Balfour’s Intensity Workshop is a 3-day immersion training in all things YEARBOOK. Yearbook advisers, editors and staff are welcome to attend the workshop, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 26 – Monday, Sept. 28 at the Balfour Yearbook Publishing Plant in Dallas, Texas.
Your classroom time features a lineup of award-winning advisers and Balfour experts who are in tune with industry trends and yearbook award standards. These fine folks will help you and your students polish & refine the plans for the 2016 yearbook. Intensity instructors include:
Jen Bladen has been a yearbook professional since 1998. In San Diego, California, she was adviser at a public high school, and then she was a sales rep for Taylor Publishing Company (now Balfour) for six years. In Los Angeles she was adviser to the Pacemaker Finalist and Silver Crown-winning Harvard-Westlake School’s yearbook for nearly a decade. While teaching, she earned her master’s in journalism education at the University of Missouri, Columbia. She is now a full-time yearbook consultant based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Judi Coolidge retired from teaching after 35 years at Bay High School in Ohio and has worked as part of Balfour’s education and marketing team for the past nine years. She has been developing educational resources for Balfour (Taylor) since 1986, including Balfour’s Yearbook Curriculum and the online Elements of Yearbook. The books she advised won 28 All-Americans and Gold Medals, NSPA Pacemakers, CSPA Trendsetter and Gold Crowns and a Publisher’s Industry Award. Coolidge received NSPA’s Pioneer Award, CSPA’s Gold Key and JEA National Yearbook Adviser of the Year. She is in the Great Lakes Interscholastic Press and the Scholastic Journalism halls of fame and a Martha Holden Jennings Scholar.
Kel Lemons is a newspaper and yearbook adviser at Rouse High School in Leander, Texas. She’s been teaching for 11 years and before that, was a newspaper photographer at the Waco Tribune-Herald. Her books have won Stars, Crowns and Pacemakers, but she’s more proud that she’s survived her 10th book. She loves being on the sidelines for football games, picking out new fonts, and creating killer designs. When she’s not self-absorbed in yearbook insanity, she watches Law & Order reruns, reads Entertainment Weekly cover to cover and works on endless house projects.
Leland Mallett is the newspaper, yearbook and assistant broadcast adviser at Legacy High School in Mansfield, Texas. He has advised for 14 years. In that short time, he has been recognized with the Edith Fox King Award from the Interscholastic League Press Conference, Trailblazer award from Texas Association of Journalism Educators and was named ILPC’s Max R. Haddick Teacher of the Year in Texas. Legacy’s online newspaper and yearbook have won Crowns and Pacemakers in the few years the high school has been open. He also specializes in social media. Leland loves the art of telling stories in any media. But really, he’s most proud of his three kids – of whom he’ll proudly provide a plethora of photos for your personal enjoyment.
Michael Pena is a high school photography and graphic design teacher at Deer Park ISD in Pasadena, Texas. Pena helps high school students find a passion for photography and graphic design. As an instructor and public speaker, Pena takes on the role of counselor, mentor, and most importantly being a good role model for today’s youth. After all, he was voted most friendliest for his senior class.
Kristi Rathbun has advised student media for nearly 20 years, currently at Rock Canyon High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Her students’ publications have earned state and national honors, including NSPA Pacemaker Finalist and CSPA Silver Crown awards. Rathbun is a 2014 JEA Distinguished Adviser and was awarded JEA’s Medal of Merit in 2007.
In addition to learning from nationally recognized trainers, networking with peers and refining your yearbook, attendees will be in Dallas during the opening weekend of the annual State Fair of Texas, which celebrates all things TEXAN.
You and your staff can choose to take in the sites, rides, live music and check out the world’s largest Texan, Big Tex. Enjoy deep-fried concoctions such as Holy Moly Carrot Cake Roly, Deep Fried Peaches & Cream, Chicken Fried Bacon and much more.
Attendees will stay at the conveniently-located DoubleTree by Hilton Dallas — Love Field, which is just across the street from Love Field and 10 minutes from downtown Dallas.
Balfour’s Intensity Workshop will rock your world and your staff’s world. The 3-day immersion in all-things-yearbook will help you and your staff create the yearbook of your dreams. Don’t delay. Register here.
To find out more about Balfour’s Intensity Workshop and determine if it’s suited to your staff’s needs, contact your Balfour representative.
