Other state scholastic press associations frequently are looking for help with their contests and critiques. Being a judge for one of these states is a great way to improve your own skills, get new ideas and give back to the profession.
A great way to get started is by completing the Journalism Education Association’s free online critique training course. Once completed, JEA will add you name to a database that state associations can draw from to recruit judges.
The training takes between one and two hours to complete and serves as a guide to prepare advisers for the experience of judging student media for contests or critiques. Based on successful completion of the online course, participants earn a JEA Critique Training badge and are credentialed in the system, which includes being listed in JEA’s national judging database.
The critique training uses Participate, an online platform. Getting started is simple:
- Click here to join the JEA community.
- Click the blue “Join” button.
- You’ll be prompted to log in with your Participate account. If you do not yet have one, click “Sign up.” Once you log in or sign up, you’ll be added to the community automatically.
- You’ll see a welcome announcement under the HOME tab with some instructions — check it out to see where to head next, or simply look for the LEARN tab and head directly to the course. This course is titled “Critique training: You be the judge.” Beginning in May 2019, the JEA Mentor Training course will appear here as well.