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
