Journalism students at El Dorado High School attended the Arkansas Scholastic Press Association's state convention last month, some receiving recognition for impressive work they've produced this year.
"This is the first time we've ever gone," said EHS Journalism teacher Lauren Cross. "There was a banquet and a dance and workshops and things they got to go to, so I think it was a really good experience for them."
Eleven students attended the convention and eight walked away with awards, some of which they learned about as soon as they arrived at the convention.
"We came in late because we had bus issues, so they came into the awards ceremony that was already happening to hear their names being called," Cross said. "I don't think they really expected to win. They've got me telling them over and over again that they're capable and that they would win... Now they're already preparing for next year for the trip."
Ramya Miller, a sophmore in Cross's Journalism II class, was awarded Superior recognition -- equivalent to first-place -- for a sports photo she took of the Wildcats defensive line preventing their opposition from scoring a touchdown.
"I enjoyed the whole thing. I didn't really think I was going to win anything because it was my first year doing stuff like this," she said. "In the beginning I was focused more on stories and stuff because I didn't feel confident enough in my pictures to focus on those, but now I'm kind of focused on pictures."
Ramya's photography has been featured in the News-Times sports section -- she typically shoots Wildcats football, she noted -- as has Veronica Zartuche's, a junior at EHS who was also recognized at the ASPA convention with two Superior ratings for her feature photography.
Cross said the ASPA awards give students the opportunity to compete with their peers and see what journalism programs outside of EHS are up to.
"It's been great for them to get to see what other kids outside of EHS are doing. They're kind of in a vacuum here; I tell them they're great, but they don't get to see how great, comparatively," Cross said. "It gives them a lot of opportunity to learn what they could do better, because now they've actually seen what they can do better. If they didn't get first-place, they know now what a first-place looks like, and they get judges' feedback."
Students had the opportunity to mail in work they've done at EHS for the ASPA convention competitions, and compete on-site in several categories.
In addition to Ramya and Veronica, junior Amy Miller received an Excellent (second level award) rating for a sports photo; sophomore Lyron Cox got an Honorable Mention in the News Story category for coverage of the El Dorado School District's mask policies; and the program as a whole received an Honorable Mention for Yearbook General Excellence.
In on-site competitions, sophomore Trinity Hunter earned second-place in the Newspaper Layout competition and junior Amy Jacobs received third-place in the Editorial Cartooning competition.
This year's convention was the first to be held since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020. Cross said she'd hoped to take that year's students to the event, and now she's hoping to make it a tradition for EHS journalism students to attend.
"I was stoked. I was excited. Any time we win any awards, I'm tickled," Cross said. "I try to add something every year, so adding a competition where the kids were able to show their work at the state level by itself is cool, and to win is spectacular."
Ramya said she hadn't originally planned to take Journalism II when she was figuring out her sophomore-year schedule this time last year; it was at Cross's urging that she decided to sign up. Now, she said she could see a future for herself in the field, or a related one.
"I'm starting to consider doing things with photography," she said.
Cross noted that it wouldn't have been possible for her students to compete without support from the district. She said she's looking forward to next year, when her classes will have access to upgraded equipment.
"I'm crazy excited to see what they're going to do with the new equipment. Once the new stuff comes in, it's going to be fantastic -- if we're winning with mid-level cameras... there's no telling what we're going to do with a Nikon D15 and a 200 millimeter lens," she said. "The district has taken that leap to give us stuff like that."
Ramya Miller, Veronica Zartuche, Lyron Cox and Amy Jacobs show the four photos taken by Miller, Zarthuche and Jacobs that were recognized at the ASPA convention in April. All four received recognition at the convention for work they did in their EHS journalism classes. (Contributed)
Pictured at the ASPA convention in Jonesboro in April, in the back row from left are Ramya Miller, Amy Jacobs, Ansley Ball, Layla Maza, Brinkley Kilcrease, and Trinity Hunter; and in the front row from left are Whitney Jones, Veronica Zartuche, and Armenia Vartanian. (Contributed)
Whitney Jones and Veronica Zartuche are pictured together at the ASPA convention held in Jonesboro in April. (Contributed)
Ramya Miller, Whitney Jones, Veronica Zartuche and Amy Jacobs pose together at the ASPA convention in Jonesboro in April. (Contributed)