Faculty and Staff
Teresa White
The director of HSJI is Teresa White, faculty at the Indiana University School of Journalism. She taught high school journalism and English for 23 years in Indiana, plus served as an HSJI faculty member for 21 summers. Her connection to the institute began in 1979, when she attended HSJI as a student journalist. Questions? Email White at terwhite@indiana.edu.
Linda Johnson
The administrative services coordinator of HSJI is Linda J. Johnson. Linda coordinates the registration process for the High School Journalism Institute summer program, as well as manages various administrative duties. Linda has been with the university since 1982 and with the institute since 1987. If you have any questions pertaining to registering for HSJI, send her an email at ljjohnso@indiana.edu.
Faculty Bios
Alan Bates
Alan Bates teaches AP English, video announcements/broadcast journalism and coaches the debate team at Princeton High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He earned his B.A. in political science from Miami University, Ohio, before getting an M.A. in journalism and English education from Ohio State University. He is the television news coordinator/instructor for two sessions this summer for HSJI.
Kristine Brown
Kristine Brown, MJE, teaches journalism and English and advises the newspaper and broadcast at Chantilly High School, Virginia. Previously, she was the publications adviser at Fishers High School. Brown received her B.A. in English from Bradley University, her transition to teaching certificate from Ball State University, her journalism teaching license from Indiana University and her M.A. in journalism from Ball State University.
Brown is a judge for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the National Scholastic Press Association and various state associations. She is also a past board member of the Indiana High School Press Association, and a member of the 2016 JEA national convention local committee. She has taught sessions at the JEA national convention, at IHSPA fall conventions and at Ball State’s J-Day.
Under Brown’s guidance, the CHS newspaper and broadcast programs have received recognitions for excellence, including the VHSL Trophy Class award, various NSPA and CSPA awards and the JEA First Amendment Press Freedom Award. The FHS newspaper and yearbook also won numerous Ball State J-Day awards, Quill & Scroll awards and IHSPA awards, including Hoosier Stars while Brown was adviser.
Claire Burke
Claire Burke, MJE, advises the Pinnacle yearbook at Carmel High School, where she also teaches journalism and English. Burke has served as a JEA State Director as well as a critique judge for NSPA and various state organizations. Her students have received recognition from NSPA, JEA and IHSPA. She loves seeing students create yearbook amazingness every year!
Christina Faulkner
Christina Faulkner is a journalism teacher and adviser at New Albany High School where she advises both the newspaper and yearbook staffs. She is a 2004 graduate of Indiana University’s School of Journalism and has a Masters Degree in Educational Technology from Indiana State University. She has been teaching/advising for 18 years.Griffin Gonzalez
Griffin Gonzalez is thrilled to be joining Mike Wells as the two team up to co-teach sportscasting at this year’s HSJI. Griffin Gonzalez graduated from The Media School in 2022 and began working for WDRB-TV in Louisville following a successful college career being named a two-time Sportscaster’s Talent Agency of America All-American. Gonzalez also served as the In-arena emcee at numerous Indiana University Athletic events and has interviewed numerous athletes and coaches at the collegiate and professional level.
Sam Hanley
Sam Hanley is the English department chair and yearbook adviser at Southport High School in Indianapolis, where he has advised The Anchor for 15 years. He is a 2002 graduate of Indiana University, where he earned a B.S. in journalism and education. In 2009, Hanley completed a master’s degree in school administration from the University of Indianapolis.
The Anchor staff is the recipient of state and national awards, including IHSPA Hoosier Stars and NSPA Pacemaker finalists.
Hanley is the president of the Indiana High School Press Association board of directors and recently served on the local committee for the 2016 NSPA/JEA convention in Indianapolis. He has presented on yearbook design, theme development and sales at the IHSPA fall convention, NSPA national convention, Ball State’s J-Day and Josten’s workshops.
Jeremy Hogan
Jeremy Hogan began working as a freelancer for his hometown newspaper, the Porterville Recorder, in 1987 while still in high school. He covered a lot of high school sports, but also some big stories, such as the funeral of Cesar Chavez in 1993.
He later graduated from San Jose State University in 1997 with a journalism degree and shortly afterward began working as a visual journalist at the Herald-Times in Bloomington.
While working his way through college, before being hired by the HT, he worked as a photojournalism intern at the Modesto Bee, Indianapolis News, Kansas City Star, Palm Beach Post, and Ann Arbor News.
