Hendricks honored as David Adams Scholastic Journalism Division Educator of the Year

Marina Hendricks, assistant professor and graduate program coordinator for the online Master of Mass Communication in South Dakota State University’s School of Communication and Journalism, has been recognized as the David Adams Scholastic Journalism Division Educator of the Year. 

The division award is from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, a major international membership organization for academics in the field. It was presented during the association’s 2024 conference, held Aug. 7-11 in Philadelphia. 

The award goes to a deserving Scholastic Journalism Division member for outstanding performance in the college/university classroom and at scholastic journalism workshops and conferences. It recognizes significant contributions to scholastic journalism at the secondary and pre-secondary level (K-12) through work in higher education. 

"No one exemplifies the ideals of the division more than Marina. She is a role model for students and scores of academics across the discipline," Bradley Wilson, division head, said. 

Peter Bobkowski, Knight chair in scholastic journalism and professor at Kent State University, nominated Hendricks for the award. "Dr. Hendricks’ longstanding focus on educating young people about journalism and on engaging them in the business of news makes clear that she is a worthy candidate for receiving the David Adams Award," he said. 

Hendricks has been involved in scholastic journalism since 1990, when she launched and ran a program for high school journalists at her hometown newspaper. She led the youth section at the Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette until 2005. She also served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Charleston. 

Hendricks supported and managed youth outreach initiatives for the Newspaper Association of America (now News Media Alliance) and its foundation from 2005-11. She also completed a doctoral dissertation project in 2017 at the University of Missouri-Columbia that included being embedded in a high school journalism classroom. 

After joining SDSU in 2017, Hendricks has led the South Dakota High School Press Association since 2018. In that role, she also chairs the annual South Dakota High School Press Convention and serves as South Dakota’s state director for the Journalism Education Association. Her research focuses on youth journalism, student journalists and issues in journalism. She teaches Public Relations Writing, Introduction to Master of Mass Communication, Integrated Marketing Communication and Cross-Platform Campaigns. 

She has also served as vice head (2019-21) and head (2021-23) of the Scholastic Journalism Division. 

“Dr. Hendricks’ work in the area of scholastic journalism has been incredibly impactful, locally and nationally. In addition to being a highly successful educator, Marina has worked tirelessly to support high school journalists in South Dakota and across the nation,” Josh Westwick, director of the School of Communication and Journalism, said. 

“Each year, she plans and coordinates the annual South Dakota High School Press Association Convention, which connects South Dakota high school journalists with industry leaders and professionals committed to the development of young journalists. I am thrilled to see her receiving public recognition for her exceptional contributions to scholastic journalism,” he added. 

Hendricks is the third SDSU faculty member to bring home the David Adams Award. Past recipients are Mary Arnold, former department head of journalism and mass communication, and Lyle Olson, former department head and founding director of the School of Communication and Journalism. 

“I was humbled to win this award, knowing who the previous winners were,” Hendricks said. “I’m very gratified that it recognizes my entire body of work, going all the way back to West Virginia, because that work is what set me on my path to come here. It is where I discovered my deep, abiding love for teaching students about journalism and advocating for them, and since I went back to school to get my Ph.D., I’m focusing on research about student journalists.” 

Her favorite parts of her job are teaching and learning. “Just the day-to-day interaction with students and seeing what they bring to the classroom, it’s always different. I don’t think there’s ever been a year since I came here that I haven’t learned something from my students. I like to tell them about the importance of being a lifelong learner, and I practice what I preach,” Hendricks said. 

Hendricks also left the conference with two additional honors. 

Monica Hill, Hendricks, Sarah Cavanah and Bobkowski were recognized with a top paper award for their work on “High School Journalism Field Trips: Post-Pandemic Barriers and Opportunities.” 

This study examined high school journalism educators’ perspectives on workshops and conferences sponsored by college and university journalism programs. In-depth interviews with 29 U.S. educators revealed barriers and opportunities for participation in these journalism-focused field trips. 

Hendricks also participated in the Women Faculty Moving Forward Workshop, a program of the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University. 

The workshop is held annually in conjunction with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference, with workshop participants becoming Kopenhaver Center Fellows. The Women Faculty Moving Forward program is designed to help faculty members move forward in their careers through mentoring, networking and preparing for tenure and/or administration or other leadership positions.