Mooresville High School
By Ada Clark
IHSPA Vice President
Mooresville High School Publications Adviser
Starting in the Spring of 2018, the Indiana High School Press Association would like to encourage Indiana high school student media programs to select students to be honored as members of our newly established Hadley Honor Roll, named after recently retired IHSPA director Diana Hadley. This honor should mirror what would typically be given to the student earning the top honor as a member of a student media staff. Ideally, it would be given to one person from each school, or one person per student media staff.
The minimum requirements for being a member of the Hadley Honor Roll involve demonstration of the four IHSPA core values: truth, courage, integrity and freedom. Advisers will have discretion to select their recipients based on other criteria as well; however, the student should have shown all four values consistently as a part of his or her career as a student journalist.
Photo by Zoie Richey, Franklin College
MOORESVILLE HISTORY
When Hadley left Mooresvile High School to work with IHSPA in 2004, she left a lasting impression on our community and in our journalism program. In the Spring of 2005, we created the Diana Hadley Award, based on the four core values of the IHSPA: truth, courage, integrity and freedom.
Since the Spring of 2005, the award has been given to the top students in our program. We typically give the honor to one student each year, and the minimum requirement is that the student must show all four core values.
Fourteen years later, as we look at our list of recipients, they are now young adults contributing positively to our society. To name a few, our list includes many adults who now work in fields such as writing, computer science, nursing, teaching, public relations, broadcast journalism, fashion design and architecture.
As we gave out our 2017 Hadley Award and I looked at our past recipients, I thought about how across the state we have former student journalists from other journalism programs out making the same kind of impression that our honorees are making – it takes a special person to simultaneously show truth, courage, integrity and freedom. Be brave with liberty. Tell the truth with tact. For a high school student, this requires an extraordinary type of person.
Therefore, as Hadley retired from her time at IHSPA, I proposed that we take the idea of our Diana Hadley Award and make it state wide. I’m pleased to say that the board welcomed the idea, and IHSPA has now created the Hadley Honor Roll.
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
As you plan for your end-of-year awards, please take into consideration a student you wish to nominate. While schools are more than welcome to use this sample rubric, we would like for schools to be able to have discretion in determining the winner. This would typically be given to one student per school or one student per publication; however, there may be a rare case where two students share the honor.
Schools that already give a “top” award may submit those winners to our Hadley Honor Roll. Schools who do not yet give an award could choose to name it the Diana Hadley Award. While there is no hard deadline for this recognition, it would be helpful to receive your nomination prior to May 18 so IHSPA can recognize your student before the end of the current school year.
WHAT IHSPA WILL DO
IHSPA will collect data using this Google form. We will request names from schools for those who are awarded the top honor and are recognized for showing all four core values. Schools may also give merit awards in individual categories as well.
IHSPA will provide certificates and congratulatory letters to the winners and notify each respective student’s superintendent, principal and local media about his or her induction.
LONG LASTING BENEFITS
As our graduates move forward, IHSPA will be able to have a direct link to some of our top graduates. In a decade, hopefully we’ll be able to show the world all their great accomplishments.
Please consider nominating students for the inaugural class of the Diana Hadley Honor Roll, and contact IHSPA Director Ryan Gunterman at rgunterman@franklincollege.edu with any questions.
MATERIALS
Hadley Honor Roll Sample Rubric
Hadley Honor Roll Nomination Form
