06/05/2007

Generation Why

Star for teacher

East Jordan students deal with 'prior review' as adviser is honored

By ALICE PERRAULT
Special to the Record-Eagle

Record-Eagle/Tyler Sipe
East Jordan High School English teacher and journalism adviser Roxanne Zell, front center, won the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association’s Golden Pen Award after being recommended by the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Alice Perrault, 17, right, and Tynel Starr, 18, left, and through the hard work of the rest of the school newspaper’s staff.

What started out as an innocent question soon turned into a whole lot more.

On April 17 at the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association conference in Lansing, the staff of The Devil's Advocate at East Jordan High School waited to see if our adviser, Roxanne Zell, had won the Golden Pen. My co-editor, Tynel Starr, and I were so nervous before the members of the MIPA board introduced the Golden Pen award; we were ready to fall out of our chairs. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they announced the winner.

The winner from last year gave the speech about this year's winner. By now we were so nervous that we were ready to burst. But then she said, "She's the advocate of The Devil's Advocate …” At that point, we all stood up and started cheering.

Our adviser was shocked; she just looked at us with the expression, "Is this really happening?” She was crying by the time she reached the stage, which was only one row away.

The Golden Pen is the equivalent to coach of the year in the state of Michigan, only it is not for a coach. The award is for a newspaper adviser who shows outstanding qualities and deserves to be recognized.

All of us (the staff of The Devil's Advocate) spent weeks planning and organizing a portfolio for Mrs. Roxanne Zell (our adviser). We incorporated some of her achievements, including her attendance at Harvard! There were also many letters of recommendation, including some from her colleagues. In these letters we told the judging committee about our battle with "prior review” and the encouragement she gave us. We told them about the personal risks she was taking on our behalf. We also did this without her having the slightest clue.

It is an amazing honor to win the Golden Pen; it means you are truly one of the best advisers. This is why we, the staff of The Devil's Advocate, nominated Mrs. Zell for the award. It was in appreciation of all the help and encouragement she has given us in our own battle.

The East Jordan High School newspaper, The Devil's Advocate, has been fighting prior review for the past two years. In that time we have been belittled, we have had our program threatened and we have gotten our adviser into trouble.

Prior review is the act of inspecting a publication before it is printed and distributed to the public. There have been many lawsuits throughout the U.S. where the students are suing their school for censorship, but none where the school is suing the students for libel and slander. Reviewing the paper before publication provides that risk of censorship.

What some people forget is that students do not leave their rights at the schoolhouse gate, as defended in the Tinker vs. Des Moines case. Our forefathers gave us freedom of the press and of speech. The Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.” It does not say that the people of the United States have freedom of the press and speech — except high school students.

While freedom of the press and speech remain a part of our constitution today, it is not preventing prior review from spreading into our schools.

What are students supposed to think about this other than that their administrative figures do not trust them? We live in a democratic society, not a dictatorship. Democracy is what the United States was built upon, and it should be practiced in our schools.

High school students are only years — and in some instances, months — away from becoming active citizens in the United States. What better place to practice and learn citizenship than in our schools? Students should be able to approach the government — or administration, in this case — to openly discuss its policies. Students must have a voice that gets heard.

Prior review is an insult to the staff of The Devil's Advocate. It is as if we are not trusted to do our job. Yes, we are not experts and we may make mistakes, but we have had training on how to write a good and ethical article, so it is not as if we have no idea what we are doing. We are not illiterate; we know that our actions have consequences, and that we can be held accountable for our decisions.

Although we never had it in the past, The Devil's Advocate is now subject to prior review. A member of the administration at EJHS has said that we have prior review because they have the ultimate responsibility for everything that happens at EJHS. This includes the circulation of any publication. They also said that they are responsible for the well-being of every student, including the assurance that all students' rights are not being violated.

But the fact is students' rights are being violated. The rights of the reporters of The Devil's Advocate, and the rights of the students to know what is happening in our school, are being thrown out the window.

Mrs. Zell always tells us "to go for it” and to stand up for our rights. She has taken many personal risks on our behalf, and this is another reason why we nominated her for the Golden Pen.

As for me, the best part was seeing that look of shock on Mrs. Zell's face when she won. She had no idea that we had even nominated her. It was the best feeling to see someone so deserving get an award applauding what she is all about. The fact that she had no idea just made it that much better.

Last year when we nominated Mrs. Zell for the Golden Pen Award, she was a runner-up. After that she said, "I feel like I have already won for the whole United States! It is you that I teach for and when I have received such an honor from my kids … well, there is no better reward.” However, now that she has won she says "my students inspire me!”

Even though we have faced some hard times with prior review, Mrs. Zell never gave up on us, even when it meant she was going to be scolded. This is why I believe that the judging committee gave her the award, because she truly deserved it.

So far, our school still has prior review, and even though we may never win this battle, it is still worth it. Students have to fight for their rights; they cannot be afraid or intimidated by those who have power over them. Fighting prior review has taught this to all of us at The Devil's Advocate.

Our innocent question: Should prior review be allowed? We may have to defend our rights and beliefs to other countries in this world, but we should not have to fight our own country and our own school systems for those rights.

Alice Perrault is a junior(*) at East Jordan High School.