2011 COLLEGE YEARBOOK IMAGES

Our page six from the first day of production in Austin.

I always spend a better part of my summer traveling around the country teaching some of the most talented high school and college students in the country. This week was no exception.

I spent the first part of the week in Austin teaching at the Dow Jones News Fund Center for Editing Excellence. I’ve been doing this with great instructors like Griff Singer, the director, Beth Butler, Amy Zerba and George Sylvie for more than a decade.

Then I spent the rest of the week in New Orleans at the 10th annual college yearbook workshop. I also got to spend a few minutes before I came home Sunday with a former NCSU sports editor who is entering law school this fall, Tanner Kroeger.

If you ever think that America’s colleges and universities are turning out mediocre students, you haven’t met any of these folks I spent time with this week.

Wow!

Spread by Ashley McKevitt of the University of Miami

The student editors from places like the University of Oklahoma, the University of Texas and the University of California at Los Angeles, the yearbook staffers from schools like Jones County Junior College and the University of Miami were undoubtedly some of the most talented students with which I’ve ever worked.

They took pride in their work. Even when they could have spent more time at Hole in the Wall or on Bourbon Street, they spent time working on layouts or preparing for their internships. (Then they spent time at the bars or just hanging out.) Their work ethic was exemplary.

I hope that along the way the students learned something. Based on the feedback we’ve received so far, they did. But for me, it was also a refreshing opportunity to work with the best and the brightest our colleges and universities have to offer.