The Michigan Interscholastic Press Association today honored Ann Arbor Community High School Dean Marci Tuzinsky and Assistant Dean Rebecca Westrate as its 2019 Administrators of the Year. The award recognizes school administrators who have shown strong interest in and support for scholastic journalism.
Tuzinsky and Westrate were recognized at MIPA’s Spring Awards in Lansing, along with nearly contest winners in the organization’s statewide scholastic journalism contest.
“They are role models for other administrators, and their excellence can inspire others to foster the growth of student journalists — and our democracy depends up on the next generation of journalists,” journalism adviser Tracy Anderson wrote in nominating her principal.
Anderson said Tuzinsky and Westrate support the journalism in big and small ways — from ensuring a robust set of journalism classes are scheduled every year to providing equipment needed to publish to setting aside time for student reporters to interview them. The greatest amount of support, however, comes from frequent verbal praise of the work student journalists do.
“The student journalists at Community High make a difference in our community because they have administrators who support them every step of the way,” Anderson said.
Tuzinsky and Westrate have also been advocates for student free speech and free press.
“Our deans do not moderate every word that is published in our magazine or on our website,” Mira Simonton-Chao, co-editor-in-chief of the news website chscommunicator.com, wrote in a letter supporting her deans’ nomination. “This is not because they do not have the time or simply don’t care — because we absolutely know they do — but rather because they trust us. They trust in our research, in our writing and in us.”
ABOUT THE MICHIGAN INTERSCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1921 and housed in the Michigan State University School of Journalism, the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association is a nonprofit organization composed of scholastic journalism teachers and publications advisers and their students. MIPA is committed to promoting and recognizing excellence in scholastic journalism at all levels through education, training and support of student journalists and their advisers.