Lindale Journalism Coach Brings Home Success with Team Model
By Julianne Coyne, Intern | Friday, August 12, 2011 2:50 PM
At the 2011 Academic State Meet, Mikyela Tedder takes photos of her students before the coaches' meeting. The Lindale team won first place team for 2011.
Photo by Jeanne Acton
Lindale High School journalism teacher Mikyela Tedder’s approach to coaching UIL journalism has always been based around creating a team. So it seemed quite natural that when UIL started giving a journalism team award in 2003, Tedder wanted it.
And she got it. Along with five others in the eight years since then, making her the coach with the most team wins in journalism.
Tedder said she starts her journalism students out by learning UIL writing in journalism I. She teaches the basics of writing in journalistic style and reinforces it with plenty of AP style quizzes.
“After their first year of journalism, I look at the students who are on my publication staffs, choose my best writers and take them to as many practice meets as possible,” Tedder said.
In addition to practice meets, Tedder teaches her students what it is like to be part of a winning team, former student and state champion Rory McKenzie said.
“Writing in general is such an individual event,” McKenzie said. “But not at Lindale. It was absolutely an incredible team atmosphere. Of course, we wanted to win and we knew that if we worked hard and competed at the level that we were capable, we would win. But most importantly, she was instilling in us a love for what we did and a personal pride in our natural abilities.”
Recent Lindale graduate Stephanie O’Connor said Tedder fosters the team aspect of journalism.
“I have never really felt like I was competing against them (teammates), even though Mrs. Tedder has often said that we are our own hardest competition,” said O’Connor, who left the 2011 State Meet with a gold medal for News Writing, a silver for Feature Writing and a bronze for Headline Writing. “Since it hasn’t been the same team members all four years [that I have been on the team], I can only conclude that this encouraging environment is the work of Mrs. Tedder.”
O’Connor said that Tedder’s success is because of the way she treats her team members.
“Mrs. Tedder does nothing but affirm us,” O’Connor said. “She does a brilliant job of focusing on what we did well, rather than what didn’t go so well. I don’t ever remember her telling us to bring home the gold or putting pressure on us to win. She just tells us if we do our best, then we will be fine.”
O’Connor said she believes Tedder’s success can only be replicated by coaches who have as much dedication to their team.
“Part of our motivation to win has always been that we respect Mrs. Tedder so much that we want to make her proud by showcasing her skill as a UIL coach,” O’Connor said.
Tedder’s team championships have occurred even as realignment moved Lindale from 3A to 4A and back again. Tedder said the competition in each classification is tough.
“In my East Texas area, all schools are tough, 1A-5A,” Tedder said. “We have such good writers in our area, and I know other areas of the state do as well, but I’m so proud of all our East Texas students.”
Tedder taught three UIL workshops during the 2010-11 school year, and many of the students who attended the workshops medaled at region and state.
“It was such a blessing to work with them and watch their writing develop,” Tedder said. “The four of us who teach the workshop decided long ago that our goal was to make East Texas the toughest region in the state. When one of ‘our’ students places at a meet, it’s like one of our own kids winning an award.”
Tedder advises other journalism coaches to join ILPC and TAJE and use the resources, such as lesson plans, handouts and PowerPoint presentations the organizations provide.
“Being a journalism teacher is a rewarding job, but it can suck the life out of you if you let it,” Tedder said. “Try not to stress about trivial things like computers breaking down, students not turning in their work and athletic coaches who won’t give your reporters a quote. “
ADVICE FROM TEDDER
• Talk to your yearbook rep and find out who the seasoned journalism advisers are in your geographic area. Contact them, introduce yourself and pick their brain about how they do this job and what works for them.
• Take your kids to workshops, conventions and UIL practice meets.
• Take advantage of the few weeks a year that seem easy, and savor those moments, because they will be frequently interrupted by the chaos that soon will become normal.