NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM
TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Chris Waugaman, Prince George (Va.) High School
To Chris Waugaman, a new journalism student conducting that first interview is like a baby learning to
walk. He’s taught a lot of aspiring journalists to walk in his 17 years as a media teacher and adviser at
Prince George (Va.) High School.
“When they struggle through that, they understand how difficult it is and there are a lot of things they can
do to improve,” he said.
Waugaman is the 2014 Dow Jones News Fund National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year
selected from 26 teachers nationally. He advises the award-winning Royal News newspaper and the
trnwired.org website.
Waugaman emphasized the importance of the media classroom as the center of project-based learning
and the standard for the “21st Century English class.” He wrote in his application, “We need to protect
our electives and guard against subversive plans to do away with publications that do great investigative
journalism.”
He was selected by a panel that included Richard S. Holden, DJNF board member and former executive
director; Diana Mitsu Klos, DJNF board member and executive director of the National Scholastic Press
Association; 2013 Teacher of the Year Jim Streisel of Carmel (Ind.) High School, and Dr. Calvin Hall,
chair of the Scholastic Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
and chair of the journalism department at North Carolina Central University, Durham.
Approach to Diversity
Streisel explained what he liked about Waugaman’s application. “I was most excited by his pressing issue -- protection of a project-based learning media curriculum. It’s
an area that’s close to my heart as well and I think it will
translate well from Chris,” he wrote.
Chris Waugaman pictured with student.
Photo credit: Ronnie Dayvault
Holden, known for promoting media diversity, lauded Waugaman’s efforts and his students’ work. Streisel added,
“The ‘We Are Newspapermen: African American Journalists Who Changed History’ project was cool as were the
significant awards for diversity coverage.”
Waugaman has a diverse student population to draw from but he said he reaches out to middle school
students, asks colleagues to recommend students and “strong-arms” recruits in the hallways, a carryover
from his days as volleyball coach.