Xian Ke served as the technology coordinator of this Web site. She graduated in 1999 from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., where she took Advanced Placement Journalism under Ms. Carol Lange and was Editor-in-Chief and Layout Editor of the school newsletter. A National Merit Finalist and Scholarship Winner, she is also an AP Scholar with Honor and is listed in the 1998-1999 Who's Who Among American High School Students. She has participated in the ThinkQuest program for three years: In 1998 she was a finalist for the project "Energy Matters," and in 1999 she was a student member of "The Asian Century: Paths to Power" which received a gold award and the technology coordinator of "Only a Matter of Opinion?" which received the platinum award in the content category in the the first ThinkQuest for Tomorrow's Teachers. She currently attends the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

One of the 15 teachers who developed an intensive journalistic writing approach to teaching advanced placement composition, Carol Lange has participated in all but three of the 17 IJW institutes since 1988. The 1991 DJNF National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year, Lange has advised 26 magazines and 13 yearbooks which have received NSPA All American, Pacemaker, and Hall of Fame, CSPA gold and silver crowns, SIPA All Southern and NCTE Highest Award recognition. She also has served as the secretary, newsletter editor, and state and regional director of the JEA. In 1999 she was a finalist for Fairfax County (Va.) Public Schools Teacher of the Year. Along with Xian Ke, Ron Bennett from Idaho and Diane Weber from Alabama, Lange received the platinum award for their development of an educational Web site in the first ThinkQuest for Tomorrow's Teachers.

Members of the VAJTA contributed to the content of this Web site and supported its development. VAJTA.org began in 1999 with Sean Dobbs, an Advanced Placement Journalism student, establishing the framework of the site and finding a server. This project has been a prime example of cooperative learning. In January 2000, VAJTA.org was posted on the Internet.