The District 7 FSPA Workshop brings students across Martin, Palm Beach and Broward County together bright and early Saturday, Nov. 2. At 9:35 a.m., Ms. Laurie Jennings, the Keynote Speaker of the convention, entered the stage and welcomed the lively journalism students.
A six-time Emmy award-winning broadcaster, Jennings overcame lots of trials and tribulations to reach where she is today. Senior Ellie Simon, Co-Editor-in-Chief of “The Muse,” the Dreyfoos School of Art’s newspaper, was impressed with Jennings’ stage presence. “Seeing her speak with such confidence motivated me to get out there and pursue a journalism career,” Simon said. “I like where she mentioned how she highlights people in stories.”
Coming from New York City, Jennings studied at Cornell University where she was exposed to radio and broadcast. She then took her career from Ithaca to Cleveland to Miami, where she spent 15 years working at WPLG-TV (ABC). Jennings launched her series “Stories with Laurie” in 2020 in order to connect virtually to young children through storytelling.
“Stories with Laurie” helps Jennings connect to the human element that she strives to reach with her packages. “Grab me and change me and make me think what a great experience, what a great story they told,” Jennings said. “Get to the emotion to…highlight the key part of the story.” With human elements, a story can completely shift in perspective, helping show that “you never know where the best stories are.”
Jennings ended her speech discussing credibility and how to protect your brand. “Go with the same attitude everyday, or you might miss your big break,” Jennings said. Senior broadcaster Alejaror Ortiz of the Gator News Network in Palm Beach Gardens High School said credibility leads to the best stories. “Her voice and the way she talked made her recognizable,” Ortiz stated. “She motivated me to try to do better with my own career and stories.”
After Jennings’ speech, student journalists had the opportunity to ask her questions in a Q&A session before participating in other convention sessions. Awards were announced at 2 p.m., with the Patriot Post staff winning over 20 awards. The list of winners is below:
- Senior Emma Colarte Delgado: All Florida, First Place Newstory, Second Place Multimedia, Excellent, two Honorable Mentions
- Senior Kayra Dayi: Excellent
- Senior Zoe Horwitz: First Place Newstory, Honorable Mention
- Junior Nina Goncalves Vieira: Honorable Mention
- Junior Arsh Lalani: All Florida
- Junior Yechang Liu: Honorable Mention
- Junior Alina Sukhovskaya: Excellent, Honorable Mention
- Sophomore Adiya Mukhitdinov: Honorable Mention
- Sophomore Alex Ngo: Two Honorable Mention
- Freshman Olivia Chung: Two Honorable Mentions
- Freshman Daniel Harper: Honorable Mention
- Freshman Uma Hedge: Excellent, two Honorable Mentions
Jennings presents her speech along with a sizzle reel and slides. Junior Angie Borge, Sports Editor of The Edge Yearbook at West Broward High School, enjoyed Jennings’ speech as it had a focus on authenticity in teams. “We are bringing our new staff members here and having them go through the workshops to learn as much as they can,” Borge said. “We also want everyone to bond and feel like a strong, genuine publication.” (Photos/Emma Colarte Delgado)
All-Florida and first through third place were announced at the auditorium after the workshops. (Photos/Emma Colarte Delgado and Ms. Herrera)
