On Wednesday, March 27th, WHS journalists attended Journalism Day at the University of Missouri. The purpose of Journalism Day is a day to spotlight journalists’ work and awards they may receive. Most of all, journalists get the option to learn from many different colleagues in the field, along with professors from different universities. 52 different schools around the country attended this day, therefore allowing journalists to connect in different ways.
“My favorite part about J-Day was getting to learn about journalism and being in sessions with people that have the same interest in it that I do,” Junior Editor-in-Chief Keira Mostaffa commented. Additionally, advisors that attend with their classes also are benefited in many ways. “J-Day is a chance for me to network with other advisors to learn from presenters to improve the quality of our program at WHS,” advisor Amanda Adler said. This also provides opportunities for staff writers and editors of the school newspaper to learn leadership skills in seminars. “Personally, J-Day helps me better understand my role on the yearbook staff. The professors that present other seminars give good advice to especially help in the future, and lead to success,” sophomore Staff Writer Brennen Slavens stated.
The itinerary for J-Day is an early introduction with guest speaker of The KC Star, Hannah Wise, at 8am. Then, students will attend three 50 minute seminars. The seminars are primarily taught around a college level and presented informally. Many students can attend different kinds of seminars like, broadcasting, interviewing, photography, etc. Later on, at the end of the day all students meet back in the auditorium for the awards ceremony.
Seminars range from all sorts of informative presentations like broadcasting, sports stories, etc. Many writers can benefit from different seminars they attend, depending on their interest. “Attending J-Day gives me more opportunities to learn different angles to take during a sports game or story. Personally, I tend to do more sports stories because that’s what I prefer and enjoy, so being able to connect with others and be educated by good professors sets me up for success,” junior Staff Writer Carter Howell expressed.
The process of receiving an award does not go unnoticed. Students submit their best work and they are reviewed by judges hired by MIJA (Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Association). Then, students are awarded within the school size as honorable mention, excellent, superior, or All-Missouri. Along with, The Show Me awards are given to the top submissions in the contest (regardless of the school size). Most of all, there were over 1,500 submissions this year.
Many different staff members of The Wildcat Newspaper/Yearbook were rewarded in different categories. The Wildcat newspaper was awarded with All-Missouri overall and a whole staff, along with The Wildcat Online was awarded with Superior as well. Along with, the Ozark Echoes Yearbook staff was awarded with Excellent as a whole. The individual awards consisted of, All-Missouri: Ashlynn Adams – Academic Photography, Madyson Reimund – News Feature Writing, Grace Drake – News Feature Writing and Sports Action Photography, Keira Mostaffa – News Feature Writing and Sports Action Photography. Superior awards included: Ashlynn Adams – Yearbook Writing, Aubree Smith – News Feature Writing, Madyson Reimund – News feature Writing. Excellent awards contained: Sarah Gilbert – Yearbook Traditional Package – Academic, Haylee Cobb – Yearbook Traditional Package – Student Life, Brennen Slavens – Yearbook Traditional Package – Club/Organizations, Samantha Harr – Academic Photography. Lastly, the students that were awarded Honorable Mention were: Brylee Brewster – Yearbook Traditional Package – Sports and Sports Action Photography, Grace Drake – Sports Action Photography, Hailey Ferguson – Sports Feature Photography.