From Nov. 5 to Nov. 10, representatives from all three journalism publications at Carlsbad High School (Lancer Express, the Lancer Link and the Purple Shield) traveled to Washington D.C. to partake in the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association (JEA/NSPA) convention. While there, students participated in write-offs and attended multiple informative sessions.

“The sessions were incredible because they taught everything with classes from InDesign and interviews for beginners to kind of more advanced things like how to improve your feature writing and profiles,” Editor-in-chief of Lancer Express Madison McMurray said. “The most important thing I learned was definitely how to be a more effective leader for my team and my publication.”

The convention included competitions where students competed in a variety of categories against other high schools throughout the nation. Marianna Marsden, Natalie Cortez, Kayla Fraga, Raya Klooster and Emily Dewhurst earned Honorable Mention awards while Megan Schoen and Kallan Arkeder earned Superior awards.

“I did a write-off competition about student life so I wrote a story and captioned three photos and they gave me quotes and facts and photos to help me come up with [an angle],” Raya Klooster said. “I was writing about performing arts schools, and got to showcase what I’ve learned in yearbook.”

Along with learning more about journalism, students were able to experience a different way of life.

“We had a pretty even balance of learning about D.C. and learning about Journalism,” Klooster said. “We had the opportunity to tour D.C. and get a feel for what the city was like because it is so different from where we live.”