![Teacher Academy students from Ankeny Centennial, juniors Parker Wilson, Tony Mandolfo, and Sophia Royster develop their lesson plans that will be presented to the class. “[Teacher Academy students are] getting the experience of actually seeing if this is a career. They're getting that time in the classroom,” Teacher Academy and science teacher Kristen Campbell-Blumhagen (CB) said.](https://ahstalonnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/centennialstudents-1200x683.png)
To start, each school across Iowa in attendance was called. Each school proudly cheered when their school’s name was announced.
“ANKENY!”
Ankeny students went crazy. Cameras flashing, videos rolling, and students scrambling to capture the moment in their reporter’s notebooks.
Journalism students from across Iowa congregated at the University of Iowa on Oct. 24 for the Iowa High School Press Association’s (IHSPA) annual fall conference held at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City, a meeting that promises to inspire and equip the next generation of media specialists. Among a bustling atmosphere of workshops and networking, students had the chance to learn from professionals, exchange innovative ideas, and explore the dynamic and ever-changing world of journalism—encouraging their passion for storytelling and mass media production.
“This [IHSPA’s fall conference ] is a chance for us to get together and talk with other people, and you don’t really get a chance to do that a lot,” Leslie Shipp, IHSPA president said. “You get to talk to people in other schools and kind of see what they’re doing, and what’s alike and what’s different. This is kind of the intent of it [the fall conference, [to get the whole] group [of student journalists across Iowa] together.”
What is IHSPA?
IHSPA is a state-wide Iowa professional journalism organization that supports and encourages student journalism. IHSPA originated in the 1920s. The organization began at Grinnell College but moved to the University of Iowa in 1953. The mission of IHSPA is to encourage interest in journalism, raise the bar with secondary school publications, and encourage students to recognize the importance of journalism, mass media, and communication in their day-to-day lives.
“IHSPA overall is providing student journalists with the opportunity to branch out and learn things that they might not have known,” Talon editor-in-chief and AHS junior Lydia Gerety said.
Advanced Journalism ( The Talon) and Yearbook students from both Ankeny High School (AHS) and Ankeny Centennial had the opportunity to attend the fall conference. Student journalists signed up for a variety of journalistic sessions they would like to attend prior to the conference. These sessions covered a wide range of journalism opportunities including sports journalism, social media, photography, broadcasting, and everything in between.
Highlights from the conference
The opening keynote was delivered by on-air talent and sports personality, Lucy Rohden. She described her journalism pathway all the way from high school up until now. She is currently a producer for Meadowlark Media on the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. Rohden spoke about the importance of putting yourself out there, building a social media presence, and being around others who will help you continue to grow. Because of all of the journalistic opportunities that she said yes to early in her journey, she was able to single-handedly create her own job in the journalism world.
“I worked with such good producers and people who really pushed me creatively,” Rohden said. “That job I worked with the most talented people, it’s such an old person cliché, but you are the people you surround yourself with.”
Alongside experts like Rohden, students could also speak to other advisors to help them brainstorm potential ideas of what they could include in their own work.
“I think it’s meeting all these students, schools, and educators from across the state that can really help me improve my writing and offer new ideas,” Talon staff reporter and AHS senior Danny Nguyen said. “Like merging tech, and how I could include quizzes in my articles, which could really be interesting and spice things up.”
This is Nguyen’s first year on The Talon staff.
Students had the opportunity to choose from over 50 topic sessions before attending the conference. Covering various elements of journalism with sessions such as “Photographing your community,” “Sports videos tips and tricks,” and “Advice from an Early Career Digital Journalist” with IPR’s digital producer Natalie Dunlap.
“I went to one of the sessions that involved a multi-camera interview,” co-video editor for Talon/Nest News and AHS senior James Lopez said. “They demonstrated how to set up multiple cameras around a subject, or human to interview and to show how audio works and how important it is to have audio because you know, people want to hear good audio, it’s like music to their ears.”
Forty-two schools from all across Iowa attended the fall conference this year. AHS students could interact with students from other journalism programs from schools across Iowa to brainstorm ideas, broaden perspectives, and improve their writing skills.
“My favorite part of IHSPA so far has been getting to see the other schools’ publications and productions, and everything they’ve done to produce those, while I am able to then report back to my own publication and my own staff about what we think and what ideas we can implement,” Gerety said. “Being around like-minded people that are motivated for the same reasons that I am, it causes inspiration.”
Students could also communicate with experts to learn more about journalism, gain networking skills, and build connections.
“Getting to communicate with other people that do the same thing as you in other buildings is great for idea generation, learning from one another, and figuring out how to build a better program,” Jostens yearbook representative Ashley Cunningham stated. “It keeps journalism active right now, and we need good journalism.”
Empowering the next generation
Giving students the possibility to talk to real journalists opens up many doors and new opportunities for their future. Building connections at the fall conference can lead to a career in journalism, but can also provide a gateway for those who are unsure of taking that step forward yet.
“One of the most impactful sessions I went to was one on an early career digital journalist, and it was kind of cool to see how everything I’m doing right now could lead to a job,” Gerety said.
Advisors also gave out information to students about different opportunities and activities to take part in to grow their journalism skills.
“See if your local yearbook people go to workshops or events,” Cunningham said. “Go to these things, soak up all that information. There’s so many different careers that are embedded, like graphic design, social media, marketing, being people people, legit journalism, so it can all lead to potential for your path.”
Speaking to professionals and attending IHSPA can grow an interest in journalism. Finding out what student journalists enjoy, whether it is video, writing, photography, podcasting, social media, etc., there is a place for everybody who wants to attend.
“It’s difficult starting, taking the leap, and stepping into an unknown thing,” Nguyen said. “You don’t know where to start, but once you get into it you really start to enjoy it and want to push your boundaries further.”
