Seven students on the newspaper and yearbook staffs joined more than 6,000 media students and advisers at a fall high school journalism convention in Washington D.C. this past weekend. There, the students got to visit the Newseum and downtown D.C. area, go to a variety of sessions and compete in write-offs.

In the sessions at the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association convention, attendees listened to presenters and learned new techniques and information to help improve their publications, including design, broadcast, social media, student rights and online publications.  The Washington Post Editor Bob Woodward, who along with Carl Bernstein broke the Watergate scandal, was the keynote speaker during Thursday night’s opening ceremony.

At the NSPA awards ceremony on Saturday, The Pearl Post staff picked up their Pacemaker Finalist plaque, a recognition for receiving one of the highest honors in the student journalism world. The following day, the winners of the numerous write-offs were announced at the JEA awards ceremony. Those students who came home with awards were Prestige Yearbook Editor-in-Chief Ana Perez with an Honorable Mention in Yearbook Sports Photo, Online Editor-in-Chief Chris Bower with an Honorable Mention in Editorial Writing and Editor-in-Chief Natalie Moore with a Superior in News Writing.