I was in my 10th year of teaching when I finally moved forward on a thought I had for years. I needed some help managing the many tasks of being a publication adviser, and I wanted an organized parent group. If the athletic teams, the band — even the school’s sports medicine group and mariachi band — had boosters, so should the journalism programs.

Motivated by events at the National High School Journalism Convention, I gathered a group of parents in December 2006 to lay a foundation for a journalism booster blub. “J-Boosters” was born.

I was surprised by the enthusiasm and interest. The parents had been waiting to be asked. They wanted to be involved with the activities in which their children participated. In retrospect, I can’t believe I waited so long to launch the parent group. It remains one of the best things I was involved with at Wenatchee High School.

RATIONALE

Here’s what I wrote in a letter in January 2007 to parents of students on the yearbook or newspaper staffs:

A national survey sponsored by the Knight Foundation and released two years ago showed nearly three-fourths of high school students don’t know how they feel about the First Amendment or take it for granted. Support among teens for freedoms in the First Amendment is less than among adults. Students lack knowledge about basic freedom of expression, and some students even think the First Amendment goes too far in the freedoms it guarantees. But, students who participate in journalism classes are more likely to appreciate these freedoms, and a recent update to the initial survey shows some improvement in enrollment and in attitude. Clearly, now more than ever, we need to preserve opportunities for students to participate in scholastic journalism such as the newspaper and yearbook.

GOALS

When it launched, the group had four main goals:

• to support journalism in the curriculum
• to support journalism activities financially
• to promote the journalism program and raise awareness
• to recognize the effort and accomplishments of student journalists

WHAT HAPPENED

The parents agreed to the goals above and for their activities they determined to hold a kickoff fundraiser, a Quill and Scroll honorary society induction ceremony and an end-of-year banquet.

The kickoff event was Feb. 21, during the national Scholastic Journalism Week — a perfect time to launch a new endeavor. The parents wanted to raise awareness of the new organization and of the accomplishments and plans of the WHS journalism program.

They also wanted to raise money. By the end of the evening, through a silent and live auction as well as patron donations, several thousand dollars were raised, establishing the necessary seed money for first projects. The event has continued every year since.

One important aspect was to have a fiscal agent to collect funds. The parents worked with a local foundation to provide this service, so that donations could be eligible for an income tax deduction.

Two months later, the J-Boosters inducted the first students into the Quill and Scroll Society, and in May, the joint end-of-year banquet included students from both staffs and their parents.

In that initial letter, I closed with this paragraph:

The Apple Leaf newspaper and Wa Wa yearbook at Wenatchee High School have earned top state, regional and national award both as a staff and for individuals. J-Boosters is an opportunity to recognize excellence and to provide a foundation and support structure for new projects and even greater achievements. Becoming a J-Booster can help a student attend a conference to learn a new skill, provide new state-of-the-art equipment and recognize a job well done all while promoting the important role that student journalists have in the school community. As a J-Booster, you’ll help invest in youth who may grow up to be journalists or other related media professionals, and we all have a vested interest in developing citizens who support fundamental freedoms.

The J-Boosters are still active at that school several years later, and I could not be happier. The students deserve the support, and the parents want to help. The legacy includes not just a parent organization but also stronger and more vibrant journalism programs.