Scott Bush

My trite comment about the snow back home has backfired, as the beautiful SoCal weather has disappeared, replaced by grey clouds and cold breeze. In short, it’s like a normal April in Seattle today.

I thought it’d be a good time to explain what makes these conventions worth coming to. It’s not the hotel pools, though the number of swimsuited high schoolers there would make you think otherwise (none from the Hawkeye’s contingent, though). It’s the quality of thought and dedication of the educators and professionals here to teach these energetic and eager young journalists. I attended discussions of student press rights and responsible journalism, as well as more technical session on “new media” in journalism (slide shows with audio, video on websites, etc.) and Adobe Bridge and Camera RAW format. These are the sorts of educational experiences that make all the travel, late nights, junk food, and rambunctious—and often screaming—high schoolers worth while.

Saturday also brought the first of the two awards ceremonies: group honors. As usual, the crowd first listened to the NSPA presenter (Washington’s own Logan Aimone from Wenatchee, who replaced Tom Rolnicke) introduce the head table, which included the new head of the Student Press Law Center. The SPLC has been defending student journalists for decades, including the Hawkeye circa 1995 for some incident about photographers photographing an on-campus fight. The crowd chipped in and raised just over $2500 to support the important work of the SPLC.

I won’t keep you in the suspense as we were: the Hawkeye placed 10th in the Best of Show category for papers publishing 13-16 pages! Congratulations to all the staffers who contributed to this accomplishment!

Washington state was well represented. Schools from Gig Harbor, Puyallup, Mt. Si, Hanford, Wenatchee and many other locations also took honors in their categories. Advisors and editors from the schools had met during the convention and decided to all gather in the same corner of the ballroom, thereby giving us more concentrated volume when any of our massive group won. It was quite a fun experience and always an honor to be numbered among such quality publications.

The remainder of the evening was small group outings: some to dinners, others to shopping, and a sizable contingent to Disneyland. Tomorrow’s our last day. Saddened by this, Mark, Vince, and I drown our sadness in a donut.