By Elizabeth Sims
Staff Writer
SAN ANTONIO – Eight Coppell High School journalism students along with The Sidekick adviser Chase Wofford and Round-Up adviser SallyAnne Buckley departed CHS for the historic city of San Antonio on Thursday morning.
The group did not go to sightsee, however. It was bound to participate in the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention.
Upon arriving at the convention, they were greeted by a wide variety of booths. Each booth offers information on everything from college journalism programs to summer programs for high school students. One of these booths is from Dallas County Schools, and it gave information about the Gloria Shields All-American Publications Workshop. This workshop is a week-long event that offers specified classes for students enrolled in publications to teach them how to improve their program.
“We bring in advisers and teachers from all over the United States, most of them are Pacemaker winners,” Gloria Shields All-American Publications Workshop representative Deanne Hullender said. “It has been around for 35 year and has proven itself to be phenomenal. Kids come to it from over seven different states.”
Among the prestigious colleges in attendance include the University of Missouri, Texas Tech and Baylor University, with representatives ready to talk to students about their journalism programs. One representative was Curtis Callaway who teaches in the Baylor photography department. Callaway draws on his experience as a nature photographer to bring new opportunities to students.
“We can bring our students real world experience so they can graduate with portfolios of actual jobs that they did for companies,” Callaway said. “We have had students who have made PSAs for actual non-profits to raise money for that organization. We prepare our students for the real world with real world experiences.”
The booths were not just Texas-based. In fact, Stanford University has a booth for their summer program called Newsroom by the Bay. This one week program is held in June specifically for high school students. Overall, those who attend are taught how to effectively use digital journalism and write for online publications.
“We are heading into our third year of operation and our mission is to help students crossover into online publication and learn how to write for websites and develop their ideas,” Newsroom by the Bay leader Beatrice Motamedi said. “It is a very student driven program in which we set up reporting opportunities for our students and it is just a lot of fun.”
Aside from the convention, the group is just happy to have the opportunity to visit the city, take in all of the sights, experience some of the culture and learn the history. For KCBY and EMAC junior Mark Slette, this trip is his first chance to travel to San Antonio and he is amazed by the city.
“Being by the river, being in the Menger Hotel, just seeing the city life of San Antonio has just been amazing,” Slette said. “I have enjoyed it; the life here is awesome.”
As the group prepares for a day filled with unique speakers and sessions, they are eager to see what they will learn from this experience. The convention runs through Sunday, with the Coppell group returning home Saturday night following the NSPA Awards Ceremony.
