Shawnee Heights High School yearbook adviser Jeni Daley, CJE, was recently named a 2019 Rising Star by the Journalism Education Association.
With its annual Rising Star award, JEA honor advisers in their first five years of teaching who have shown dedication and success in scholastic journalism. Daley is one of 12 advisers who will be honored at the Fall JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Washington D.C, Nov. 23.
“Teaching journalism is the most fun experience I've ever had, and being named a Rising Star just continues to fuel that desire,” Daley said. “The skills that my students learn and the obstacles they have to overcome in my journalism classes can't be replicated anywhere else in the school—it's a really special thing to be part of and earning this award pushes me to bring even more to the table for my kids.”
Daley, who is in her fourth year of teaching, advises the newspaper and yearbook. Both staffs have received individual and publication awards, including the Thunderbird being selected for the “Best” division of Balfour’s Yearbook Yearbook and selected as a national sample. In collaboration with The Topeka Capital-Journal, the student newspaper, The Totem, is included in the local paper’s circulation.
In April, the Kansas Scholastic Press Association awarded Daley the 2019 Sunflower Award. Daley earned the Kansas Horizon Award in 2017 from the Kansas State Department of Education.
The 2019 Rising Stars who will be recognized in November are Makena Busch, Mead High School, Spokane, Washington; Jeni Daley, Shawnee Heights High School, Tecumseh, Kansas; Kaitlin Edgerton, Grosse Pointe South High School, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan; Erin L. Gallegos, Ronald Reagan High School, San Antonio, Texas; Samantha W. Lasarow, El Camino Real Charter High School, Woodland Hills, California; Roth A. Lovins, Columbus (Indiana) North High School; Vanessa M. Martinez, El Dorado High School, El Paso, Texas; Abrianna R. Nelson, Washington-Liberty High School, Arlington, Virginia; Bridgette E. Norris, William R. Boone High School, Orlando, Florida; Leigh A. Rogers, Hermann (Missouri) High School; Daniel Sidwell, Freedom High School, Tampa, Florida; and Angela Wolfe, Burke High School, Omaha, Nebraska.
“Her character, her determination for student success, her desire to push students to think outside the box and better their own classroom experience, her classroom management skills and her ability to connect to any and all students are all characteristics that deem her an excellent candidate for this honorable award,” said Whitney Baker, Daley’s yearbook representative.
