

I am sitting here in my hotel room, looking out across Phoenix and I am just very thankful to have been a part of this experience. The knowledge gained is absolutely invaluable and the infinite tips, tricks and resources are SO appreciated. They have my brain swimming right now, but I can't wait to get home and decompress and start to get organized. AND, I have a new planner waiting for me at home so it's about to get all kinds of crazy in "Organize Katie's Life" Land. :)

I think the biggest struggle will be deciding how to implement all the awesome new things I've stolen from you all so it's not a huge overwhelming dump of changes to the kids all in one year. I am working on making very detailed syllabi that will totally help keep everyone on the same page.

Thank you - SO FREAKING MUCH - to everyone who helped put all of this together.

The Reynolds Foundation for sponsoring all of us to come out here and take part in this.
Steve for running the show and making it seem effortless.
Anita for being an awesome organizer.
Alan for the comic relief, party planner, and oh yea... mentor.
ALL the wonderful speakers! Ohmygosh. They're great.
All of YOU for coming and sharing your good, bad, and ugly of your publications policies and stuff.
ASU for being such a great campus to host this in. I feel like it's Journalism Mecca. (It has to beat UT and Kent State, right? Yes.)

I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. My apologies - you rock too!!

Pretty Smart Women

I absolutely had to stalk Robin after meeting her on Thursday. She is who I would like to be someday. Before teaching, I ran a company doing small business marketing, graphic and web design. I still do on the side - holla @ One Pink Square. But we're on hiatus now because I mainly want to focus on teaching for now.

I'm sure you all know this, but being an entrepreneur is HAAARD work. The money is fluctuating, you're forced to work pretty much 24/7 to "make it happen," your way underpaid at first for your craft, you have to run the company and be the "doer" of the actual product or service - it ain't easy. But meeting people like Robin is super inspiring and although I'm totally not ever wanting the business to be a full time thing again (I love my job WAYY too much), it makes me not want to give up on it either.

In an effort to fulfill my video requirement, I filmed an awesome shot from below the cornhole box thingy of a beanbag sinking in... however, it's like 2 seconds long and doesn't constitute as anything if not put in context. My bad.

SO - - here is a video that was made about our company. I think I look ridiculous but it's pretty sweet!

I just wrote letters to my principal and to two co-workers who run the newspaper and broadcast programs. I don't know that I can give them to them in their current forms. I'm afraid my enthusiasm for their programs could be interpreted as "You aren't doing enough," or "I want your job." Any advice on how to help reinvigorate sleepy programs without offending their teachers?

We have so much going for us: motivated kids, plenty of money, a principal who is "hands-off," but the newspaper staff is down to ten students and the beautiful TV studio sits empty most of the time. The teachers say kids aren't interested, but I think a good marketing campaign could change that.

Any advice?


Kelly Gastman

In another life

Jillian and I look awfully professional, don't you think?

Back in college I wrote a story for the Associated Women's Students for the campus newspaper.  I didn't really know what I was doing so imitated what I had read in the local paper. The story ran and an editor from the Signpost called and asked if I would like to write for the paper.  I thought that was weird, laughed and said no.

I wonder what might have happened had I said yes.

I'm glad I said yes when the administration came to me in 1991 and asked if I would be interested in taking over the paper.  I'm glad I said yes when they asked me again to take over the paper last August.

I'm especially glad I said yes when I saw the email about the Reynolds Institute.  I didn't think I would actually be accepted, and like some of you, wondered if it weren't some kind of scam.

It's been an uncomfortable, challenging experience.  It's been exhilarating, humbling and edifying. It's been something I will never forget.

In another life I might have majored in journalism.  In this life I get to teach it to teenagers.  I'm so lucky.

Terry Sheffield
Roy High School
Roy, Utah

Breaking: Team workout dominates "bags" tournament

"This is one of the top ten moments of my life!" Tracy Anderson said. 

Anderson and her teammate Travis Durfee dominated all other teams in the tournament. 

"Um, we knew." Durfee said. "Let it be known that we knew." 

The tournament was hosted by the Reynolds Institute at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication on the final day of instruction.

The bracket had 11 teams, and was created by Krystin Pinckard and Annie Gorenstein. 

"I enjoyed the wholesome fun," Pinckard said. 

Annie Gorenstein

Arvada West High School

Arvada, Colorado