By Brad Amy, Staff Writer
On April 10, the Panther Press staff travelled to the Pogue Center at Edinboro University to participate in the ninth annual Journalism Day. The day started with breakfast, where the staff members met journalists from eight other high schools participating in the event: McDowell, Collegiate Academy, General McLane, Youngsville, Eisenhower, Norwin, Fort LeBoeuf, Cathedral Prep, and Corry. After welcoming remarks from Dr. Anthony Peyronel, chairperson of the department of journalism and public relations, and Edinboro University President Dr. Julie Wollman, the morning speaker was Jamison Hixenbaugh from Lilly Broadcasting in Erie. The staff then split into three groups to attend sessions on multimedia journalism, public relations, or meet with journalism professionals for a critique of their publications. After lunch, Jack Speer, newscaster for NPR (National Public Radio) delivered the keynote address. He told the students about his career, his time as an NPR Journalist, and what he is doing now.
The day finished with the annual award ceremony, where the Panther Press staff received several awards. The winners are as follows: broadcast news package Nick Woge and Jacob Perrett, third; Perrett, first; broadcast news anchor Perrett, first place; news Lexie Erdos third and Kristi Stoyer first; news photo Casey Fetzner first; opinion Erin Sherry first, and sports Jessica Tomiczek first. Lianna Ketcham and Kaylee Luchansky took second place in web publication. Finally, Perrett was awarded a $1000 scholarship for Best in Show. In total, the Panther Press staff brought home six first place awards, one second place award and one third place finish, along with best in show for the whole day. “Edinboro puts on an excellent conference,” said Panther Press adviser Mrs. Stacey Hetrick. “We have been coming to this event for nine years, and it just gets better each time.”