In 2019 the Herald-Times was sold to an investment company, and the photo staff of two was cut down to one. Hogan was laid off. However, what could have been a career-ending situation became an opportunity when he began covering the community for the online news site he founded: The Bloomingtonian.
The subscriber and advertising supported local news site, which is digital, had 181k users in the past 90 days, and covers a variety of local breaking news, and sometimes national news and politics.
Hogan traveled to Ukraine as an independent photojournalist in 2014 and began contributing video to Getty Images. He took the opportunity as a Getty contributor to build the video archive by covering the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and political events in between. He has over 7,000 editorial video clips represented in the Getty video archive. Clips have been licensed for use on everything from Comedy Central, and the Bill Maher show to feature films such as, “Don’t Look up.”
Hogan believes photojournalism isn’t dead as some predicted, but the old business models no longer work, and the traditional markets for visual journalism have collapsed. But innovative visual journalists will find a way forward as they have already in an ever-changing marketplace.
Mike Klopfenstein
Mike Klopfenstein teaches Journalism and English at Southport High School in Indianapolis. He’s the adviser of The Journal, Southport’s award-winning newsmagazine. Prior to his work at Southport, he taught at Carroll High School in Fort Wayne and at Bluffton High School. He coached high school baseball for 24 years.
Klopfenstein received his B.A. from Indiana University in 1992 and his master’s degree from the University of Indianapolis in 2009. He’s a past vice president of the Indiana High School Press Association’s board of directors. He was named the IHSPA’s Sengenberger Adviser of the Year in 2018 and Southport High School’s Teacher of the Year in 2014.
The Journal has been named an IHSPA Hoosier Star winner several times under Klopfenstein’s guidance. His students have won numerous awards at the state and national level. Two of his students have been named IHSPA Journalist of the Year.
Steve Layton
I have taught graphics and design courses at IU SOJ/MSCH since the Fall 2010 semester. Before teaching, I worked for almost 20 years in newspaper graphics departments, 16 of them at the Chicago Tribune, where I was Graphics Editor and later Senior Artist. I have won numerous awards for my graphics and design work, which I keep in a drawer somewhere, and in 2004 I was a small part of a large project on airline gridlock that was awarded that year’s Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism. During my time at the Tribune, I took part in three major redesigns and witnessed firsthand and on a day-by-day basis the accelerating pace of change that continues to transform the world’s media companies. My classes in the Media School are skills-based and focused on graphic design, informational graphics and interactive media. I am a graduate of the University of Florida.
Kathleen Mills
Kathleen Mills received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University. She advises The Optimist at Bloomington High School South, where her students regularly win writing awards from Quill and Scroll. She is also a freelance writer who has been published in The New York Times, Mademoiselle and The Indianapolis Star.
Denise Roberts-Green
Denise Roberts-Green has advised yearbook, newspaper, web page, magazine and broadcast staffs for the past 32 years. She taught at IUPUI School of Journalism for several years and has taught at HSJI for 22 years.
Her forte has been launching and revitalizing scholastic journalism programs, including overcoming an inherited debt of $24,000 at Greenwood High School, where she has taught for the past 24 years.
Her students have earned Indiana Student Journalist of the Year and runner-up recognition, Hoosier Stars, Harvey Awards, Pacemakers and national convention Best of Show awards.
Meanwhile, she has earned her Master Journalism Educator from the Journalism Education Association and her master’s degree in educational leadership through IU. Although a licensed principal, this 2000 Indiana Journalism Teacher of the Year has opted to stay in the classroom doing what she loves: teaching.
Grace Waltz
Grace Waltz teaches secondary English language arts at GEO International High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Her goal as an educator is to help students tell their stories through whatever media suits them. She worked as a video producer after receiving her degree from Indiana University’s Media School in 2016. Her experience with documentary-style video production spans from solo, run-and-gun shoots to international, multi-person crew productions.
Mike Wells
Mike Wells joined ESPN in August 2013 as the Indianapolis Colts’ NFL Nation reporter. Also appears on ESPN’s SportsCenter and NFL Live, and is a fill-in on ESPN Radio. Contributes to ESPN’s golf and NBA coverage on a as-needed basis.
Prior to joining ESPN, covered the Indiana Pacers for the Indianapolis Star and the Minnesota Vikings and Timberwolves for the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press. Started my career working for The Associated Press in Seattle.
Counselor Bios
Ellie Albin
Ellie Albin is a rising senior at Indiana University. She is majoring in journalism with a concentration in news reporting and editing and specialization in graphic communication. She is also earning a minor in environmental and sustainability studies in addition to a certificate in rock ‘n’ roll music history.
