Mrs. Valponi and a few of her journalism students attended NorCal Media Day at Palo Alto High School on October 7th. Valponi and her students attended to learn more about how they could improve The Tomahawk and see what other schoo
l’s newspapers are doing.
“I loved the conference. It was a great experience to be surrounded by fellow journalists who may have different struggles but they all stem from the same root,” said senior Abbi Kissee.
Jenna Valponi, the teacher who supervised this trip, said that the trip was very informative and helpful. “I think it was inspiring because we got to see what really cool things other schools are doing and it makes me want to be like them,” Valponi said.
Kissee agreed that the trip helped her see what needed to be improved. “All of the contestants… gathered in one room to watch all the submissions and give feedback on what we liked about other videos and what we disliked. So it feels good to get that feedback,” Kissee stated about what she liked about the event.
Kissee entered a video about homecoming into a contest and it won first place. The contest was for the best carry-in video, “After all the time and hard work I put into this video it feels amazing to know that it payed off and the video really does have good journalistic qualities to it,” Kissee said.
Journalism, which is a class of 19 students, only had two students attend this event. “It would be incredible to have the entire class be able to spend the day learning from professionals and being in a truly journalistic environment,” Kissee said.
“Yes but, it was also good because it was the first time we went so I wasn’t sure if it was going to be worth going or not,” Valponi said. She hopes to be able to bring more students to the event next year.
Overall, the students who went believed that this was a good experience and that they would recommend going to anyone interested in journalism.
Kisse wrapped up the interview by saying, “NorCal Media Day was a very unique experience that I am incredibly grateful to have been able to attend.”
