The UF College of Journalism and Communications announced the appointment of Wayne Garcia as the interim executive director of the Florida Scholastic Press Association on October 15.

Garcia is spending the academic year in the college as a visiting lecturer. In addition to a long resume of Florida journalism and college-level teaching, Garcia has other relevant experience that has prepared him to manage FSPA. He is a former small business owner and nonprofit foundation president.

For nine years, he was a partner in a political consulting firm in Tampa Bay and understands how to provide timely service to various clients and maintain corporate financial records. Likewise, during his two-year term as the president of the Clearwater Jazz Holiday Foundation Inc., he was involved in managing the finances of a successful nonprofit company, providing public service and educational opportunities and raising funds from sponsors and donors.

Bill McKeen, journalism department chair, said those skills - along with Garcia's media background and enthusiasm for high school journalism - will serve FSPA and its member schools well.

With the fall semester underway, it's time to start thinking about renewing your FSPA membership. Memberships from the 2008-2009 school year expire November 15. Remember, the membership fee increases after December 1.The membership form is available for download here.

If you're not currently a member of FSPA, now is the perfect time to join. FSPA membership is open to all middle and high school publications, broadcast programs and online media teams in the state of Florida. FSPA also welcomes the association of affiliates -- former advisers, college faculty members, professional journalists, newspapers, publishing companies, photography studios, radio and television stations, and any organization interested in supporting and promoting scholastic journalism.

Learn why you should join FSPA...

...or download the membership form now!

FSPA provides a yearly evaluation service for newspapers, newsmagazines, yearbooks, magazines and broadcast programs. The focus of the evaluation service is to provide feedback that will enable students to improve their publications and broadcast programs.

Evaluation forms are now available for Broadcast and Newspaper publications. These evaluations must be postmarked by Jan. 7, 2010. Forms postmarked Jan. 10-15 will incur a late fee of $20. Evaluations postmarked after Jan. 15 will NOT be accepted. If you have any questions about the evaluations process, please contact our evaluations coordinator Jane Robbins at Jprob212@aol.com.

For more information, see our Evaluation Services page.

Each fall, FSPA sponsors local district workshops. Workshop activities include guest speakers, hands-on sessions, student representative elections, district director elections, advisers' business meetings and various student contests.

The workshop for District 4 was held at the University of South Florida on Oct. 2. Awards were presented to students competing in 14 on the spot competitions and 13 carry-in contests. The results are available here.