John Boehringer was honored as the 2022 TAJE Administrator of the Year at Fall Fiesta on Monday, Oct. 10. He was nominated by Lisa Roskens of Prosper High School, where he served as an assistant principal for seven years before moving this year to the same position at Vista Ridge High School in Leander.

A panel of judges praised Boehringer, an educator for 21 years, for his support of scholastic journalism and the First Amendment.

“We felt Mr. Boehringer has an authentic admiration for scholastic journalists shown by action as well as words,” judges said. “It was important for us to see an administrator understand that the journalism lab not only be a place of learning, but news creation — empowered by a passionate embrace of First Amendment values. Mr. Boehringer not only demonstrated this defense of freedom of the press, but his students and faculty community returned that respect in an honest and genuine way. It can be difficult for administrators to give up control in an otherwise tightly controlled environment but equally difficult to get buy-in from the students and faculty they serve.”

Roskens first nominated Boehringer in 2019, praising him for strengthening the relationship between student journalists and their advisers and administration.

“He stepped up — and stepped in — to protect the student journalists of Prosper and their rights as well as the school he loved — and he did it with the no-nonsense style and finesse that only a brilliant scholar and leader could give. He functioned flawlessly all year to defend the rights of young journalists while supporting administration,” Roskens said. “Mr. Boehringer trusted his adviser, trusted his students and trusted the district to let the journalism teams publish for their readers. In turn, the district administration trusted him to lead the department, and its leadership let him do so.”

Roskens said in the three years since her first nomination, Boehringer had done even more for the program.

“In addition to going above and beyond every word in my original letter, he did all of the following: wrote recommendation letter after recommendation letter, making certain every deserving student journalist has every opportunity to continue serving in journalism – and other fields,” Roskens said. “He came to the aid of student journalists when their adviser could not be present for them, and they had questions. He supported them more than once by representing their work with administrators and community members.”

Prosper media students voted unanimously to give Boehringer a special Award of Recognition at their Quill & Scroll Induction Ceremony this past school year, and Roskens says he will be missed.

“John Boehringer knows the law,” she said. “He knows leadership. He knows journalism, and he knows students. All year long, Mr. Boehringer let all of those components work together to keep students learning, teachers teaching, information flowing and readers/viewers growing.”