About 250 high school journalists visited IU Southeast on Friday, Oct. 30, for the Southeastern Indiana Student Press Association conference.
This annual event brought together students from about 15 southern Indiana high schools. These students, along with their advisers, were involved in newspapers, yearbooks or both.
Jim Lang, journalism teacher at Floyd Central High School, said the event was a success.
“It gave the kids an opportunity to come together and share ideas,” Lang said. “It gave them a chance to learn from each other and their teachers. It also gave them a little bit of recognition.”
The conference included several workshops meant to teach students about topics such as writing columns, interviewing, photography, writing and design.
Several workshops were being held at the same time in different rooms. The first workshop was held at 9:30 a.m., and the second was held at 10:30 a.m.
Alan Stewart, photographer for the Corydon Democrat, said his workshop went much better than expected. He hosted the “Basic Photography” workshop.
“Kids normally just sit there like they’re not paying attention,” Stewart said. “This time, they were focused. I think it’s because, before, I talked about sports writing. I think they appreciated it more this time because it’s visual.”
Chuck Branham, photographer for the Jeffersonville Evening News, said his workshop, “Advanced Photography”, didn’t go as well.
“I think they got a little bit bored,” Branham said. “One of them asked if I staged any of my photos, and that got into an interesting discussion. Ultimately, it’s hit or miss each year.”
Hosts of other workshops discussed working at places like the Courier-Journal and the Indiana High School Press Association.
Amanda Miller, Charlestown High School senior, said she learned how to do cut-outs in Photoshop. She said she also learned how to edit black-and-white photos in her “Advanced Photoshop” workshop.
Tony Gentile, Scottsburg High School sophomore, said he learned how to write better opinion pieces in his “Opinion Writing” workshop. He said he learned how to be heard better.
Lang went to the “Advisers’ Roundtable” workshop. He said the advisers talked about how to launch online publications.
“[An online edition] changes how you organize your staff,” Lang said. “It’s been difficult, but I’m happy with what we have done with it so far.”
After the workshops ended at 11:15 a.m., the last part of the conference included two awards ceremonies. The newspaper awards were held in Hoosier Room West, and the yearbook awards were held in Hoosier Room East.
Awards included categories such as best feature writing, best layout and best photos. There were first, second and third place awards.
Destiny Howard, Seymour High School junior, accepted awards for the Seymour Owl, which won newspaper of the year in division II. Division I schools are bigger than Division II schools.
“We put in a ton of hours,” Howard said. “It’s a class, but most of us bring it home. We have very high expectations of ourselves.”
Howard also said she contributed to a design makeover. She said it was a challenge for their staff, but it was worth it.
Irina Miralda, Floyd Central High School senior, also said she worked on a design makeover for her school’s newspaper, The Bagpiper.
The Bagpiper won newspaper of the year in division I. They also won first place for editorial writing, among other awards.
“I know we’ll do a lot better next year,” Miralda said. “We have a lot of eager writers and we’ve used a lot of new design techniques.”
The SISPA conference was started in the fall of 1971. Keith Wellman, adviser for Columbus North High School, first organized it.
Jim St. Clair, professor of journalism and coordinator of the Department of Journalism, helps organize the event now. He said he felt like the conference went well this year.
High school students are invited from 14 counties in the southern Indiana area. It has been hosted at IU Southeast since the early 1980s.
SISPA also sponsors an annual summer journalism workshop for high school
students in the local area.
By JOSEPH DEVER
Editor
jwdever@ius.edu