Four editors from The Feather Online, along with adviser Kori James, will fly cross-country to New York City to receive a gold or silver crown award from the Columbia Scholastic Association (CSPA). Crown awards are the highest honor publication teams can achieve. The Feather has been honored with 15 Digital Crown awards since 2009. 

This year’s three-day conference celebrates the centennial of a distinguished legacy during the 101st  CSPA Annual Spring Convention. CSPA will also commemorate this monumental achievement with special centennial awards based on five categories: innovation, impact, lifetime achievement, CSPA service, and CSPA Alumni Award. The Feather is one of 28 schools, 6 from California, honored with a Digital Crown.

The Feather traveled to CSPA with retired advisor, Greg Stobbe, numerous times since 1998, bringing home their first award in 1999. Over the years The Feather staff has been able to teach many sessions and bring home applicable tools to help develop the program. Adviser Kori James first joined Stobbe’s memorable NYC trips in 2016 after her second year on the team and quickly emerged into a different world.

“The first time I experienced CSPA I felt like a fish out of water,” James said.” The conference oozed dignity and respect for a field I was just beginning to learn. I remember being invited to Robert Greenman’s apartment for lunch with seasoned journalists and leaders. Looking at the array of presidential snapshots and shelves of autographed books made me feel like I was way out of my league. So I helped his wife in the kitchen.”

In April 2022, Stobbe was surprised with the honor of becoming the 22nd recipient of the CSPA Charles O’Malley Award following in the footsteps of his hero, the first recipient, Robert Greenman.

100 years of CSPA conferences have continued to develop a collection of professionals, teachers, advisors, and students all across the nation who build on the foundation of excellence set before them. When students participate in programs and meet other journalist, their “buy in” increases.

Returning to CSPA in March 2024 after a COVID hiatus the team took home a silver crown with their brand new website and taught six sessions. This trip reinvigorated a passion for continuing an award-winning legacy.

The Feather is a unique program because it specializes in the diversity of digital media and backpack journalism. Training journalists to cover all aspects of their stories from beginning to end creating a self-sufficient versatile journalist. CSPA highlighted the program in their On-Demand Membership Quick Courses last November. 

Editor-in-Chief Danielle Arndt was amazed to see how useful backpack journalism was on her trip to New York last year. 

“On our trip, it was incredible to see members of our team take what they have learned in the classroom and apply it using backpack journalism to write, package, and publish full-scale articles each day,’’ Arndt said. “It was impressive to see the drive each person had to pump out quality content. Furthermore, we were allowed to teach others our expertise through sessions, and the maturity and comprehension of our team’s skills were awesome to see.” 

The Feather differs from usual classes at FCS, like history, English, math, etc. The Feather lab and expectations operate more like a job with a touch of competitiveness based on team development.  No doubt this class prepares you for future jobs and careers as the proof is in the countless success stories from alumni.

Students work hard to meet their publishing deadlines and their determination to continuously publish throughout the year contributes to their success. Senior editor Julia Castiglione has been on the team for four years and has noticed an honorable difference in this team in comparison to previous teams.   

“Each year, each team is so different, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses, “Castiglione said. “One thing I believe has improved this year compared to the last years is our work ethic and how many articles we are pushing out a week.”

Four editors will be traveling from Fresno, California, to New York. Three out of the four editors were workshop leaders in last year’s conference as well. The editors’ tasks consist of editing, packaging, and publishing their classmates’ photo posts, videos, and articles. Editors, Mallory Friesen, Danielle Arndt, Delaney Meyers, and Lala Briggs, are hoping to learn more from over 250 guest sessions that can impact their daily work.  

“Going to conference last year showed me the lasting impact that the Feather has created. I didn’t realize that people even knew who we were, and it was nice to be recognized for all of the effort we put into this team,’’ Meyers said. “It was at the conference that I finally understood how important it is to work as a team and help each other improve. Each member stepped into a role while we were in New York and began to take pride in all that our team has accomplished together.” 

This year The Feather is teaching three sessions and moderating a forum:

Wednesday, March 19, 1:30-2:15 p.m.- Enhance with the ‘gram: How to use the visual tool of Instagram for viewer engagement. Learn tricks of the trade that social media platforms can offer for your publication.

Wednesday, March 19, 2:30-3:15 p.m.- Canva to the Rescue: Hands-on session exploring all the benefits of Canva, an excellent content tool for publication. Gain an understanding of design tools, design spreads, infographics, and social media posts.

Thursday, March 20, 9-9:45 a.m.- Compelling Feature Writing: Boost your writing with compelling feature articles to promote others and entertain your readers. Learn how to use storytelling elements to hook readers and keep them engaged.

Thursday, March 20, 2:30-3:15 p.m.- Social Media Forum: Turning into teen media: How to get your message across. 

Adviser Kori James will continue her teaching for her second year, as a CSPA Summer Journalism Workshop Instructor during an in-person week-long class on Digital media and Backpack Journalism. 

The keynote speaker for this year’s convention will be Richard Gingras, former Vice president of Google News. Gingras has worked in digital media since the late 1970s. His efforts were used for Google, Apple, and many broadcasting services. 

 Editors are excited to bring home this year’s award to the team as well as gain more knowledge, and meet peers and guest speakers during the event. 

Gallery • 18 Photos

CSPA Archives

CSPA Founder and Director Col. Joseph M. Murphy, with former U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

To follow along with this year’s conference check Instagram with the hashtag #cspasc25

To read more from The Feather visit  Two Fresno Christian athletic team make sports history or FC community prepares for Spring Auction and Benefit