Passion. Commitment. Dedication. They came early and have lasted for decades for Linda Barrington, 2013 Carl Towley winner.

When she was in elementary school, a highlight of her day was the delivery of the afternoon newspaper to her home.

“I would bring in the paper every day and read it — not just the comics but the stories, too” Barrington said. “I loved reading everything and knowing what was going on in the world.”

That curiosity led her to create a paper of her own the summer after fifth grade.

“I interviewed other kids and then wrote stories about them. I hand wrote the paper and tried to make it look like a newspaper,” she said

Her love affair with journalism continued through high school and college. As an undergraduate at Mount Mary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she was news editor of the newspaper and many years later became the design adviser.

It was a natural progression for her to seek out others involved in scholastic journalism and she became involved in the Kettle Moraine Press Association at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater and JEA.

Finding those organizations fueled her passion for journalism because she said she learned so much and could also give back.

She became involved in JEA’s Certification program and was part of the Certification Commission.

At a JEA convention, she attended a session taught by Nick Ferentinos about mentoring new journalism teachers. That led to her “ground-floor involvement” along with Ferentinos, Steve O’Donoghue, Julie Dodd, Peggy Gregory, and Bill Fletchner (2019 Carl Towley recipient) in creating a mentoring program.

“That was an exciting time,” she said. “Nick was part of the New Teacher Center Mentoring program and found us funding through the Yellow Chair Foundation. The funding allowed us to dream big and make things happen.”

In 2007 the group trained the first 10 mentors at the Philadelphia Convention, and Barrington became the director of the program.

Barrington was committed to helping advisers through the Mentoring program from 2007-2021 and had 26 mentees of her own while handling the logistics of the program.

“We had to find funding from the states to support the mentors who traveled and invested both time and personal funds to help their mentees. It is important the mentors get a stipend to offset their expenses,” she said. “Handling all those details and following up with the mentors and the individual states took a lot of time because of all the details.”

It’s not surprising that as director, Barrington added “Mentoring Matters,” a twice-a-year newsletter and a brochure to her responsibilities. She said she loved creating the publications but her real love was working with mentees at conventions.

“I met with my mentees at conventions and we would plan, discuss strategies and collaborate. We shared a vision,” she said.

She sees the Mentoring Program as a permanent part of JEA, although change is inevitable.

“It’s only natural the program will change with new people and new ideas,” she said. “The important thing is that it benefits so many people and helps them grow and stay connected.”

Conventions were inspirational for Barrington, not just because of the mentoring program but also judging the Newswriting category of Write-offs (now National Student Media Contests) and attending the Advisers Awards Luncheon.

“The luncheon is a must for me. The presentations and the speeches are so inspirational,” she said. “Jane Blystone’s Carl Towley acceptance speech in 2022 was exceptional.”

Although retired from teaching, Barrington continues to use her passion for scholastic journalism, now to secure freedom of expression for students. A former executive director of the Kettle Moraine Press Association, she supports New Voices legislation for Wisconsin.

“We’re so close,” she said. “We’re on the verge of seeing it happen and when the Senate returns in January, 2024, there should be a positive vote. We had a lot of people making presentations to legislators, but it wasn’t until the students presented their case that things started to turn around. We’re very hopeful.”

Somethings never change. Passionately committed to scholastic journalism causes and dedicated to seeing teachers and student programs grow and improve, Barrington remains constant in her love of the process and the product.

“I love it,” she said. “Even today I’m still writing and reporting and producing a newsletter, this time for my church.”