Ten members of the Patriot Post staff flew from sunny South Florida to the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, for the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Convention held at the Marriott Hotel Conference Center Nov. 6-10.
Bright and early Thursday, Nov. 7, staffers toured the University of Pennsylvania. They saw different parts of campus, from housing to student clubs. “I picked Penn because coming from a small high school, I was nervous about entering a big school, but once I came here I knew it was for me,” tour guide sophomore Sofia Vargas, a student at UPenn Wharton, said.
Shortly after, the staff made the iconic Rocky run up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They explored art from different time periods and locations around the world while at the museum, including Claude Monet’s The Water Lily Pond.
Then, students attended the opening ceremony at the conference center at the Marriott, held at 7:30 pm. With almost 3600 students from over 300 schools across all 50 states, the center was diversified with students in newspaper, yearbook or broadcasting. After hearing the welcome speech, keynote speaker Matthew Henderson, a documentarian, spoke to the aspiring journalists about filmmaking.
Staffers also walked around the convention center and checked out what all the vendors and sponsors offered. Several universities’ journalism programs such as Northwestern Medill, Boston University’s College of Communication, Penn State’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications and many others came to represent their journalism programs for the attendees. In addition, several photography and production companies such as Cady Photos and Jostens Yearbook hosted photo-op opportunities.
College senior Abigail Chachoute represented Penn State for the first time at NSPA this year. “Getting to speak to high school students who are navigating and thinking about college reminds me of when I was coming out of high school.” Chachoute said. “ I wish I had this kind of opportunity, and it makes me so glad to see so many kids interested in journalism.”
Staffers attended several workshops where they learned tips and tricks on how to become better journalists. Sophomore staffer Alex Ngo attended “Engage your audience through visual storytelling” where he saw many examples of digital media which he thought was entertaining.
Over the weekend, the Patriot Post went to their final workshops and ended with a great closing ceremony at 3:30 pm Saturday Nov. 9.
Patriot Post staffers enjoy The University of Pennsylvania’s statue of Benjamin Franklin on a beautiful, cool day. From left to right: sophomore Adiya Mukhitdinov, freshman Roma Agarwal, freshman Daniel Harper, junior Arsh Lalani, senior Emma Colarte Delgado, senior Zoe Horwitz, junior Nina Goncalves Vieria, senior Jaiden Bomar, sophomore Alex Ngo and senior Zain Masood. (Photo/Ms. Diana Adams)
It isn’t a successful trip without a bit of shopping. Even better, staffers got to represent iPatriotPost.com while doing it. Left to right: senior Jaiden Bomar, sophomore Alex Ngo, junior Arsh Lalani, freshman Daniel Harper, senior Emma Colarte Delgado, freshman Roma Agarwal, sophomore Adiya Mukhitdinov and senior Zain Masood. Below them, junior Nina Goncalves Vieria and senior Zoe Horwitz. (Photo/Ms. Adams)
After attending a workshop about the famous Hazelwood school district v. Kuhlmeier, senior online Editor-In-Chief Emma Colarte Delgado poses with Catherine Kuhlmeier. Kuhlmeier and her peers on their high school newspaper staff brought the case against their school for deleting pages in their paper about teen pregnancy and divorce. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which decided in the school’s favor. (Photo/Emma Colarte Delgado)
The NSPA staff hosts a trivia night which connects journalism students worldwide. Junior Arsh Lalani, freshman Daniel Harper and senior Jaiden Bomar earned 180 points, but did not win. (Photo/Mrs. Lara Herrera)
