They may qualify legally as minors, but there was nothing minor league about the performance of 10 student journalists who’ve served as the backbone of the Conference Daily Online reporting and videography staff.
Over the past three days, eight high school students and two collegians have traversed all corners of the massive convention center in New Orleans in pursuit of meaningful news coverage and colorful feature stories at AASA’s 2025 National Conference on Education.
Their developing reporting skills have been on display each day for the 3,200 paying attendees of the conference, along with a thousand or more others, including exhibitors, who participated in the association’s spotlight conference. They’ve helped to write and produce the vast majority of the short news stories and video clips appearing in Conference Daily Online snce Thursday.
Jay P. Goldman, editor-in-chief of Conference Daily Online, marvels at the capacity of the eager young students to apply their fledgling multi-media skills under deadline pressure to the most challenging assignments they’ve faced. He says it’s only fitting for an education association such as AASA to give students these real-world learning experiences.
“I’m pretty sure we’re one of the very few professional organizations – and maybe the only one that I know of – that turns over such important duties at its flagship conference to teenagers,” he said. “I could not be more proud of the students’ meaningful work that we’ve shared with a nationwide collection of high-ranking school leaders.”
Conference Daily Online has updated its web page with fresh contents each evening and distributed its e-newsletter by 7 a.m. Central Time the next day to inboxes of every conference attendee and all AASA members.
Here’s the full roster of Conference Daily Online’s 2025 staff.
Editor in Chief: Jay P. Goldman, editor, School Administrator magazine, AASA
Managing Editor: Jacqueline Hyman, assistant editor, School Administrator magazine, AASA
Digital Editor: Stephanie Compton, consultant, Penrose, N.C.
Videography Coordinator: Michael Ellson, media arts teacher, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Nashville, Tenn.
Senior Editors: Sarah Hall, freelance writer, Raleigh, N.C.; Emily Topping, freelance journalist, New Orleans, La.; and Liz Griffin (off-site), managing editor, School Administrator magazine, AASA
Reporters: Amiela Arcellana, e-newsletter editor, AASA; Ruthie Feinstein, sophomore, Benjamin Franklin HS, New Orleans; Sia Moon, junior, Benjamin Franklin HS, New Orleans; Ecoi Lewis, graduate student, Loyola University of New Orleans; Charli Slaughter, sophomore, Mount Carmel Academy, New Orleans; Mohammad Tantawi, senior, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La.
Videographers: Claudia Cook, sophomore, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Nashville, Tenn.; Jack Frazer, sophomore, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Nashville, Tenn.; Lyla Kelley, senior, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Nashville, Tenn.; Emercyn Randolph, senior, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Nashville, Tenn.; Bennett Songer, sophomore, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Nashville, Tenn.
Photographers: Matthew Hinton, freelance photographer, New Orleans; Sandy Huffaker, freelance photographer, New Orleans.
Bloggers: Rui Dionisio, superintendent, Fair Lawn School District, Fair Lawn, N.J.; Lance Gibbon, superintendent, Hood Canal School District, Skokomish, Wash.; Neil Gupta, superintendent, Oakwood City Schools District, Oakwood, Ohio; Jane Stavem, superintendent, Sioux Falls School District, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Podcasters: Joseph Jones, superintendent, New Castle County Voc-Tech School District, Wilmington, Del.; T.J. Vari, former assistant superintendent, Appoquinimink School District, Odessa, Del.
