Three board officer positions are open for current TAJE members: secretary, treasurer and president-elect. You can read more about these positions and the candidates running for them below.
The electronic election will be held Feb. 23-27.
Good luck to all of our candidates!
What does each position do?
President-Elect: In addition to overseeing representatives and elections, this person will become president if the office of president becomes vacant. After serving a two-year term, the president-elect becomes president for two years and then past president for two. The president works closely with the executive director, and the past president is responsible for overseeing the Awards Committee.
Treasurer: Working closely with the executive director, the treasurer oversees all finances and presents financial statements to the Executive Board and then to the membership at large. The treasurer must be familiar with online Bank of America tools for account management. The treasurer will act as the TAJE agent in securing an independent bookkeeper or accountant to audit the financial records as needed. Treasurer is a two-year term.
Secretary: The secretary keeps the minutes of all meetings of the association and the Executive Board and provides minutes for previous meetings at conventions and meetings. Copies of the minutes should be delivered to the Executive Board within two weeks of meetings. Secretary is a two-year term.
President-Elect
Megan Ortiz
School: Kingwood Park High School
Advises: Yearbook, Online News, News Magazine
Years Teaching Journalism: 16 years
I am in my 16th year in education. I advise the newsmagazine, yearbook and online news site at Kingwood Park High School. My students have earned multiple staff awards over the years, including the NSPA Pacemaker, CSPA Gold Crowns and ILPC Gold Stars. Individual students I have taught have won numerous state and national awards, including NSPA Writer of the Year and NSPA Photojournalist of the Year. I graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in journalism and mass communications. I went on to cover the NFL and NBA for 10 years before going into advising. I am a 2024 Edith Fox King Award Winner (ILPC), 2024 Trailblazer Award (TAJE), JEA Rising Star (2014). In high school, I was the 1997 Iowa High School Journalist of the Year. Outside of my responsibilities at Kingwood Park, I have been the TAJE Region 9 representative for the past three years. During that time, I have held a free workshop in September for Region 9 high school and middle school students and advisers. I have also taught workshops or classes for JEA national conventions, NSPA’s Gloria Shields Workshop, ILPC and TAJE. I have done critiques and judging for JEA, NSPA, ILPC and TAJE.
Why would you like to serve on the TAJE Executive Board in this position?
In my 16 years advising journalism publications, the resources and assistance I have received through TAJE have been a major reason I love advising publications in Texas. I hope in this role, I can work with veteran and new advisers to navigate what is often a super challenging job.
Part of the reason I would like to take on this role is to continue to guide this organization in a positive direction that allows it to help and reach more advisers and students across the state. I think the isolation of journalism teachers on campuses and in small towns is challenging, and this organization is key to helping retain and advise teachers who take on this adventure year after year.
I think a key part of moving forward and finding a way to grow is to continue fostering a relationship between TAJE and the professional media outlets still doing what they can, despite the difficult climate surrounding journalism in our country. Creating and fostering relationships with journalists and publications will help strengthen the state convention and possibly increase opportunities for regional workshops. With my past experience at the Houston Chronicle and the Region 9 workshop I have hosted the last three years, I would work on this initiative to hopefully expand regional workshop opportunities. I want to make a state convention-like experience possible even for schools without the money/opportunity to travel far.
On the board, I would also like to foster stronger relationships with the students in the programs across the state. We have some tremendous young leaders who are using their voices for good and could be great in improving and expanding what TAJE currently offers for students. I think New Voices Texas does a great job utilizing young people interested in becoming involved at the state level. Quill & Scroll also does a really good job with its Student Advisory Board at the national level. I would like to help TAJE recruit young leaders to add ideas and to reach out to more schools. Creating more leadership opportunities for them in their area, as well as at state or regional workshops, will only grow and expand TAJE’s reach.
Karla Romero Paramo
School: Melissa High School
Advises: Newspaper, Yearbook, Broadcast, Online News
Years Teaching Journalism: 6 years
Karla brings six years of experience advising journalism publications and a passion for helping colleagues succeed. She is certified in Journalism 7-12 and is actively seeking a CTE Tech Apps certificate as well. Karla has led workshops, collaborated with regional journalism organizations and supported students in achieving excellence, most recently earning 75+ individual awards for those students. She has now worked in three different districts and understands how demographics, local limitations and community expectations affect an adviser’s job. It is her goal to allow these experiences to help the members of TAJE succeed in their professional goals.
Why would you like to serve on the TAJE Executive Board in this position?
I’m running for President-Elect because I believe TAJE plays a vital role in strengthening journalism education in Texas. As a journalism adviser, I’ve seen how powerful strong community, support and advocacy can be — and I want to help amplify that for all members. My vision for TAJE is to make our organization more inclusive, relevant, and proactive for all journalism educators in Texas. I want to:
- Increase membership through partner efforts with districts & administrators.
- Expand member support specifying region rep. responsibilities and expectations.
- Help reps. enhance professional development options throughout the year.
- Strengthen our advocacy efforts for scholastic press rights.
