Luggage of all shapes and sizes entered Room 9115 on Nov. 8, as 23 journalism students, Mrs. Sarah Verpooten, Ms. Carrie Wadycki, English, and Ms. Myra Lolkema, Technology Trainer, prepared to journey to Washington, D.C. for the four-day JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention.
After arriving in the national’s capital, members of the Publications staff along with LCTV staff members, attended various sessions in design, photography, leadership, ethics, broadcast and writing. Even with all of these sessions, there was still time for sightseeing. The group visited the Newseum, a museum specifically relating to modern news and media, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Vietnam Memorial and the World War II Memorial, as well as the White House and the United States Capitol.
“The Newseum was like Disney World for journalists. It was incredible to see bits and pieces of history from a journalistic perspective instead of just what you see in the history books. The Newseum gives you a behind-the-scenes look into events that have shaped the history of the world,” Hannah Sonner (12) said.
On Friday, Nov. 7, students took part in Write-off contests where 2,168 students from across the country participated and a total of 829 were recognized, including a chunk of Lake Central’s Publications staff.
“I was very surprised to receive an Excellent rating in my Write-off, which was Feature Writing. There was a lot of pressure to do well, and it turns out that the pressure seemed to be beneficial. It was really rewarding to receive this award, especially since this convention was the last journalism convention of high school,” Jillian Wilschke (12) said.
The spring convention will be held April 16-19, in Denver, Colo.
Write-off winners include:
Honorable Mention
Sara Lisac (12) – Newswriting
Alayna Wallace (12) – Editorial Writing
Anastasia Papanikolaou (11) – Press Law and Ethics
Jessica Wojton (10) – Literary Magazine: Photography
Hannah Reed (12) – Graphic Design: Logo
Jeannine Toth (12) – Graphic Design: Photo Illustration
Jenn Mohamed (12) – Photo Story
Camryn Wallace (10) – Photo Portrait
Jimmy Lafakis (12) – Broadcast Commentary
Excellent
Jillian Wilschke (12) – Feature Writing
Hannah Sonner (12) – Newspaper Sports Photography
Tabitha Pappas (10) – First Year Photo
NSPA Feature Picture of the Year
Honorable Mention – Noelle McBride (12)
NSPA Best in Show Large School Website
10th place in the nation – Lakecentralnews.com
