Mr. Leland Mallett assists editors Brinley Koenig, 12, and Ryland Mallett, 12, during the Newspaper class. Mallett will recieve the Journalism Educators Association’s Medal of Merit this fall.

Leland Mallett will receive the Journalism Educators Association’s Medal of Merit at JEA’s national convention in Washington D.C. this fall. The JEA Awards Committee nominates recipients for their service to Journalism in state, local and national organizations as well as the service to JEA.

“I just surround myself with good people,” Mallett said. “it’s easy to look good when you’re surrounded by good people.”

The Texas Association of Journalism Education website remained outdated and messy until Mallett stepped in as Webmaster. Since then, Mallett has updated and reorganized much of the website. However, Legacy Student Media Adviser Rachel Dearinger believes there are other reasons he was nominated for his award.

“He stepped up and has helped TAJE with their website and got a lot of things up to date,” Dearinger said. “I think he really won it because he’s a good guy and he’s always willing to help whoever needs it.”

Mallett also helped the Summit High School yearbook staff after their journalism advisor left in the peak of yearbook season. Mallett spent several weeks with their staff to finish their book.

“The Summit advisor quit right before their book was done so they were kind of in a bind,” Mallett said. “We were done with our book, we weren’t crazy busy, I got to help them out a little bit.”

Even after countless awards in both newspaper and yearbook, Dearinger is glad to have Mallett recognized for what he provides to the Journalism program.

“I think a lot of people don’t know what they have because they’ve always had a Mallett, that’s just how it is, it’s part of the program,” Dearinger said. “It’s a lot of work, so it’s nice to have him be recognized for that.”