Instructor: Evelyn Lauer

Whether it’s online news, a newspaper or a yearbook, it all starts with leadership — the individual or team in charge of the publication’s editorial direction. Through this workshop, students will develop key transferable skills such as accountability, flexibility, creativity and communication, working cooperatively to re-imagine a current news publication. 

This intensive workshop will train participants in strategies governing:

• Editorial Leadership
• Management Style
• News Judgment
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Setting Policies & Procedures
• Staffing Issues & Conflict Resolution

Participants will learn what success looks like through decision-making, role playing, making mistakes, and resolving errors. In addition to training and instruction, participants in this workshop will hear from journalism professionals for a better understanding of what it means to lead, accept responsibility, and thrive in real-world environments.

Evelyn Lauer teaches English and digital storytelling at Niles West High School in Skokie, IL. She is the founding adviser of Niles West News and currently serves as a mentor for the Journalism Education Association. Her personal essays, short stories, and poems have appeared in Huffington Post, Ghost City Press, Flash Fiction Magazine, Sentence, Denver Syntax, Education Week, and elsewhere. She also hosts a counseling and career podcast called Beyond the Bell. She received a B.A. in journalism and English as well as an M.A.T. in secondary education from the University of Iowa. She also holds an MFA in creative writing from Texas State University and is currently a graduate student in counseling at Northeastern Illinois University. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to teach in Iowa City again this summer!