Cathy Davis, President

Cathy Davis has been the publications teacher/adviser and an English

teacher at Hastings High School for 13 years. This year HHS launched

tigercubonline.org, the school’s first news website and is hoping to build

on that with a monthly news broadcast. The Tiger Cub and Tiger yearbook

have won several state awards, and her reporters and photographers have

been recognized nationally for their work. Cathy was recognized as NHSPA’s

Distinguished Adviser in 2005.

 

The NHSPA Summer Journalism Workshop Co-Director for eight years, Cathy

left that job shortly after taking the A2 Representative position on the

board of directors. Now president of the organization, she hopes to

increase membership and get the word out to advisers that they have an

excellent resource for support and guidance right here in Nebraska. The

organization is here for all members and advisers in the state. Please

consider getting involved!

 

Before becoming a teacher, Cathy gained a great deal of experience in

professional journalism. She was a reporter/anchor for KHGI-TV (better

known as NTV) in Kearney, Nebraska for four years, worked in the

advertising sales department for two years at the Hastings Tribune, and

ran the board along with producing commercials and news pieces at KHAS

Radio in Hastings for more than three years. She left the field to focus

on her family, and hopes in teaching she is encouraging her students that

professionalism and ethics should come first in their journalistic career.

 

 

Matt Rasgorshek, Vice President and Class A1 Representative 

Matt Rasgorshek is the broadcast and online adviser at Westside High School in Omaha, NE. His publications have received state, regional and national recognition. Westside Wired has been honored as one of Nebraska’s top high school online publication. Warrior Television has been recognized as one of the nation’s top broadcast programs. 

 He is the A1 district representative for the Nebraska High School Press Association (NHSPA) and is actively involved on the JEA’s Digital Media committee. He was also awarded the NHSPA’s Distinguished Adviser Award for 2011-2012.

 Prior to teaching, Matt worked behind the camera as a newscast director, producer, videographer and editor in local affiliates in Omaha and Phoenix.

 

Katie Wright, Secretary and Class B Representative

Katie Wright has been an English II and Journalisms I, II and III teacher and adviser at Crete High School in Crete, NE for the past five years.  Her students’ publications at Crete and Aquinas in David City (where she advised from 2005-2008) have received many state and national honors, especially for their recent inclusion of multicultural student work. 

 Crete High School’s Words of a Feather has been recognized by the Journalism Education Association at its national convention diversity roundtable discussions for the inclusion of a Spanish double-page spread each issue, in collaboration with the school’s Native Speakers III classes.  She has also advised numerous All-Class and Class B State Champions and, recently, runner-up of the JEA Student Journalist of the Year after attending national convention workshops on JOY portfolio creation.

 Wright is the Class B representative and NHSPA board Secretary.  A 2000 graduate of Fremont High School and 2005 Concordia University graduate, she worked in student publications for 15 years and for the CU alumni magazine office for three years.  She is also the Nebraska State Coordinator for the Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines (PRESLM) for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), secretary of the Nebraska English Language Arts Council (NeLAC), and a committee member for the Plum Creek Literacy Festival at Concordia.

She is continuing her education at the University of Missouri-Columbia with her Master’s in Education in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis in English and Journalism Education.  She has three children, Jacob (6), Alex (3), and Jaelynn (born in May) and lives in Seward with her husband, Roy, who teaches high school industrial technology at Seward High.  She also coaches track and field for the Crete Cardinals, specializing in the Pole Vault and Sprint Relays.

 

Janelle Schultz, CJE, Treasurer and Past President

Janelle Schultz is currently the NHSPA treasurer and past president. During her eight years on the board, she also served as secretary and Class B representative. Schultz has been advising at Gering High School for 13 years. She advises the Blue Prints newspaper, The Kennel yearbook and the news website Blue Prints Live.

During Schultz’s time as adviser at Gering, her students were Class A2 runners-up in 2009 and won the Class B state championship in both 2011 and 2012. She was honored as the NHSPA Distinguished Adviser in 2010.

Schultz has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Journalism and Speech from the University of Wyoming, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Morehead State College. She went on to earn her Master of Science in Education with emphasis in Journalism/Technology from Chadron State College. Schultz also earned a fellowship from the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

In her spare time, Schultz enjoys gardening, reading, camping and traveling to Omaha to visit her daughters.

 

Jack Denker, Class A2 Representative

Jack Denker has been NHSPA’s Class A2 Representative for one year. He advises The Rustler newspaper and the Black & Gold yearbook at Fremont High School, where he has been for four years.

Prior to this, he advised journalism at Nebraska City High School from 1985-2000. There he coached boys’ golf and earned the Nebraska Coaches Association Level 1 Career Milestone Award in 1995.

In between his high school adviserships, Denker had multiple jobs in the industry. From 2000-2005, he was a yearbook representative with Walsworth Publishing Company. After that, he served as sports editor for the Washington County Enterprise until 2008, when he became Managing Editor with Metro Sports Source.

Denker graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a Bachelor of Science in Education.

 

LuAnn Schindler, Class C/D Representative

LuAnn Schindler has been on the Board of Directors since October of 2012. For the past three years, she has advised The Marian newspaper and yearbook at St. Mary’s High School in O’Neill.

Schindler has a Speech and Improv Theater degree from Northwestern University. She also earned a degree in Journalism/Communications/Speech/English Education from Hastings College.

Aside from advising, Schindler is a freelance journalist and editor. She uses her background in speech and theater as the Director of Education and Camps for the Great American Comedy Festival. She and her students have won numerous awards in journalism, speech and one-act competitions.

 

Marsha Kalkowski, Journalism Education Association Liaison

Marsha Kalkowski has been advising publications at Omaha Marian since 1994.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English/Language Arts from Creighton University and her Master of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  Marian’s publications include The Network newspaper, the Crusader yearbook and the M-Beat broadcast program.  

Mrs. K is a past Board member for the Nebraska High School Press Association and currently serves as the Nebraska State Director for the Journalism Education Association.  She was named the Nebraska Journalism Teacher of the Year in 2004 and has been sharing her love of high school journalism in workshops and conventions for many years.  Mrs. K is honored to have had many students excel in local, regional and national journalism competitions and even pursue their interests in writing, photography and design in their own careers. She is excited and blessed to be a small part of their Marian journalism educational experience. To contact Mrs. Kalkowski, please e-mail her at mkalkowski@omahamarian.org.

 

Hillary Aerts, CJE, Communications Director

Hillary Aerts, who has served as Communications Director since 2012, has advised at Omaha North High Magnet School for the past 10 years. Her duties include advising the esteemed North Star newspaper, Viking yearbook and North Star Online.

In 2008, Aerts received the JEA Rising Star award. She was also selected as an American Society of Newspaper Editors fellow in 2006.

Aerts received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Creighton University in 2002. She went on to earn a Master’s degree in Secondary Education from Creighton in 2005. She also has a secondary major in French.

During her time at North High, Aerts has also taught French and ESL. She enjoys learning languages and has a love of the written word, which she hopes to pass on to her students