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Manhattan High School students and adviser Kristy Nyp, left, celebrate the administrative team that was awarded the 2022 KSPA Administrator of the Year Award on April 11, 2022 at Manhattan High School

A team of administrators from Manhattan High School has been named KSPA’s 2022 Administrator of the Year, an award which recognizes secondary school administrators who have stood up for the First Amendment and advocated for journalism students. The recipients from USD 383 are Superintendent Marvin Wade, Assistant Superintendent Eric Reid, Principal Michael Dorst, Activities Director Larry Myers, Athletic Director Mike Marsh and CTE Director Christopher Holborn.

KSPA congratulates the team on this award and thanks them for this continued efforts to support the work of his students and the First Amendment.

Words of nomination: 

Adviser Kristy Nyp of Manhattan High School collected thoughts from her students who have interacted with the administrative team. She presented these reflections in nomination for the award, writing: 

While the flagship publications at Manhattan predate all the members of our leadership team, the particular support received currently by the Digital Media pathway is due to the attitudes and guidance of this team of administrators. From their willingness to allow students access to events, to their own participation in media activities; from setting up our journalism program with the tools and resources we need, to encouraging our involvement in conferences, contests, field trips and mentoring opportunities, our administrators show respect for the student journalists on par with the professional media in our community and they demonstrate their commitment to creating a scholastic journalism experience that prepares our students for rich lives as consumers and producers of media content.

And her students added these words of recognition for the USD 383 team: 

“Dr. Wade and the other administrators are always open to being interviewed and providing additional information. I’ve heard from others that Wade always treats student journalists with respect. We, as student journalists, are allowed to and are encouraged to speak freely about topics we care about.” – Junior McKayle Clark Snodgrass, page designer

“Mr. Dorst always makes time for an interview and is very flexible. Mr. Holborn always helps the livestream function properly and helps everything go smoothly. Without Mr. Marsh’s cooperation for student journalists to be able to go on the field for events and also making livestreams possible, it would be very difficult to conduct quality interviews and produce content on YouTube.” – Freshman Advith Natarajan, staff writer and sports announcer

“Mr. Holborn’s timeliness and persistence for the staff to have funds for our livestreams and equipment is one of the most important actions we have in the work room.” – Sophomore Carmello Streckfus, photographer and staff writer

“I interviewed Mr. Marsh about every other week during the winter of 2021-22 about sports policy as COVID-19 cases continued to climb and he was cooperative. The biggest thing I can remember him doing for me was letting me ride with him to Wichita to watch the boys state wrestling tournament last year. Tickets were limited so my dad couldn’t drive down and watch it with me, so he offered to give me a ride.” — Senior Kris Long, newspaper editor-in-chief

Nyp concludes her nomination by writing, “Clearly these students show the invaluable support provides by the various members of our leadership team. I and the journalists in my classes greatly appreciate the respect our administrators give to my students and the student media program at our school.”

From the judge: 

Below are the comments from our judge in the contest.

This group of administrators collectively helps sustain a vibrant journalism program that includes a weekly newspaper, yearbook, news website, video production, podcasting and live streaming. As evidenced in the following statements for Manhattan HS student journalists included in the nomination letter, the student journalists feel valued and supported by these administrators: “They all support us by treating us as if we were professionals”; “[Dr.] Wade always treats student journalists with respect”; “Mr. Dorst always makes time for an interview and is very flexible. Mr. Holoborn always helps the live stream function properly and helps everything go smoothly. Without Mr. Marsh’s cooperation … it would be very difficult to conduct quality interviews and produce content on YouTube”; and “They treat us like real journalists, not just kids asking questions.” These and other statements make clear that this group of administrators value and respect the student journalists, which motivates the students to develop and practice their journalistic skills, and to serve the Manhattan HS community through the journalism they produce.