On Feb. 2, the Crimson Crier attended the Alabama Scholastic Press Association conference (ASPA) at the University of Alabama. Along with the CC, the Senator Yearbook and Silhouette Literary Magazine also attended and returned with a plethora of awards.
Senior Vee Lewis attended the competition for the last time and came back with a variety of awards and claims to have had a great time.
“I was really honored with winning so many awards as it is my final year attending ASPA,” Lewis said. “Over the years ASPA has become something that I look forward to in journalism and being there with such a large portion of our staff really enhanced the experience,”
Aside from the awards from previous work throughout the past year, the staff had the opportunity to compete in on-site design, writing, art and more which are to be submitted in a timely manner. Several members of the staff finished first, second and third in their respective categories.
“I finished in second place with my on-site column coming behind another staff member which I don’t mind,” Lewis said “During the award ceremony every time a Crimson Crier member was announced, no matter what place, we automatically cheered as loud as we could which might have been too loud,”
Senior Meh’Quira Malone, Editor-In-Chief for the first year, continued the CC’s streak by becoming this year’s Alabama journalist of the year and also winning the JB Stevenson award along with an abundance of other feats.
“Winning journalist of the year was an unexplainable feeling,” Malone said. While I was waiting for them to call a name I was grabbing my friend’s arm because I was so nervous, but to finally find out that I won was an overall good feeling. Knowing that my work is good enough to get that award and It feels good to know that even though I’m just in high school I have what it takes to become a good writer and designer,”
Although the awards were the main attraction for most, the convention also offered hourly sessions leading up to the ceremony. Each session had a different topic so there was something for everyone such as broadcast, photography and caption writing.
Sophomore Kierstyn Moseley attended ASPA for the first time and came back with new information to apply to her work in class and a fun first time experience.
“The first session I went to was pretty good. The speaker was very interesting and informative,” Moseley said. “He talked about what he did professionally and he told us how broadcasting works and the different positions you can get into with that. I just enjoyed the entire experience. I wish I had seen more of the campus, but it was fun,”
Overall, the Crimson Crier, Senator YB and Silhouette Lit Mag finished another ASPA successfully coming home with a whopping 88 awards in total. Which surely makes both advisors proud.
“This was my 22nd ASPA to attend, and I’m not sure I was ever more proud of a group of students than I was this time. They went to sessions, showed me what they were learning with their notes and they seemed to be very excited,” Coggins said. “And during the award ceremony, everyone was clapping for one another and very supportive of one another. You know, after 20 years, you kind of lose yourself like this is just another award show, but the kids made sure that it was another special year,”
