Eleven Shore journalism students, along with The Beacon advisers Mrs. Koontz and Mrs. Martin, attended the annual Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA) conference held at Rutgers University on Monday, October 26th, 2015.   Students attended a variety of workshops in which they learned about prospective careers in journalism and heard from experts in the field who offered suggestions and ideas to the young writers.  

Attendees also listened in on keynote speaker, Mary Beth Tinker, who is a true champion of the First Amendment and is a great example to young people. In 1965, Tinker and a handful of other students wore black armbands to mourn the victims of the Vietnam war and form a truce, Administrators suspended the students. But, by 1969 the Supreme Court decided 7-2 that students retain their freedom of speech while in school. Since then, courts have cited the Tinker decision in hundreds of rulings. This conference enhances students’ views on the history of journalism itself and bring about awareness to the story of Mary Beth Tinker. She is currently traveling around the country and beyond, speaking to thousands of young people about their constitutional right to free speech.