Hot off the press: A deep dive into the NHSJC experience
Leading by being inclusive, by Opinion Editor Lily Johnson
Going to NHSJC has helped me learn new ways to be a better leader. Many of the sessions I attended were directed towards those who want a place in a leadership position. I went to these in order to better understand our staff and their struggles.
I want to help create a space where everyone feels comfortable asking for help when they need it. During my freshman year, I was often intimidated by the editorial board and wouldn’t ask for help when I needed it. I want this year’s staff to not be intimidated by the editors, but instead view them as people to turn to when they need assistance with their stories.
After coming back from NHSJC, everyone who attended will present something they learned from their sessions. This way, even those who weren’t able to attend will still be able to learn valuable lessons.
On being a better writer, by Interactive Editor Allie Hartman
NHSJC offered lots of sessions that gave tips to improve my writing, and I feel like I needed that after being away for a couple of weeks for summer. I lined up a couple of grammar sessions in my schedule to hopefully get better and be able to help the staff with their grammar. The speakers gave tips like when to add dates, how many interviews each story needs, how to get diverse interviews and the right and wrong way to get an interview. These tips will be very helpful to share with the rest of the staff because it eliminates tedious grammar edits.
This was the Trail’s first time competing in student media competitions for the Journalism Education Association (JEA) and National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) convention’s National High School Journalism Convention (NHSJC).
Last year when the Trail Editor-in-Chief, Features Editor and I went to NSPA’s 2024 conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, we did not enter any competitions.
This year all eight staff members who attended NHSJC competed in competitions that covered several categories from newswriting to editorial cartooning. Each competition was structured differently depending on the required task.
“Press Law and Ethics” or “Current Issues and Headline Writing” took the form of a test while the “Newswriting” and “Feature Writing” competitions required journalists to listen to a 30-minute presentation followed by a 15-minute period where the speaker would answer any questions that anyone had. After that, journalists were given about an hour to write a story.
While the members of the Trail were in two-hour competitions, our adviser was taking the test required to become a Master Journalism Educator (MJE).
While the Trail did not place in any of the competitions, competing was a fun way to test what we know. After the awards ceremony, all participants were given their entries back with critiques from the contest judges. The Trail staff will use these critiques as opportunities to grow and now that some of us have this experience with competing, we can try to do better at future competitions.
In all, 1,668 students competed in photo, broadcast, graphic design, literary magazine, design and writing contests. There were over 660 students recognized with 120 superior, 194 excellent and 352 honorable mention awards.
As a first year staffer on the Trail, I was surprised that I got invited to go to Nasheville for NHSJC, as rookies usually don’t go. My immediate response to the invitation was yes.
I thought that my experience might be a little different from the editors, but in reality the only difference was the different conferences we went to. Being the only rookie to go on the trip, most of the conferences I went to were simpler and more aligned with what I needed to still learn, like using a camera properly and how to find good stories.
I now know techniques from professionals who have been in journalism all of their lives. NHSJC really enabled me to grow even further than I thought I could considering we are not even halfway into the year.
While the sessions and sightseeing were all fun and interesting, the people really made the trip worth it. I’m not going to stand here and say all I did was hang out with my friends and treat it like a vacation, but the stories I got to hear from editors and staffers nationwide changed the way I thought about journalism.
I got the opportunity to speak to students who have experienced censorship in the press, learn from professionals in the journalistic world and connect with new people. NSPA was the perfect chance for me to expand my horizons on the people I know with this profession and allowed me to meet everyone from advisers teaching in Seattle to advocacy associates working for the Student Press Law Center.
This was my second time going to the Fall NHSJC. The first year me, Nyla and Grace attended together. The opportunity provided such a strong bonding experience between the three of us. This year the eight of us ranging from the Editor-in-Chief to a rookie got to go on this four day trip and share two rooms and hours together.
I went into this trip barely knowing most of my staffers and left feeling much closer after everything. We got to spend around 12 hours in the car together, slept in the same rooms, shared meals together and went on fun trips around Nashville together. I feel like we shared so many memories on that trip in ways we couldn’t have done on a smaller trip or with a larger amount of people.
I think every advisor should select trusted and talented staffers to make a trip to NHSJC if possible whether it is the fall or spring convention. Advisers and staffers not only get to learn so many new things about their line of work but they also learn so much about one another. If advisers want a stronger staff, it all starts with bonding with one another and NHSJC is the perfect trip to make those connections.
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