Most people at WHS know Michelle Turner as the broadcast adviser, the class that produces “Blue Jay Journal TV,” and the photography teacher. This year, however, the Journalism Education Association (JEA) knows her as the 2016 National Broadcast Adviser of the Year.

Turner, after being named a runner-up for this award in 2014, was shocked after being named the winner of the award.

“Right now it doesn’t feel real,” Turner said. “It’ll feel more real after I have to go give a speech in front of a bunch of people eating chicken dinner at a hotel.”

Turner will fly to Los Angeles on April 16, where she will be officially recognized at the JEA/NSPA (National Scholastic Press Association) Spring National High School Journalism Convention.

“I’m being flown in April and I’m supposed to speak to a room full of journalism teachers,” Turner said. “I’ve been told to talk about what I’m passionate about, and I’m like, ‘I don’t think you want to hear me talk about national forests.’ But they said, ‘No, about journalism.’ And that made more sense.”

Turner, who has been teaching for 20 years, was inspired at a young age to pursue journalism.

“My aunts, who were involved in journalism in high school, would come down to our class when I was in kindergarten. They would come down to our classrooms and interview us and word for word write down what we would say for cookbooks. They’re really hilarious, but I looked up to them [my aunts] so much,” Turner said. “That was the first thing that got me interested in journalism.”

Now Turner wants to be an inspiration to her students at WHS.

“I want to see them [the students] be confident in themselves,” Turner said. “I want to give them the guidelines of being a good reporter and show them they can be one if they’re really interested in the career.”
Many students may view broadcast as just writing scripts and talking to people, but it is much more than that.

“Even my students that don’t pursue broadcasting as a career, they’ve told me the skill sets they’ve learned in broadcasting in high school carried them in so many ways,” Turner said.

Even though Broadcast helps with school-related subjects, it contributes to so much more.

“Helping them see the greatness within them that they don’t even know is there. A good teacher will help you see what you can really accomplish and do before you even see it yourself,” Turner said.

In Turner’s eyes, teaching journalism is more than just a career.

“I want to teach them empathy, which not only helps them be a good reporter, but a good person.”