FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Neshaminy Newspaper Adviser Named PSPA Journalism Teacher of the Year

Tara Huber, veteran student publication adviser at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, PA, has been named Journalism Teacher of the Year for 2014-2015 by the Pennsylvania School Press Association.

In the past six months the Neshaminy High School student newspaper, The Playwickian, has made state and national news by refusing to compromise on its state-protected right to determine its own publications policy, despite the school board and administration calling for acquiescence to their demands. Huber was lauded by PSPA for her courage to support her staff throughout the year in the face of overwhelming pressure. Fellow Neshaminy English teacher Dennis Howie, in nominating Huber for the award, said that such support was “hardly new for Tara, for she championed the students’ First Amendment rights during her long tenure as adviser to The Playwickian.” Huber is completing her fourteenth year as adviser.

Dr. Jane Blystone, professor at Mercyhurst College and longtime PA student journalism expert, in her nomination of Huber, said “Tara is a leader in our state for quality student publications. She supports her students insisting on their First Amendment rights. Great advisers stand up under the duress of challenge as Tara has. We are honored to know her and we support her work in promoting quality journalism in Pennsylvania.” Robert Hankes, PSPA president, called her “a patriot for student expression and the PA School Code – a hero among us.”

Huber has influenced every aspect of English instruction over the past decade at Neshaminy, everything from working on numerous committees to teaching summer school. She’s also spent the past ten years teaching English part-time at Today, Inc., a substance abuse program. She holds a Master’s degree in Education from Temple University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communications from Lehigh University.

Huber will be formally recognized by PSPA at its Student Journalism Competition on October 15, 2014 at Temple University.