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Surrounded by her students, fellow Shawnee Mission school district journalism advisers and her parents at the district’s Quill & Scroll ceremony Wednesday, April 16, Shawnee Mission North adviser Becky Tate was named to the KSPA Hall of Fame in recognition of her 35 years of journalism education and service to KSPA.

In 1995, KSPA became the first state organization to create a Scholastic Journalism Hall of Fame in order to honor its own excellent members. Today, 40 names have been added to the permanent Hall of Fame plaque that hangs in the KSPA office in KU’s William Allen White School of Journalism.

The KSPA Hall of Fame was begun as a way of honoring members and friends of high school journalism in Kansas who have contributed to the profession both at the state and national levels. The nominee will be judged on the following criteria: 1) Noteworthy service to KSPA and to the education of student journalists; 2) Outstanding personal achievement in student journalism; 3) Contribution to the field of student journalism. 

Tate has spent her entire teaching career at Shawnee Mission North, where her publications students have earned nearly every state and national award, including Pacemakers, national convention write off and Best of Show placings, KSPA state contest winners. Tate is currently president of KSPA and of NSPA (at the same time!), and during 2024-2025 helped lead KSPA through a year without a permanent executive director, volunteering countless hours to keep the organization running smoothly. Tate’s list of individual honors is impressive: JEA Medal of Merit in 2008, CSPA Gold Key in 2010, H.L. Hall Yearbook Adviser of the Year in 2019, NSPA Pioneer Award in 2023, JEA Linda S. Puntney Teacher Inspiration Award in 2024.

Words of nomination

Retired Shawnee Mission Northwest adviser Susan Massy said:

Becky is and has been one of the best journalism teachers in Kansas and in the country for years. Although Becky and I have been friends for decades, I have rarely had the opportunity to observe her in her classroom at North. For the past two summers, we have taught yearbook theme development together. Becky’s approach is simple, effective, inspired and inspirational. She explains complex concepts in simple, relatable terms. She guides. She cajoles. She praises. She makes herself accessible. She pushes students beyond their comfort zones, but knows when to just let them work. And she does that in a few days with students in a workshop setting. I have worked with her editors several times. Their drive, the depth of their thought, their confidence and their creative search for the best way to approach “yearbooking” is a direct reflection of the adviser who constantly asks “what if’ and who serves as a sounding board for them.They consistently win awards for producing beautifully designed and journalistically solid books. She has also influenced more of her students to become journalism teachers than anyone I’m aware of.

Shawnee Mission West adviser and former North journalism student Amy Morgan said:

Teacher, mentor, colleague, friend…Becky Tate has been all of these things to me throughout the past 32 years. I was inspired by her as a student, and she is one of the reasons I became a teacher. I have been lucky enough to teach in the same district with her for the past 26 years, and she is still inspiring me to this day. Becky genuinely cares about her students, and she wants to teach them important life skills as well as all the journalism stuff. Her students are better people when they leave her classroom. Becky is driven to give her students every advantage and opportunity she can; which is apparent in the quality of the publications, and also from the behavior of her students.

I am proud to say that Becky Tate is still influencing me after all these years. As a teacher, I hope that I have the impact on my students that she has in the lives of her students. I admire her dedication and competitive spirit, and watching her motivates me to be a better teacher. She is always available to dispense advice, or just to listen and offer sympathy and support during the challenging times, and encouragement and congratulations during the happy times.

Shawnee Mission South adviser and former North journalism student Tucker Love said:

Tate is an impressive force in the journalism education world. For over 30 years, she has helped students hone their storytelling skills while they create award-winning newspapers and yearbooks. She is one of the driving forces in Shawnee Mission journalism, where her husband and two of her former editors advise journalism at sister schools — I’m one of them. Her connections with so many advisers and reps across the state and country have made her a staple on the workshop teaching circuit. She is so willing to share her wealth of knowledge and experience to help student journalists and new and veteran advisers around the country navigate the ins and outs of scholastic journalism.

I am a teacher because of Becky Tate. I think my approach to yearbook and newspaper advising is strongly influenced by my time as her student. She gives students autonomy and the power to choose. She takes the time to find a space for every student who enters her classroom, finding what they are good at and giving them tools to succeed. She recognizes that students have other desires and responsibilities, and allows them space to be kids while they manage their time and experiences. Her room is a place for kids to struggle and succeed, as part of their entire development into young adults. Tate prepares students to be inquisitive and engaged citizens when they leave SM North.

That’s what stands out most to me. For Tate, it has less to do with the final products her students produce and so much more with how she helps mold strong, smart and engaged individuals. The numerous local, state and national awards that she has won are just a bonus, and her response or Facebook status is always the same: it’s just great kids, doing great things. Her 35 years at SM North have certainly established her as one of the most impressive publication advisers in the state, and is absolutely deserving of recognition in the KSPA Hall of Fame.

Lawrence High adviser and former North journalism student Barb Tholen crafted 52 reasons Tate deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, one for each year KSPA has been in existence. Here are a few of those reasons:

1. She inspired me and decades of other students at Shawnee Mission North to push themselves to try new things, be leaders and ask tough questions.

2. She sets high standards for her students to the point no compliment feels better than one that comes from Becky Tate.

20. She’s a voice of reason. When I feel frustrated, Becky can reframe the issues with empathy. And sometimes sarcasm.

21. She’s the Kevin Bacon of scholastic journalism. There’s no more than six degrees of separation between her and every other adviser in the United States.

27. She teaches students about their rights.

28. Her students know how to use their rights. A few years ago, they sued their school district after administrators took cameras away from students while they were reporting on a student walk out.

29. I graduated from high school nearly 30 years ago, but she still encourages me with the same gusto that inspired me to try harder when I was wearing flannel shirts and Birkenstocks to North.

42. She’s been such an inspiration to so many of us that we wondered how she hadn’t won the award sooner.

Congratulations to Becky Tate on her well deserved induction in the KSPA Hall of Fame.