The Miami Dade College, Kendall campus hosted the Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA) on Friday, November 3rd, for their annual district convention, also called ‘J-Day’. In addition to learning more about their interests and abilities, the South Dade Bucs media team, which includes TV production, Newspaper, and Yearbook, had the chance to grow and bond as a team. The students arrived in time for the first workshop and separated into groups according to their roles in journalism, consisting primarily of writing, design, photography, and videography.
Journalism advisor Patrick Sicher values the experience of the trip and acknowledges the potential it helps his students realize. “Somewhere like J-day, everybody is like you, so you feel like you are with your people. It’s something where you really get immersed with other journalism students and really get motivated,” Sicher said.
Sicher was also a featured speaker, and taught two sessions of his workshop, ‘Let Me Talk To Ya,’ where he led the importance of social skills with tips and tricks on interviewing others. “It is something they all should have, but it was a little reinforcement of basics to give them some tips they hadn’t thought of or were comfortable with. It was a good way to show them this is something everybody needs, and it’s not as hard as people make it out to be.”
The group then convened during the lunch break following the first two sessions of the three in preparation for the closing ceremony, featuring the announcement of the contest award winners who submitted images, designs, and stories before the event, where the staff walked away with three awards in total.
The first award won was second place for Quick Turn Personality Profile Writing, where junior Yasmin Alvarez won her first-ever award at FSPA for her profile on new assistant principal Vivian Lugo. “I was pretty emotional about it. I held it back and kept it together, but I was really emotional. I take pride in the things that I do, and because of that, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. Getting that award felt like a reassurance like ‘Hey, your work is good enough.’”
Soon after, it was announced that the first place winner for Quick Turn Review Writing and second place winner for Quick Turn Sports Spread was senior editor-in-chief Keira Faddis. “I saw my name on the screen, and I was so shocked my mouth fell open. I was so excited that I remember shaking. I came back and was so overwhelmed and excited I started crying.”
The support she felt from the rest of the staff was moving and motivating to her.
“I think it was a really sweet moment. Everyone was so happy for me, and everyone altogether was happy about it.”
