The official site of Texas Association of Journalism Educators

TAJE

The official site of Texas Association of Journalism Educators

TAJE

The official site of Texas Association of Journalism Educators

TAJE

Board Members

President: Kari Riemer
President-Elect: Michael Reeves
Past President: Alyssa Boehringer
Secretary: Stephen Green
Treasurer: Margaret Edmonson
State Director: Lisa Roskens

Contest Director: Andrea Negri
Convention Director: Alison Strelitz
Webmaster: Mauri Sparks

Education Chair: Laura Negri
Legislative and Policy Chair: David Doerr

ILPC Liaison: Alyssa Boehringer
ATPI Liaison: Mark Murray

Executive Director: Cindy Todd

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Links

    Press Women of Texas HS Contest

    The 2018 Press Women of Texas Call for HS Communications Contest Entries

    Today we are launching the Press Women of Texas High School Communications Contest. Here are some notes and tips to ensure a good contest for you and for the students who enter the competition this year.

     

    Contest Deadline:  11:59 p.m. (in your time zone), Tuesday, February 20, 2018

     

    Contest Categories:

    The categories remain the same as last year. In order to help you and the students place each entry in the right category, the category descriptors are divided into three groups (Note: 14. Environment may be print, online, or electronic):

    • News Categories – print or online (1 – 14) consist of written or visual information that appears in print or online publications.
    • Electronic Media Categories (14 – 20) are for work produced for airing on radio, television, or via the Web.
    • Yearbook Categories (21 – 23) are for all work published in a yearbook.

     

    Student Entries:

    FYI, the contest rules state: Students are welcome to enter as many categories as they wish, but they should look for the categories that best fit their work. Note: a specific work sample by any one student may not be entered in more than one category that uses the same general judging criteria. A feature story, for example, may not be entered in another writing category, but if the author of the feature story created a layout that contained the story, an entry by that student, or by any other student, in single-page layout or double-truck layout would be legitimate.

    Each Texas student may enter only one entry in each category, but they may enter as many categories as they are eligible to enter. If more than one student is responsible for an entry, that particular group of students may enter only one entry in that category.

    Entries in the NFPW High School Communications Contests as well as the NFPW National Contest are judged online by communications professionals in their fields of expertise. They are asked to provide constructive comments on the work they judge and to give a merit rank of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place and honorable mention. NO TIES are allowed for first place. Ties for second or third places or honorable mentions will be awarded at the discretion of the judge for that particular category.

    As always, entries that receive a first-place award in the Press Women of Texas contest are eligible for entry in the NFPW National HS Communications Contest.

     

    Eligibility: 

    • All 2018 national, affiliate, and at-large contest entries must have been published, e-published, broadcast, or issued between February 1, 2017, and January 31, 2018.
    • Entries broadcast on a school radio or television station or on a commercial station or published in a high school or community newspaper, printed and/or electronic (online) are eligible. Entries published in a 2017 yearbook are eligible for submission in a yearbook category.
    • Entries must be the work of students enrolled in grades 9–12 during the current school year or of high school graduates who published work in the last semester of their senior year, from February 1, 2017, through spring 2017 graduation.

     

    Entry Fees:

    • The entry fee for the Press Women of Texas contest is $5 per entry. Please keep track of the number of entries made by your students. If you are entering through the electronic contest, the contest software will keep track of the entries for you.
    • The entry fee for the NFPW National contest remains at $10 per entry. The Texas affiliate will pay this fee.

     

    Payment:

    All payments for entries in the High School contest must be made by check.

    You will be the one who determines how payments are to be made in your school. Once you have collected the fees, please make a check payable to Press Women of Texas for $5 x the number of entries, and mail it to: Kathie Magers, 1508 Riverside Drive, West Tawakoni, Texas, 75474.

     

    High School Contest Links:

    1. Link to the contest through the NFPW Website.

    All high school contest information is on the NFPW website

    1. Link to the NFPW website (go to www.NFPW.org, click on Competitions, then click NFPW High School Communications Contest).
    2. Link directly to the NFPW High School Communications Contest webpage: http://nfpw.org/highSchoolContest.php

    Once on the HS webpage, clicking either the large purple box on the left at the top of the webpage or the link in the Entry Forms section will take you or your students directly into the electronic contest.

    OR

    1. Link directly to the electronic contest.
      You also will find complete information about the contest on the electronic site through either of these links:

     

    Link to the NFPW High School Communications Contest

    https://enter.omnisam.com/menu-home.aspx?comp_id=CA09F396-1AF4-4868-8351-D4D8FB536150

    Steps for entering the 2018 Electronic Contest:

     

    BEFORE you begin, PLEASE READ THE DIRECTIONS below. If you follow them step by step, you should sail through the entry process.

     

    HERE IS THE PLAN WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO FOLLOW.

