MUNCIE, Ind.-- More than 2,000 high school journalists from Indiana and Ohio are expected to attend Ball State University Secondary Educational Services' 44th Annual High School Journalism Day Friday, April 23.

Secondary Educational Services, also known as the Ball State Journalism Workshops, works closely with schools to provide year-round programs on issues confronting student journalists and advisers.

High School J-Day instructs and prepares student writers, editors, photographers and designers to produce stronger publications, encouraging them to seek journalism careers.

J-Day begins with the keynote address "Why People Write" from H.L. Hall, president of the Journalism Education Association. Hall is a distinguished journalism educator and recipient of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund National Journalism Teacher of the Year and the Pioneer Award from the National Scholastic Press Association.

Hall and other professionals such as Dick Johns, executive director of Quill & Scroll, teach sessions in newspaper, yearbook and photography. Classes are available for beginning and advanced journalism students as well as advisers.

A publications contest offers awards in 23 categories. Deadline for entry is Tuesday, March 23. There is a $1 fee per entry.

Registration deadline is Friday, April 2. The cost is $8 per student; advisers and chaperons may attend for free.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information about this story, contact Gary Sewell at (765) 285-8900.)