In 2016, the Journalism Education Association  (JEA) named thirteen recipients of their Rising Star Award, one of whom is the Knight Errant’s Editorial Journalism Adviser Ms. Kari Koshiol. This year, Koshiol is the only Minnesotan recipient of the Rising Star Award. The JEA established the Rising Star Award in 2006 and it honors journalism advisers who are at most in their sixth year of advising and who are committed to their publications and the students who run them.

This school year is Koshiol’s sixth year working with the Knight Errant staff. She took over as the Editorial Adviser at the start of this school year and previously worked with the staff writers as the Journalistic Writing Adviser.

Koshiol was nominated for this award by previous Editorial Adviser, Mr. Jason Wallestad. Wallestad and the Knight Errant Print Editor-in-Chief Adam Eldred wrote recommendations vouching for Koshiol’s talents as an advisor. “I asked Adam to write my letter of recommendation because he has seen all levels of work I have put into the program, as both a writing and an editorial adviser,” Koshiol said.

In his letter, Eldred commented on Koshiol’s performance as an adviser and her interaction with the student editors. “I focused on her commitment to letting us make independent choices and guiding us to learn from our own decisions,” Eldred said.

The Knight Errant is a student-run publication, meaning that student editors have a large amount of control over the content published. Koshiol is dedicated to giving students that control. “The one thing I try the hardest to do is to make sure that editors are making the bulk of the decisions,” Koshiol said.

Koshiol will be recognized along with the twelve other recipients at the JEA and National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Los Angeles in April. The JEA and NSPA sponsor two journalism conventions a year, one in the fall and one in the spring. The JEA works to teach advisers how to better instruct their students and certifies journalism advisers. The NSPA provides summer workshops at the University of Minnesota, where their base of operations is, along with the biannual convention.

The award recipients were announced on January 26, and the Knight Errant staff was thrilled Koshiol was getting this recognition. “I was ecstatic. Nobody deserves this award more than Ms. Koshiol, nobody,” Eldred said.