Feather staff engage with student journalists and professionals across US

Through partnership between the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) and the Journalism Education Association (JEA), the annual National High School Journalism Convention was hosted in San Francisco at the Hilton Union Square, April 20-22. 

Out of 27 Feather staff members, eight staffers attended, including editors, journalists, photojournalists and video journalists, along with Feather adviser Kori James. As well as attending the conference, students explored San Francisco, visiting Pier 39 as well as going to a Giants games in Oracle Park.

Approximately 4,000 students were present at the conference, where they all were gathered for the opening ceremony, April 20. During this ceremony, many awards and achievements were given out, recognizing journalists, journalism/magazine teams and yearbook teams. 

The Feather, due to the poor performance of the site at the time, did not try to win any awards or contests between online student newspapers. However, The Feather was recognized as a NSPA Pacemaker 100 (for the top 100 publications since 1921) during the ceremony.   

Photojournalist Julia Castiglione, ’25, attended the NSPA journalism conference for the first time this year.

“Going to NSPA for the first time was a great experience!” Castiglione said. “I got to sit in on a ton of different sessions that helped me gain a better knowledge about the different aspects of journalism. I hope we get to next year!”

The keynote speaker at the conference, Peter Hartlaub is a culture critic at the San Francisco Chronicle as well the co-founder of the podcast Total SF. Hartlaub spoke on the importance of recognizing the history and people of the Tenderloin, a SF neighborhood known by most for its crime and poor living conditions. However, the Tenderloin today is home to many non-profit and service organizations helping to build the neighborhood back up. 

During the main portion of the conference, April 21, The Feather taught three workshops, including Elements of an Award Winning Team – for fellow advisers, Enhance with the ‘Gram and Impact with Inforgraphics, where James was assisted by seniors Elise Bessey and Amanda Johnson. Students also went to a variety of different classes, each with different focuses, taught by industry professionals.

“During one of her sessions, James called me up to speak about my experiences with media packaging in articles as a photojournalist,” Bessey said. “Getting the opportunity to speak about my experience as a professional photographer and learn about different sides of journalism was an excellent experience.”

Now equipped with a brand new website, The Feather hopes to participate in next year’s award season as publishing seamlessly becomes a possibility once again.

To read more from The Feather, go to Bible teacher Aubri Foster completes last year at Fresno Christian or Senior Reflection: Emma Calderon.