- Collaborate with regional reps to ensure all our members’ voices are heard.
Secretary
Trisa Dyer
School: Denison High School
Advises: Newspaper, Yearbook, Photography
Years Teaching Journalism: 13 years
I have been teaching for 26 years, 13 of those in the journalism world. I enjoy so much watching my kids grow in their creative pursuits. So many of the kids I teach find they have a new way of expressing themselves through journalism. I am currently a CJE educator and do my best to be sure I share with my students the information I learn while attending workshops and conferences. Not only do I grow from those experiences, the kids see me return with a renewed excitement and passion which become contagious. I have attended ATPI summer workshops since 2020, we traveled to Seattle last year for NSPA/JEA convention, we attend ATPI winter workshops (this coming workshop will be year three) and we are planning on attending NSPA/JEA convention in Minnesota in April. My photography students and my yearbook students have become more active in contests and we have had several students place or received honorable mention awards. We have entered our yearbook for judging in the NSPA contest and have won First Class recognition the last four years.
Why would you like to serve on the TAJE Executive Board in this position?
I am running for TAJE secretary to be able to keep all board members and adviser members up-to-date on the events and information TAJE does to keep high school journalism working and thriving. I believe it’s important that everyone stay aware of the business and the learning (i.e. fun) side of journalism. Note taking has always been something I feel I do well and I am very thorough in what I send out to my staffs and teachers when we have an event or request. I believe the more aware people are, the more involved they will be. Taking pride in what TAJE does for students and advisers is what I want to share. I want to reach all members and possibly peak the interest of those who are not active with notes and information that makes them want to be part of TAJE and get involved. A strong organization is one with active, interested members.
Shelby Nickells
School: Rouse High School
Advises: Newspaper, Yearbook, Online News
Years Teaching Journalism: 6 years
Shelby Nickells has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and has advised the yearbook, online and print newspaper at Rouse H.S., in Leander, TX for six years. She earned the JEA Rising Star Award in 2024 and the TAJE Pathfinder Award in 2025. Replay yearbook earned ILPC Bronze Stars in 2023 and 2024 and was nominated in 2025 for an NSPA Pacemaker, CSPA Crown and ILPC Star. Her program has doubled in size, with over half her staff pursuing journalism careers.
Why would you like to serve on the TAJE Executive Board in this position?
I would like to bring a younger perspective and to serve students and advisers in a greater capacity than just being a teacher. I want to be part of the Texas scholastic journalism process because I have a deep passion for journalism. My program inspires and encourages my students to pursue their passions through journalism and creativity, and I hope to bring that same energy to the TAJE board. I also want to bring in more schools and to build a stronger network. Many advisers struggle on their own without the knowledge of this organization. We need to create a system to get to those schools and help connect smaller programs.
Mike Tobias
School: Port Neches-Groves High School
Advises: Newspaper, Yearbook, Broadcast, Online News, Social Media
Years Teaching Journalism: 8 years
Mike Tobias is the NDN Press advisor, the high school student media program and also the district communications director for Port Neches-Groves ISD. Tobias advises staffs of students in CTE classes, such as Commercial Photography, Graphic Design and Digital Design & Media. Ultimately, they’re charged with creating yearbook, newspaper (online and print), social media content and two weekly sports shows. Now in his eighth year of teaching, he came to PNG after 16 years of professional journalism experience, working in varying newsroom roles — most recently as the sports editor of The Beaumont Enterprise. As an active member of TAJE, ATPI and UIL/ILPC, Tobias’ classes have garnered several First place awards in photography and journalism, including Best of the Best, Tops In Texas and have had two photographers recently appointed to the ATPI Imagemaker teams. He has also taught and helped with sessions at the ILPC summer workshops, TAJE’s Fall Fiesta and ATPI winter workshops. Serving as the Region 8 TAJE representative for two terms, Secretary will be the first TAJE board position he has run for.
Why would you like to serve on the TAJE Executive Board in this position?
I would very much like to serve as a Board member for the TAJE. This program has become very dear to my heart, as all of the members and representatives I’ve met have become more than mere acquaintances … it’s like family that we get to see across the state at multiple get-togethers in mini reunions.
From the first Fall Fiesta I attended I was hooked. I had the opportunity to bring my niece and student in the first group I ever brought. All the way home Morgan told me “you have to bring more students back. This was so much fun.”
Unfortunately, days later she passed unexpected from heart complications … and all I could think was that she had such an amazing last week, together with friends. She was still on a buzz from the time in San Antonio the last time we spoke.
Since then, it’s been an honor just to play a small role in such a large, meaningful organization. Each year, it seems the group I bring is larger and larger. They come back and get the next crew excited to go.
Each year, I look at Fall Fiesta as a right of passage in my organization. It helps feed the growth of our student media. It gives students something to look forward to, just to get the invitation for the trip.
I love bringing that joy of this craft to my students. I would cherish the opportunity to grow in my TAJE role, to serve the students and teachers that come through in any way possible.
I know Morgan would be proud. My daughter Addison, who’s come with me several times so far, believes so, too.
