Feb. 11, 2009 — Board Room, San Mateo Daily Journal. The meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m.

Present: Jon Mays, Marshall Wilson, Jack Russell, Micki Carter, Dave Price and Darryl Compton; Guests, Pat Gemma, Bettylu Smith and Raphael Kauffmann. Absent: Jamie Casini, Peter Cleaveland, Ed Remitz

High School Journalism Project

Jon introduced Pat Gemma, superintendent of the Sequoia High School District; Bettylu Smith, district PIO; and Raphael Kauffmann, advisor to the Carlmont High School newspaper. Gemma explained that the goal in meeting with the Press Club Board of Directors was to “improve the newspaper program at all our comprehensive high schools.”

Kauffmann explained that the Carlmont newspaper meets as a club during the noon hour and that student interest was low. He hoped that a class could be re-established and expressed the desire that a professional journalist might be able to come and talk to English classes to recruit for the newspaper.

The following discussion included the following points:

• The class could encompass a variety of media forms — Internet, television (Marshall mentioned PenTV), newspaper, magazine, ad sales and mass communications.

• American Society of Newspaper Editors provides a template web-hosting program for high school papers.

• The district would like to see papers at Carlmont and Sequoia revitalized.

After the discussion, Gemma committed to get the proposed journalism course approved as an A-G Elective that would meet the requirements for UC admittance. He also will seek to get Kauffmann money for curriculum development over the summer.

Marshall and Micki both volunteered to lend a hand at Carlmont.

After the guests had left, the meeting resumed.

Minutes were approved as read and the Treasurer’s Report was accepted. Darryl noted that he had finally been able to pay Hannah Hoffman’s scholarship now that she was enrolled at UC Berkeley.

Open Seat
The board accepted the resignation of Jay Thorwaldson which creates a second open seat on the board. Jon noted that he planned to talk to Melissa McRobbie, managing editor at Bay City News, about taking one of the positions.

Journalism Contest
Darryl expressed the need to promote the contest before the Feb. 28 deadline. We want to get a press release to Bay City News as soon as possible.

Judging
Darryl has television entries from the New Orleans Press Club and radio entries from the Milwaukee Press Club. He will see if Peter is willing to work on them while he’s in Hawaii.

High School Contest
Micki will get a date for the Awards Presentation at Ralston Hall and see if Hillsdale Shopping Center will continue as a sponsor. She will also write a press release for the contest and the Herb Caen Scholarships. Darryl will do a mailing later this month.

Evening of Excellence
Saturday, June 6, has been confirmed as the date with the Crowne Plaza in Foster City. The board discussed possible speakers: Mark Curtis; Phil Matier, Chronicle columnist; Alison Wright, photojournalist author of “Learning to Breathe”; Jerry Ceppos, dean of the J-School at UN Reno

Town Hall Meeting
Marshall presented a concept of a meeting on The Future of High-Speed Rail. He suggested that it be co-sponsored by the county which would allow him to work on it during work hours. After a discussion, the board approved having Marshall proceed with the concept as a single-meeting panel discussion with the county as a co-sponsor. Marshall will offer further details at the March meeting or by email.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Micki Carter, secretary