In a mission to keep journalism alive, North Star News traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, from Nov 13-16 to attend the fall JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention. During this time, students attended a variety of different sessions, building their knowledge on how to be a good journalist. Sessions included topics such as sports writing, interview skills, localizing city news, and other relevant subjects.
“One thing I learned was how to engage more with people that you’re interviewing in a sports story,” opinions editor Lolah Slagg said.” “There are ways to connect with people besides the sport, and get to learn them as a human instead.”
Sessions were led by teachers, professors, and other professional journalists from all different fields. They shared their experiences and tips they have learned from their professions. Learning opportunities arose for students and classroom advisors.
“I went to this one session about localizing global topics and connecting them with your community,”sports editor Emily Mathee said. “It was a good session because it was more collaborative with the other people in the session, and not just being talked at the whole time.”
Beyond learning the skills of being a journalist, students attended a trade show where they met with people from schools across the country, learning about their publications. They also had the opportunity to talk with representatives of different universities and learn about their journalism programs.
When the NSN staff weren’t attending sessions, they were exploring other areas in Nashville and working on team building. On Friday afternoon, the NSN staff took a trip to the capital building, where they walked along the walls describing history from up to a billion years ago.
Staff ended the night with a trip to the Rainforest Cafe. Over dinner, students and advisors were able to share their experiences of the day, including what they learned, and how they will implement their learning into their own future writing.
