Sitting in the Sacramento Room at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, sophomores Aura Carlson and Rose Houglet, freshman Jack Stein and faculty adviser Trish McHale anxiously await the results of the Write-off contests for the Editorial Cartooning category.
Following two days of attending sessions, ranging from photography, to InDesign, to editorial leadership and op-ed writing, Jack headed to the Wilshire Suite G to participate in the Write-off contest.
“When I first walked in, the teacher was talking and everyone was completely silent, and I was like 10 minutes late. I thought I was going to lose because everyone else was prepared and on time [whereas] I felt unprepared and late,” Jack said.
Jack sat down next to a man he described as “tall with a dark bushy beard and piercing eyes . . . the man carried with him a wooden box filled with expensive drawing equipment such as pencils and water colors, and he had a sketch pad of high quality paper. On the other hand, I had the pen that I brought from the hotel room and printer paper from the hotel printer.”
The official topic of the editorial cartooning contest was school uniforms. Jack, with his hotel pen in hand, began to draw.
After having participated in the contests, participants can pick up their entry during the awards ceremony and read the judges’ comments.
Most contests have three judges who review and score entries, awarding Honorable Mentions, Excellent or Superior Awards.
Finally, it was time for the
Editorial Cartooning awards to be announced.
The Honorable Mention and Excellent Award winners were announced, but no Jack Stein.
“Well, there go all my chances of winning,” Jack said just as the first recipient of the Superior Award was announced: “Jack Stein from Laguna Blanca School.”
In spite of being late and feeling unprepared, Jack earned 4s (on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the highest) in simple and clear editorial statement, unique approach, effective conveyance of a message, wit and conventions, and 3s in artistic ability, quality of drawing and simplicity of line.
“Being a freshman, and competing against such talented artists, I was sure that I had no chance, but I was wrong. When they called my name, I was surprised and thrilled to have won such a prestigious award,” Jack said.
Write-offs were not the only activity available to the group of 11 students (five from yearbook, seven from journalism and two from both) who attended this year’s conference.
On each day of the annual JEA/NSPA Journalism Conference, students could choose from hundreds of sessions to attend.
They also had the choice of going out to lunch or eating in at the hotel.
As part of the conference, students attended this year’s keynote speaker, Jose Antonio Vargas, who is an immigration rights activist.
Vargas discussed immigration focusing on his personal experience of being a Filipino immigrant and his elevating the conversation about immigration and citizenship in America through his non-profit, Define American.
When asked about her last JEA experience, senior Luisa Cameron said, “It was great to experience the conference with the next generation of journalists.”