The spark, the flame and the fuel of FSPA

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This article was written by Angela Lin, class of 2019.

Students don’t often see what goes into making an issue of the school newspaper or producing the morning show, but at FSPA all the students’ work and talent was put on show. During the Florida Scholastic Press Association Convention (FSPA), schools from all over Florida gathered to showcase their journalism skills Apr. 27-29 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort. FSPA welcomed over 1300 newspaper, literary magazine, yearbook and broadcast students to compete and attend workshops. This year’s theme “Ignite” inspired students to “fuel the future” with journalism.

Students participated in competitions Apr. 27 and attended the opening ceremony at 7 p.m. The contests, such as yearbook team and feature photography, occurred in different rooms and times around the hotel. Broadcast students carrying expensive equipment and dressed in business attire crowded the hallways of the hotel as they each tried to produce their best work. Students were also able to visit vendors in the lobby of the hotel where they collected pens, candy, and pina and entered raffles. The opening ceremony hosted a number of guest speakers and announced some of the “Best of the Best” winners of digital contests that were submitted earlier in the year.

A number of workshops were available for the students the next day. Each session lasted about an hour and each room had a professional discussing topics such as sports, photography, design, and even how to get professionally published. At 6 pm, students dressed up and headed to the banquet, where more “Best of the Best” winners were announced and UF’s Innovation News Center director Mira Lowe spoke about her experiences in journalism, such as her time working for CNN. A dance was held after the banquet.

FSPA closed with a ceremony the next morning announcing the rest of the “Best of the Best” winners and the winners of the on-the-spot competitions that took place during the convention.

“I had a really enjoyable experience at FSPA. I was able to make videos with my team which was a great opportunity to learn about collaboration,” said Sebastian Delgado, a sophomore at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High.

FSPA Spring Awards 2017

Best of the Best Quick Turn Fiction and Illustration :  Skylar Britton

Best of the Best Literary Magazine Spread : Stella Ikpatt and Joe Wiesberg

First Place : Poetry : Lauren Hutton

First Place : Team Yearbook

First Place: Digital Infographic: Lauren Quintela

Second Place: Digital Infographic : Amanda Wasserman

First Place : Opinion: Andrew Kolondra, Jr.

Second Place : Opinion :  Amber Bhutta

Second Place : Press Conference : Zihan Kabir

Second Place : Team Literary Magazine

Third Place : Mixed Company : Andrew Kolondra, Jr.

Second Place : Team Broadcast

First Place: Man on the Street : Gianna Sanchez, Jianhao An, Sofia Barreto, Noah Brenner

First Place : One-shot Photography : Cameron Wolk

First Place : Storify : Ana Curi

Junior High

First Place : Feature Photography : Erika Wagner

First Place : Poetry : Claire Tyler

First Place : Man on the Street : Alexa Ruiz, Shivan Giroti, Synnove Mikkelson