Four individuals who have made significant contributions to scholastic journalism will be honored as Friends of Scholastic Journalism this fall. They will be formally recognized during the Fall JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention.
The award recipients are Lara Bergen, CJE, and Press Pass NYC; Jackie Majerus-Collins; Dan Mueller, CJE; and the North Carolina Press Foundation.
Lara Bergen, CJE, is the director of Press Pass NYC, a nonprofit she founded in the fall of 2021 to help public schools in New York City — most of which have no journalism programs — start and sustain student publications. Since 2022, Press Pass NYC has provided journalism training and support for teachers and students, helping to start 22 student publications, with 12 more in development for the 2024-25 school year.
Retired California adviser Ellen Austin, MJE, presented sessions for a PPNYC-led professional development day for last year’s PPNYC teacher cohort.
“I am impressed with what I’m seeing happen at PPNYC,” Austin said. “She’s personally just a great cheerleader for scholastic journalism and why it matters, and PPNYC is providing the kind of tangible, fundamental support that is creating the kind of growth in schools that our organizations speak of as necessary and vital for the future of scholastic journalism — and it’s happening in a city which has all too often been a desert for teachers and students trying to build programs.”
New York JEA State Director Katina Paron, MJE, has worked with teen journalists and their advisers in New York City for 30 years.
“I can tell you that the growth of programs that Lara has instigated is unheard of in a city that is notorious for red tape,” Paron said. “Every teacher I talk to that is part of Press Pass NYC credits Lara and the work she’s done as the main reason why their program got off the ground.”
Jackie Majerus-Collins, Youth Journalism International co-founder, guides student reporters, artists and photographers as they tackle serious societal issues such as teen suicide, school violence, politics, war and terrorism through gripping news writing, gut-wrenching personal commentary and artwork. She also works with students writing about popular culture, entertainment and everyday teenage life.
She’s worked with hundreds, maybe thousands, of students one-on-one and in groups as the nonprofit she shepherded grew. She’s organized major conferences in Istanbul, Prague and Mexico City that brought active students together, including many who could never have paid their way without YJI’s support.
“She started as one of them,” retired Missouri adviser Mitch Eden said. “Frustrated by a meddling high school administration, she quit her position as editor of the Cedar Falls High School newspaper and started her own underground paper. She managed to publish it regularly throughout her senior year under the moniker ‘Sweet Jane.’ In other words, she gets it.”
Her husband and YJI co-founder Steve Collins said Majerus-Collins helps young adults get into college, aids them in finding jobs and is a ready listener to their sorrows and joys long into their adulthood.
“She champions every kid who makes any effort — and she never gives up on them,” Collins said. “That she does all this while encouraging real journalism in some of the hardest places on Earth — Syria, Myanmar, Iran, Russia and on and on and on — always astounds me. She keeps kids safe but she also empowers them to use their voice and to pursue their dreams.”
Dan Mueller, CJE, is a former yearbook and newspaper editor and has worked as a yearbook representative for Varsity Yearbook, formerly Herff Jones, in Missouri since 2004.
JEA Vice President Justin Daigle, MJE, said Mueller is one of the most respected representatives in the Varsity brand.
“Not only was he recently inducted into the Varsity Hall of Fame, but he is constantly asked by the company to record instructional and promotional videos for classrooms, write blogs, and create curriculum,” Daigle said. “He travels to other Varsity workshops to lead classes and work with other schools to help them create the best yearbooks of journalism.”
Retired Missouri adviser Nancy Smith, MJE, said that Mueller’s influence and contribution goes far beyond St. Louis and Varsity Yearbook. He presents sessions at National High School Journalism Conventions and serves as a lead judge for the National Student Media Contests.
“I have seen him huddled in the lobby of a hotel at conventions working with students who are
not his customers or even prospective customers,” Smith said. “Why? Because they attended his session and asked him for advice, and he made time to meet with them.”
Clayton (Missouri) High School adviser Debra Klevens, CJE, said Mueller is more than a sales rep — he’s an educator.
“Dan challenges each young journalist to think beyond the page, pushing them to tell even more impactful stories,” Klevens said. “In this way, he truly empowers student growth. His ability to forge relationships with students is phenomenal. He remembers their names and follows up when they ask for advice.”
The North Carolina Press Foundation is an offshoot of the North Carolina Press Association, which supports professional journalists in the state. NCPF awards four scholarships and four stipends to the journalism programs of the winners each year in the North Carolina High School Journalist of the Year competition. The NCPF is led by executive director Philip Lucey, with funds provided in memory of longtime publisher Rachel Rivers-Coffey.
North Carolina adviser Steve Hanf said North Carolina is able to maintain its strong Journalist of the Year program thanks directly to the support of the NC Press Foundation.
“Awards are nice, but when more than $7,000 is up for grabs, it encourages robust competition,” Hanf said. “I can think of no other professional organization in the state that does more for North Carolina’s young journalists and their programs.”
Several former North Carolina student Journalist of the Year winners and runners-up wrote testimonials of how the NCPF impacted them. One of them was Mary Pat Thompson, 2017 North Carolina High School Journalist of the Year, who is currently an associate producer for ABC News.
“I can hardly put into words how meaningful it was to win North Carolina Journalist of the Year when I was in high school,” Thompson said. “The NC Press Foundation made me feel so seen at such a pivotal time in my life. The award, and its accompanying scholarship, was not only helpful financially, but emotionally — it gave me confidence I carry with me today in my career as a journalist.”
Founded in 1924, JEA supports free and responsible scholastic journalism by providing resources and educational opportunities, promoting professionalism, encouraging and rewarding student excellence and teacher achievement, and an atmosphere which encompasses diversity yet builds unity. It is headquartered at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.