On the night of Aug. 23, journalism adviser Nancy Smith was going about her usual Open House schedule when she received texts and voicemails from Sarah Nichols, president of the Journalism Education Association (JEA). Smith has assisted JEA as the Contest Chair for its biannual conventions since 2010, and she assumed Nichols’ text meant something had gone awry in the convention preparation process.

“I immediately thought something terrible had happened,” Smith said. “Maybe our website had crashed, or there were issues with the convention hotel.”

The reality of the situation was quite the opposite. The following day, Smith received multiple messages of congratulations from fellow high school journalism advisers across the country. Smith was named the recipient of the 2018 JEA Carl Towley Award.

Carl Towley, the award’s namesake, was a journalism educator that assisted in pioneering the National Association of Journalism Directors, now known as the JEA. His work for the organization focused not only on the importance of journalism education to students but also preparing educators to teach the subject.

Today, the award is considered the highest honor given to a JEA member. It recognizes outstanding service to the organization and contribution to journalism education as a whole.

As the Contest Chair, Smith oversees the organizations of the JEA convention’s many on-site competitions, such as the Write-Offs. She has held this position since 2010.

“Since the time that I’ve taken over [as Contest Chair], we’ve made major changes in how the contests are held,” Smith said.

Smith is satisfied with her work for the organization and wishes to continue it in the future.

“I have more ideas of how to make those competitions better for our students,” she said. “I’m really happy with where I am right now, and I’d like to continue my work with JEA as long as the organization wants me.”