Vice President/President-Elect

Kristi Rathbun, MJE

Kristi Rathbun, MJE advises Rockmedia at Rock Canyon High School in Highlands Ranch. Her students have earned All-Colorado Awards from CSMA, Crown and Medalist recognition from CSPA, Pacemaker and All-American recognition from NSPA and Best of Show honors. Rathbun is CSMA Advocacy Coordinator and Colorado JEA State Director; she was CSMA Adviser of the year in 2012, JEA Distinguished Adviser in 2014 and received a CSPA Gold Key in 2016. She has served on the CSMA board since 1998, working to help advisers, students and media programs throughout Colorado.

Candidate statement:
“No matter my position on the CSMA board, my primary goal remains empowering others to create valuable publications and media outlets for their school communities through continued education, student and adviser advocacy and opportunities to hone media skills – regardless of their level of experience or location in the state. As CSMA navigates change through board makeup, community attitudes toward media and cultural events impacting students and advisers, I hope to be an approachable representative for others.

“Being available to answer questions as they arise, proactively providing resources ahead of needs and continuing to educate in step with both trends and foundational methods are just some of the approaches to help Colorado student media programs grow while giving skills beyond the classroom to students and providing support to their advisers as well. In serving on the CSMA board, I look forward to developing student media in Colorado by building on the elements of education, advocacy, communication and media literacy.”