At the end of fall break, 16 journalism students attended the state journalism convention TAJE Fall Fiesta. They collected 29 awards and brought ideas back to improve the publication staffs.
“I always love going to state and national conventions because it’s a time where everyone on staff who goes gets to be able to learn more about journalism and just spend time with each other,” KP Times editor-in-chief of Fallon Head said.
At Fall Fiesta, students competed in journalism-based competitions, attended workshops, and heard from speakers. They also had the opportunity to participate in fun activities, like trivia night, and spend time together outside of class.
“Learning about new things to take back to your staff and really incorporate it to make yourself better is amazing… but also it really gives the people who go time to bond as a staff and you really come back feeling closer,” said senior Shelby Townsend, who competed in editorial illustration.
For the third year in a row, Kingwood Park won Sweepstakes at the state conference, in addition to second place for online news site and print newspaper, third place in yearbook, and many individual awards. The conference gives journalism students a chance to be recognized for their hard work and exceptional content.
“I was kind of shocked… I wasn’t expecting the amount of awards we were going to get… and I didn’t think we were going to win the whole thing,” said Preston Carpenter, who competed in feature writing, “I’d say it was a really positive experience.”
Students appreciated the opportunity to focus on journalism for the weekend, and many are looking forward to their next trip already. On Nov. 6, 12 journalism students will attend the Fall 2024 JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Conference as Pacemaker finalists, and they are up for nine additional individual awards.
“It is just journalism, and being able to experience it with people from either across the state or across the nation, and talk about journalism, it’s just very impactful, and I think it helps staff and myself stay motivated and just see that our work does matter,” said Head.
Fall Fiesta Recap
Staff Awards
Online News Site – 2nd place
Print Newspaper – 2nd place
Yearbook – Third place
Individual Awards
Kaitlyn Sitton – Marketing (Superior), Newspaper Design (Excellent), Feature Photo (Excellent)
Ella Hickman – Digital Photo (Best of Show) Beginner Yearbook Design (Honorable Mention), Digital Photo – Big Feelings (Superior)
Shelby Townsend – Editorial Illustration (Honorable Mention)
Fallon Head – News Writing (Superior), Feature Photo (Excellent)
Sydney Ortiz – Video News Story (Excellent), Video Feature Story (Honorable Mention)
Emily Mckithern – Photo Portfolio (Honorable Mention), Sports Action Photo (Excellent), Sports Reaction Photo (Honorable Mention)
Jacob Dihn – First-year Photo (Superior)
Tricia Darcy – Sports Action Photo (Superior), Digital Photo: Big Feelings (Honorable Mention), Digital Photo, Rizz (Honorable Mention)
Jordan Hutchinson – Digital Photo: Peak Action (Honorable Mention), Digital Photo: Student Journalists (Honorable Mention)
Bishop Scott – Digital Photo: Rizz (Superior)
Heather Horace – Digital Photo: Taste of San Antonio (Honorable Mention)
Maggie Spara, Paisley Thomas, Marie Wakefield and Amber Batiste – PSA (Honorable Mention)
Darcy Gordon-Claassens, Lexi Ratcliff, Tatumn Perry, Rachel Hamilton, Haley Pena – PSA (Excellent)
Peyton Smithson, Ella Hickman – Video Sports Story (Honorable Mention)