While at IU, Ellie has dedicated much of her time and energy to the Indiana Daily Student, where she has held many positions on staff and is currently serving as managing editor. She is looking forward to the many projects she has planned with her IDS friends in the fall! Ellie is also a member of Women in Media, Ad Club, serves as a mentor in the PREP Peer Mentor Program, and volunteers at IU Auditorium and with Girls Inc. in Bloomington. This past semester, she was also one of the 500 Festival Princesses, where she got to celebrate and spread her love of the Indianapolis 500, serve her community, and expand upon her philanthropic efforts! Her newest project is Princesses Read Too, which aims to spread the love of reading to everyone and create easier access to reading materials.
In her free time, Ellie loves to read, travel, bake, craft, and hang out with her friends! She also adores being outside and participating in active hobbies such as hiking, kayaking, running, and camping. Exploring and getting to know Bloomington is one of her favorite activities in the whole world. She also loves coffee shops, so if you have any recommendations, let her know!
Phia Foley
Phia Foley will be a Senior this fall at Indiana University Bloomington. She is studying journalism with a public relations concentration and specialization in sports journalism as well as Spanish and sport marketing and management minors.
She is the Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the Student Athletic Board here at IU and enjoys cheering on the Hoosiers at all 24 sports. She is also a member of the Hoosier Hype Crew where she throws t-shirts and helps with marketing promotions during football and basketball games. In her free time, she likes hanging out with her twin sister and their pets Piper, Sally, and Frankie. She is excited to be back for her second year working with HSJI after attending this institute as a high school student. Go Hoosiers!
Sydney Greggs
Cooper Hudson
Cooper is a rising senior at Indiana University Bloomington. He is majoring in Media with a concentration in Media Technologies, Games & Culture, and a specialization in Screenwriting. He is also minoring in History.
In his free time, one of his biggest hobbies is writing. He has self-published four books, written two short film scripts and two short stories, and has even written scripts for both a feature film and a TV series. He also enjoys collecting vinyl records and CDs, watching movies and shows, finding new things to do in and around Bloomington, and spending time with family and friends.
Cooper is honored to be returning to HSJI as the head counselor for the summer of 2023, and greatly looks forward to interacting with this year’s students. “High school journalism makes a huge difference in the world, and these students are our future!”
Alexis Lindenmayer
Lexi is a senior at Indiana University Bloomington. She is studying journalism with a concertation in news reporting and editing and a concentration in secondary education.
Lexi is an Ernie Pyle Scholar at Indiana University. She works for the Indiana Daily Student and will take over as Creative Director in the fall. She is also a part of WIUX where she hosts a radio show with fellow counselor Sydney. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hanging out with friends and spending way too much time in B-Town.
Alexandra Sulewski
Alexandra Sulewski will be a senior at IU this fall. She is a journalism major with a concentration in news reporting and editing. She is also working on getting her teaching license so that she can teach high school journalism when she graduates.Teaching/Office Assistants
Olivia Bianco
Olivia Bianco is going into her senior year at Indiana University Bloomington. She is studying journalism with a concentration in broadcast journalism.
Olivia is currently the News Editor for WIUX, a sports photographer for the IDS, a board member for the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism, and on air DJ for B97. In her free time Olivia likes to watch movies, listen to music, and wakeboard.
Ethan Moore
Ethan Moore is a rising senior at Indiana University, double majoring in Informatics and Journalism with a concentration in photojournalism and graphic communications. He has previously worked at the Indiana Daily Student as editor-in-chief, creative director and visuals editor.
Outside of his academic pursuits, Ethan works at Tracks on Kirkwood, where he pretends to know anything about the Beatles. He is also a big fan of crafts!
Sammy Nance
Sammy Nance is a senior at Indiana University studying Journalism and Photojournalism. She has been a photographer for six years with a passion for sports photography. Sammy is currently a photography intern for the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology and also runs her own small business capturing portraits.
Gillian Paxton
Gillian Paxton received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University in 2021 and her secondary teaching license through the IU School of Education’s Transition to Teaching Program in 2022, during which she student-taught the journalism classes at North Central High School in Indianapolis. She also works as a graphic designer and staff writer for the Environmental Resilience Institute. She is now pursuing an MA in Journalism, focusing her research on media literacy education.
In her free time, Gillian loves listening to music, knitting, and playing video games.
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