iv  About  the  Authors  Janet  Ewell  has  advised  award-winning  newspapers  at  two  Title  One  urban  high  schools.  She  is  a  Master  Journalism  Educator,  a  recipient  of  the  Journalism  Education  Association  Medal  of  Merit  and  the  Columbia  Scholastic  Press  Association’s  Gold  Key.  The  University  of  Southern  California  Annenberg  School  for  Communication  honored  her  in  2008  for  “Defense  of  the  First  Amendment  and  the  rights  of  all  California  students.”  She  credits  her  background  as  a  National  Board  Certifi  ed  Teacher  and  as  a  Fellow  of  the  South  Basin  Writing  Project  for  much  of  her  approach  to  teaching  journalism.  She  graduated  from  Brigham  Young  University  and  received  her  Masters  from  California  State  University  Long  Beach.  She  has  been  published  in  English  Journal,  Journalism  Education  Today,  California  Publisher,  Dow-Jones  Adviser  and  the  Los  Angeles  Times,  and  has  presented  at  multiple  Journalism  Education  Association  conventions  and  other  journalism  workshops.  Michelle  Balmeo,  Master  Journalism  Educator,  has  spent  over  a  decade  advising  high  school  journalists,  fi  rst  in  California  and  now  in  Albany,  Oregon.  In  that  time,  her  students  have  been  multiple-time  National  Scholastic  Press  Association  Pacemaker  Award  winners  and  Columbia  Scholastic  Press  Association  Crown  Award  winners.  She  guided  her  fi  rst  staff  through  the  transition  from  a  print  monthly  newspaper  to  a  monthly  newsmagazine  and  news  website  that  incorporated  interactive  and  multimedia  storytelling.  Now  at  West  Albany  High  School,  she  has  helped  a  new  group  of  students  bring  back  a  publication  that  died  years  ago  and  is  guiding  them  through  the  process  of  building  a  multi-platform  converged  media  program.  Balmeo  was  a  2010  California  Journalism  Educator  of  the  Year,  High  School  Division,  a  2011  Journalism  Education  Association  Rising  Star,  and  a  2014  Dow  Jones  News  Fund  Distinguished  Adviser.  She  regularly  presents  at  local  and  national  conferences,  contributes  to  the  JEADigitalMedia.org  website,  and  served  as  the  Web  Curriculum  Leader  and  a  Partner  Project  Lead  for  JEA.  Ellen  Austin  has  taught  journalism  and  advised  student  publications  since  2000.  She  is  currently  the  director  of  journalism  at  The  Harker  School  in  San  Jose,  where  she  advises  the  award-winning  newspaper,  news  magazine,  website  and  yearbook  programs.  Previously,  Austin  taught  journalism  for  six  years  at  Palo  Alto  High  School,  where  she  started  the  nationally  recognized  Viking  sports  magazine  and  website,  and  co-advised  the  broadcast  program.  Austin  has  served  on  the  Journalism  Education  Association  national  board  of  directors  and  the  JEA  (Northern  California)  regional  board.  Austin  serves  on  the  Student  Press  Law  Center  steering  committee,  and  was  its  former  chair.  She  was  a  JEA  Rising  Star  honoree  in  2006,  the  inaugural  year  of  that  award.  She  received  the  2011  CAL-JEC  Journalism  Educator  of  the  Year  (High  School  Division)  and  was  the  Dow  Jones  News  Fund  2012  National  Journalism  Teacher  of  the  Year.  She  holds  a  Gold  Key  from  the  Columbia  Scholastic  Press  Association.  She  is  a  presenter  at  state  and  national  conventions,  and  teaches  at  several  journalism  workshops.  Austin  holds  an  undergraduate  degree  in  business  from  the  University  of  Illinois  (Urbana-  Champaign)  and  a  master’s  degree  in  secondary  education  from  the  University  of  Minnesota.  Randy  Hamm  advised  The  Kernal,  the  student  paper  at  East  High  School  in  Bakersfi  eld,  California,  for  21  years.  The  California  Journalism  Education  Coalition  named  him  High  School  Journalism  Educator  of  the  Year  in  2006,  the  same  year  his  students  received  a  Pacemaker  award  from  the  National  Scholastic  Press  Association.  Hamm  served  for  many  years  on  the  board  of  the  Northern  California  Journalism  Education  Association.  He  lives  with  his  wife  Norma  in  Bella  Vista,  Arkansas.  
