The Journalism Education Association has selected Jeff Nardone, the former Grosse Pointe South HS adviser who died last year, to honor with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Nardone and 12 others chosen for the honor will be recognized at the Nov. 8 at the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Washington, D.C.
Nardone died at age 48 in November 2013 after a battle with cancer. He taught English and journalism at Grosse Pointe South High School, where he advised the award-winning weekly newspaper, The Tower. Nardone’s students won more than 800 individual awards from state and national organizations.
“In a lifetime, you only meet one master teacher and publications adviser like Jeff Nardone. His professionalism impressed everyone exposed to a ‘Jeff’ learning experience. However, my nomination of Jeff is founded in his ability to reach out and offer personal life learning beyond measure. I truly count Jeff as a lifelong friend,” wrote nominator John Cutsinger, CJE,a creative accounts manager for Jostens.
Nardone was a long-time member of MIPA’s board, serving as MIPA’s president from 1994-1996. He also was a frequent speaker at MIPA conferences, a frequent judge in the organization’s annual statewide contests and was an instructor at the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop at Michigan State University, where he taught the sports writing class.
MIPA has established a scholarship fund for the summer workshop in Nardone’s honor.
“Jeff’s joy of life, family and teaching was infectious and addictive,” wrote Bobby Hawthorne, former director of the Interscholastic Press Association in Texas. “You could not be around him for five minutes without feeling better about yourself, about our profession, about the world we live in. He was more than a teacher and adviser.”
“Jeff’s life on earth was much too short. His death at a young age meant his students, students around the country and his fellow advisers would no longer be able to learn all head had to share,” H.L. Hall, MJE, a JEA past president, wrote.
Learn more about those being honored by JEA at its Lifetime Achievement Award.