Alyssa Boehringer is UIL Journalism Director and ILPC Director in Texas. She taught journalism at her alma mater McKinney High School for 16 years where she advised some combination yearbook, broadcasting and online news. She is a winner of ILPC’s Edith Fox King Award, TAJE’s Trailblazer Award and JEA’s Medal of Merit. In 2017, JEA named her National Broadcast Journalism Teacher of the Year. 

Makena Busch CJE, advises the Pantera yearbook at Mead HS in Spokane, WA, where she teaches digital media, graphic design, and yearbook. JEA named Busch a Rising Star in 2019, a Special Recognition Adviser in 2021, and a Distinguished Adviser in 2023. Her yearbooks have earned numerous state and national awards, including CSPA Gold Crowns, NSPA Pacemakers, and Best of Show awards. Busch is crazy enough to coach track in the spring, thinks coffee runs through her veins at this point, and isn't afraid to tell you the cringest dad jokes she knows.

Jim Jordan. After 35 years as the yearbook adviser of the Decamhian at Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California, Jim Jordan is now a Special Consultant with Walsworth Yearbooks. Under Jordan’s guidance, the Decamhian yearbook earned 20 NSPA Pacemakers and 20 CSPA Crowns which earned it second place in the NSPA all-time Top 100. In 1996, he was named the National Yearbook Adviser of the Year by JEA. He also was awarded the CSPA Gold Key, the JEA Medal of Merit, the NSPA Pioneer Award and the Linda S. Puntney Teacher Inspiration Award from JEA. With Walsworth, he serves as the lead mentor for the company’s Adviser Mentor Program and is a host of “That Yearbook Podcast” a podcast that encourages advisers and staffs to create great yearbooks.

Leland Mallett CJE, teaches newspaper, yearbook and photography at Legacy High School in Mansfield, Texas. He has taught journalism for 23 years. His staff has won numerous CSPA Crowns, NSPA Pacemakers and Texas Stars. Mallett was named an NSPA Pioneer in 2022. He is also a JEA Distinguished Yearbook Adviser. He loves the art of telling stories in any media, but most of all, he loves to tell stories about his three amazing kids.

Vanessa Martinez, M.Ed., CJE, advises The Legend Yearbook and AGO News at El Dorado High School in El Paso, Texas. She worked in multiple journalism and communication roles after graduating from UTEP in 2012 with a BA in Multimedia Journalism. She started advising and teaching journalism, design and commercial photography in 2014 and earned the JEA Rising Star Award in 2019. She also coaches the UIL journalism team, and helped several students qualify for state competition. The Legend has earned multiple CSPA Silver and Gold Crowns, ILPC Stars and NSPA Pacemakers, along with NSPA Design of the Year in 2020. In 2023, she earned her Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from UTEP, with a concentration in Communication. In 2024, she was honored with the Edith Fox King Award for her contributions to scholastic journalism in the beautiful Lone Star State she loves.

Jim McCrossen is in his 34th year helping journalism students find their voice in a very loud and busy world. McCrossen has spent his entire teaching career in the Blue Valley School District in Overland Park, Kan. teaching and advising two years at Blue Valley North and the past 32 at Blue Valley Northwest, where he advises the Horizon yearbook, The Express newspaper and the BVNWnews.com website. McCrossen is a JEA Distinguished Yearbook Adviser, an NSPA Pioneer Award recipient and a former Kansas journalism teacher of the year. He is a former award-winning photojournalist in Ventura County, Calif. He loves teaching photography mostly because he’s not very good with words. His students have won numerous awards for their work, and they have not won numerous awards, as well. McCrossen likes red meat, chocolate and Cheetos.

Sabrina Schmitz CJE is a representative of  Walsworth Yearbooks as the Key Accounts Specialist and is the former yearbook and newspaper adviser at J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, FL. Under her leadership, The Stampede yearbook was awarded multiple CSPA Crown awards, a NSPA Pacemaker Award, and was a Design of the Year Finalist in 2012. She was recognized as Teacher of the Year in 2013, was a District Teacher of the Year Finalist, and teaches at workshops and conventions around the country.  

Becky Lucas Tate has spent 35 years advising the newspaper and yearbook at her alma mater, Shawnee Mission North High School. She's deeply involved in scholastic journalism through roles with the Kansas Scholastic Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association. Her accolades include CSPA’s Gold Key, a Medal of Merit from JEA, the H.L. Hall National Journalism Adviser of the Year (2019), and the 2024 Linda S. Puntney Teacher Inspiration Award. Tate also leads as KSPA Board past president and NSPA Board President. When not working, she enjoys all things Disney.