Joanie Gill
School: Klein Oak High School
Advises: Newspaper, Yearbook, Broadcast, Online News, News Magazine, Senior Wills
Years Teaching Journalism: 23 years
Hi Y’all! My name is Joanie Gill and I teach at Klein Oak High School. I have also worked at Tomball High School and Klein High School. I graduated from Sam Houston with a Bachelor of Science in Teaching (Journalism and English). Through college, I worked selling business ads for the school newspaper and yearbook and I did singing telegrams (I’m not a singer so this is still baffling to me.) Besides teaching, I volunteer as a scholarship pageant judge coordinator every summer. In addition, I freelance by creating advertising pages and program books for large organizations. I have two grown children who were involved in journalism in high school. One is now a college swim coach and recruiter in Indiana and the other is working in the Houston Medical Center. Through her involvement with Houston Meals on Wheels and The Houston Food Bank, I have become involved with them as well. I have two rescue dogs, Javier and Pookie, who are my besties.
I started teaching in 1990, so you can only imagine how much change I’ve seen in the industry and in the classroom. From yearbook quadpaks and newspaper dummy pages to completely paperless prep work and publications, the industry has evolved rapidly. I have been fortunate to bend with it while learning to keep up and to afford the equipment needed.
Like most journalism teachers, my day is full and eventful. I teach Journalism 1, Photojournalism, Yearbook I,II,II, Newspaper I,II,II, Broadcast I,II,III (this is new for me), Independent Study of Journalism I,II,III, and Credit Recovery. I am the UIL Coach for journalism events but I’m also the UIL Spelling Coach. My school has an active Quill & Scroll chapter as well. I take pride in being an involved teacher and we enter as many contests as possible by belonging to several state and national organizations. I usually have a large group of kids who attend camps and conventions on a regular basis as well because I believe the more exposure kids get to outside sources, the more they can see that they have the ability to reach any standard they seek and they can also explore the dozens of future career options available to them.
Over all of the years, so many of my publications and students have won awards and received recognitions for their work in the classroom. I have several who have gone on to have successful careers in the industry as photographers, broadcast news editors, reporters, copy editors, authors, marketing executives, and more. But, I think the biggest win of my teaching career is that many students over the years come back to thank me for teaching them writing mechanics they weren’t getting elsewhere while helping them find their voice, or by trusting them to see the world through a lens. Ultimately, I hope that they all found my classroom to be a place where they felt safe learning something that helped them grow in their organizational skills as well as people skills to prepare for adulthood. I also hope they felt that some of the failures or stress they experienced through deadlines has developed them into mature, confident members of society.
Why would you like to serve on the TAJE Executive Board in this position?
I am excited to be considered to serve on the TAJE Executive Board because I bring 28 years of teaching experience to the table with 23 of those as an adviser. So y’all, I’ve seen it all. I plan to utilize my knowledge in any way needed for the group. Throughout the years, I have enjoyed attending conventions as an adviser with and without students, as a speaker, and as a judge. I hope to contribute to the board by keeping the high standards set by the current board as we continue their work running successful educational growth for students and teachers and by keeping accurate records to stay in compliance.
I also feel a huge need to address the ever changing graduation requirements set by the state of Texas that seems to be pushing out electives like journalism courses. Students aren’t afforded much wiggle room in their graduation plan to try new things — they are being railroaded into choosing an educational pathway as a freshman. I think we as a board and collective body should address this at the next level by making sure all junior highs/middle schools across the state offer intro courses like Journalism 1 or Photojournalism similar to other electives like band, choir, athletics, art, etc. By doing so, students would be exposed to our pathways before creating their graduation plan for high school.
As a public high school journalism teacher in a society in which most professional journalists are under attack on both sides of the political aisle, I have found, like many of you, that the investment in unbiased reporting is a must. I also feel the pressures of quick news and glaring headlines on social media platforms as I navigate true reporting in the classroom. I believe it is important now, more than ever, to teach future journalists to research fully and think independently and critically which will hopefully educate not only their peers, but the administration. Hopefully, as a board member for TAJE, I will be innovative and inspirational to future journalists through my involvement with conventions and workshops.
Treasurer
Margaret Edmonson
School: Retired (Smithson Valley High School)
Advises: Newspaper, Yearbook, Broadcast, Online News
Years Teaching Journalism: 24 years
I am a retired educator with 24 years of experience in scholastic journalism and 13 years as a reporter and editor for two daily community newspapers. During my tenure at Smithson Valley High School, I advised nationally recognized, award-winning yearbook and newspaper programs (NSPA All-American, ILPC Star Awards). I am a recipient of the Edith Fox King Award for my leadership in journalism education.
Why would you like to serve on the TAJE Executive Board in this position?
For five years, I have worked closely with the executive director and board to support journalism educators with support, training, resources and mentorship. That work has included monitoring of the association’s income and expenses to assist in budget and event planning as well as production of the Fall Fiesta convention in San Antonio. My goals include finding ways to increase support for scholastic journalism and its teachers as funding and priorities change in public schools.