SUMMER 2013
Adviser Update
Page 15A
‘A heck of an adventure’
Tinker Tour to launch Sept. 17 in Philadelphia
By Candace Perkins Bowen
& John Bowen
PRESS RIGHTS
T
P01.V52.I4
See TINKER TOUR on page 16A
MJE, chairs the JEA Scholastic
Press Rights Commission. He is an
adjunct professor in journalism at
Kent State University. He can be
reached at School of JMC, 201B
Franklin Hall, Kent, OH 44242 or
by phone at 330-672-3666 or at
[email protected].
black
Beth can tell her story “a little
bit like a Disney movie.” But
he admits he likes the magic
of those movies.
Magic, however, wasn’t
going to put them in a bus or
an RV that could take them
to schools, scholastic press
events, conventions and other
places where young people
could hear the message. They
needed funding.
“The most frustrating
John Bowen, MJE
cyan
— story.”
“We both felt strongly about
the dire condition of civics
education, journalism and
students’ rights in the country.
So, we think it’s an important
time for students to learn
about their First Amendment
rights, and to practice using
them in their lives,” Tinker
said.
Hiestand describes the idea
of touring the country so Mary
directs the Center for Scholastic
Journalism and the Ohio Scholastic
Media Association and is an
assistant professor at Kent State
University. She can be reached at
School of JMC, 201B Franklin Hall,
Kent, OH 44242 or by phone at 330672-8297 or at [email protected].
magenta
ROCK STAR — Students at Ohio’s state convention called keynoter Mary
Beth Tinker a “rock star” and gave her a standing ovation after she told
about wearing a black armband in 1965. She encouraged them to also stand
up for what they believe. Update photo by John Bowen
Candace Perkins
Bowen, MJE
yellow
hose involved in
scholastic media and
student free expression
could hardly overlook the
blogs and tweets last spring
about the Tinker Tour. Its
bright yellow bus logo with
armband-wearing passengers
was all over social media. It
represented a dream — now a
reality — of two who wanted to
tell young people nationwide
how important it is to speak up
and use their voices.
One of those two, Mary
Beth Tinker, as most readers
of this column probably know,
was a 13-year-old junior high
student in 1965 when she
and her brother John and
friend Chris Eckhardt wore
black armbands to school
to protest the Vietnam War.
The rest truly IS history
as the Supreme Court
in Tinker v. Des Moines
Independent Community
School District ruled neither
students nor teachers “shed
their constitutional rights
to freedom of speech or
expression at the schoolhouse
gate.”
The other is M Z