    The high school ADVISER will follow through on 1 – 8:

    1. Login to the contest through a blue link from #1 or #2 in the High School Contest Links section immediately above.
    2. Start by reading the information on the Home and Rules pages.
    3. Then, click the purple REGISTER button in the top right corner of the contest site.
    4. Enter your email address in the box that appears on the screen and click SUBMIT.
    1. Fill out the ADVISER Contact Information Form you will get when the email address is entered. Choice of state affiliate name (or At-Large if you are in a state not holding a contest this year) will put you into the correct contest.
    1. Create a simple username and password at the end of that form (they can be identical); they will be used every time you or one of your students returns to the contest site to finish the entry process or to submit work. This plan will keep the work of all students at your school under your name. Students are NOT to access the contest other than with the username and password created by the adviser.
    2. Go to the View/Edit Entries & Pay tab in the navigation bar as soon as the first entry has been put into the contest. Click the check box that says Pay Offline. That will a) set up that page to serve as a record of all student entries and fees, and b) will enable the contest system to see all entries listed there as paid once all work has been submitted. When submitted, an entry officially will be entered in the contest and will be sent along for judging.
    3. Return to the View/Edit Entries & Pay page anytime you wish to see the current contest entries and fee totals.

    The ADVISER or the STUDENTS (if they are allowed access to the contest site) will do 9 – 12:

    1. To begin: access the contest, enter the username and password set by the adviser, and choose ADD ENTRY from the navigation bar to get a STUDENT ENTRY Form. Read all instructions on that page.
    1. The adviser or the student will type in the title of the entry and choose the category from the dropdown box. When the Student Contact Information section appears immediately below the entry title and category fields, type in the student’s name and contact information and SAVE. That will create an individual record for that entry. The entry will be ascribed to that student but with the adviser name and contact information as part of the record as well. Note: the Entry ID number for that entry only as well at the title of the entry and the category number may be seen just above the Entry tab of the Student Entry Form.
    2. Submit the student work samples. Note: whoever fills out the form must supply the required (starred) information on each of these 4 tabs: Entry, Co-entrant, Information, Uploads. If the student has other entries, again choose ADD ENTRY from the navigation bar for each one and follow these same directions.
    3. Go to the VIEW/EDIT ENTRIES & PAY tab
    1. To check on the status of all entries: If you see any marked Incomplete in the Status column, click “Incomplete” to get a list of “requirements not met.” Click the requirements shown and enter missing information.
    2. To revisit an entry if any changes need to be made: Click the entry title to access the entry form for that entry.
    3. To see the total of student entry fees.
    4. When entries show as Completed in the Status column. Click the SUBMIT button to the right for each entry. When an entry has been submitted, it is “official” and will be sent along for judging when that phase of the contest begins. Note: Once entries are submitted, they no longer can be changed, so be sure to check them over carefully before clicking SUBMIT.

    The ADVISER will finish up with 13 – 15:

    1. Take charge of the payment process. Because all entries by the students at your school ultimately will be under your name, ALL entries will show up on the VIEW/EDIT ENTRIES & PAY tab. That way, the fees for all entries from your school will be totaled together. Because of this feature, the students are not to do anything about payment through the contest site. That function is for advisers only.
    2. It is up to each school and HS adviser to determine who is to pay for the entries – the students or the school.
    3. When all entries have been “submitted,” send a check for the total of the entry fees to: Kathie Magers, 1508 Riverside Drive, West Tawakoni, Texas 75474.

    Contest Help:

    As always, help is readily available should you need it. You may call or send email to me, to the National High School Contest director, or to our electronic contest expert, Katherine Ward

    My contact information:         pmagers@verizon.net or 903-447-0047.

    Katherine’s contact info:        DelawarePress@aol.com OR 302-655-2175

    Elizabeth’s contact info:         wayfarer2@att.net or 317-849-5514

    We ask two things:

    1. Each and every time you leave a phone message or send an email request to one of us, please take a moment to include four things that will save us a lot of time: a) your name (first and last), b) your affiliate, c) your contact information, and d) in brief, the questions, comments, or concerns you wish to convey. We work with a great number of people in operating the NFPW communications contests, and it is difficult to respond when we are not certain who has left a message or how we are to get back in touch without doing a lot of extra work to find out or to reply. This act of kindness will be greatly appreciated.
    2. If you are having problems, please do NOT call OMNI (the software company that provides the electronic contest template to us) if you are having problems. First, they will not work with anyone other than the NFPW personnel with whom they have the contest contract, and, second, they will be distracted from their work in trying to help you get in touch with one of us.

    We also have attached “Steps for Easy Entry into the 2018 NFPW HS Communications Contest,” a one-page summary of the above, which you can print and keep on hand for quick reference when submitting entries into the contest.

    Thank you for participating in the 2018 Press Women of Texas High School Communications Contest.

    Best wishes and good luck to one and all!

    KATHIE MAGERS

    pmagers@verizon.net or 903-447-0047