From April 17th to April 20th, journalism students at the school attended the Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA) state convention in Orlando, Florida.
FSPA is an organization that provides resources such as workshops, competitions, and conferences for student journalists to further develop their skills and excel in journalism.
The school has many journalism departments including CTV2, Pawprint, Yearbook, and the newly created ‘The Leaf’ literary magazine.
Throughout the year, these students make up the publications for the school and help to inform students about events going on around the campus. They also work to create submissions for the FSPA competitions that occur in the Fall and the Spring.
At the convention, there were workshops for every aspect of journalism such as broadcast, newspaper, photography and yearbook. During these workshops, students learned from professionals in their field to strengthen their skills.
The journalists also participated in On-the spot contests, which put each journalist under stress and pressure as they were given minimal time to complete their submissions. On-the-spot contests had students working at the hotel to create content for their submission within a short period of time.
For these on the spot categories, four of the school’s very own journalists won recognitions. CTV2 Visual Effects Art Director Jacob Janacek, yearbook Editor-in Chief Laura Gonzalez and yearbook editor Rylie Gentile, and Paw Print Feature Editor Kasi Kaleva.
The seniors felt a lot of emotion as they remembered that they are off to college or other opportunities in life to possibly continue in the journalism field.
“The award meant a lot to me because it was my last award I would ever get from FSPA,” senior Laura Gonzalez said. “I know this was the last one and my last chance to make memories with my friends.” senior Savannah Lebreton also mentioned.
Some seniors attended for the first time, but wished they came sooner such as senior Sophia Kaklias.
Through the help of advisors Mrs. Pekala and Mrs. Harwell, these students are able to work and push through their conflicts and weaknesses. Pekala says her team could work on their orientation to detail towards certain aspects in their work and Harwell feels her team could work on time management and execution.
“Working under pressure and short deadlines helped me learn a lot, and I plan on using what I learned to improve my work,” sophomore Blake Weter said. Advisors Mrs. Pekala and Mrs. Harwell plan to attend next year to allow for the growth and development of their journalists. Overall, the school benefited greatly from this convention and the journalists came back feeling informed and more confident in their work.
