Melissa Larson is in her 13th year as an educator. This is her eighth year as a Faculty Adviser at WJMC. In 2014, she received the Rising Star Award from the Journalism Education Association. In 2013, she was recognized as one of nine Apple Award Finalists for Secondary Educator of the Year in the Douglas County School District. She teaches technology courses at North Star Academy in Parker, CO. She also taught Digital Media, Multimedia Productions and Electronic Publications, and advised the Imprints yearbook for six years at Mesa Middle School in Castle Rock, CO. Imprints won several awards including NSPA 2nd Place Best of Show in 2011 and 2013, and NSPA 1st Place National Picture of the Year in 2012, 2013, and 2014. She was a fellow at the 2012 ASNE Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, Columbia. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Business/Computer Information Systems at Colorado State University. She is married and has three daughters.