Beech Tree News Network

Beech Tree Media, in conjunction with the Kentucky High School Journalism Association, is proud to announce its sponsorship of the Butler County High School Journalism Program. Media outlets across the state were given the opportunity to sponsor their local high school(s) in the association. Over 20 BCHS students will benefit from this partnership.

According to David Greer, KHSJA Administrator, "The Kentucky High School Journalism Association was established 15 years ago by the Kentucky Press Association to be an advocate for scholastic journalism in the state. In the past 5 or 6 years, upwards of 75 percent or so of our member schools have been sponsored in KHSJA by local publications."

Membership in the program will provide students at BCHS the opportunity to compete against students from the other 93 member schools across the state. "KHSJA sponsors an annual contest for high school newspapers, yearbooks, and broadcast programs typically receiving more than 2,200 contest entries," says Greer, "The entries are judged by professional journalists, past and present, and we announce the results in May on our website, www.khsja.org."

Another benefit of the program is the ability for students and teachers to attend workshops across the state. Two workshops were held this fall at Western Kentucky University and Murray State University and the final workshop will be held on March 8 at Campbellsville University.

BCHS technology teacher Barry Carson says, "The journalism classes offered here at BCHS give our students another tool to use when communicating. Only a few of these students will pursue a career in journalism, but through these classes all students can learn different ways to communicate whether it is through print or through broadcast journalism."

Hanna Southerland, BCHS print journalism teacher, agreed with Carson saying "Students writing abilities will benefit the most from this class. This class challenges students to put their thoughts down on paper, logically, where someone else can read it and understand it. That's a big thing for some students because what makes sense to them may not make sense to someone else." Southerland added that the journalism classes provide the students with an alternative elective program for the students at BCHS.

Both Carson and Southerland were excited about the sponsorship. Carson was looking forward to the possibility of being able to take students to the workshops coming up in March.

"We're happy to partner with the journalism program at BCHS in a way that benefits students," said John Embry, vice-president of Beech Tree Media.  "As a member of the Kentucky Press Association, this is another way to promote the importance of the journalism profession in the classroom." 

As a part of the sponsorship, Beech Tree News reporter Katie Kirby recently visited Southerland's print journalism program and spoke about the process of putting together an article from beginning to end. She walked the class through the process she used to write an article about the recent FCCLA STAR Events Competition that began with an email and ended with a finished article. She also answered questions from the students ranging from her favorite type of article to write to the hardest thing she has been faced with writing.

"Beech Tree Media looks forward to working with Mr. Carson, Mrs. Southerland, and students at BCHS to expand and grow interest in and knowledge of journalism education," added Embry.