Cooper Zablocki

On October 24, 2013, AHS Journalism Students and Editors traveled to Iowa City for a journalism conference.  The bus left at 5:30 a.m. from the high school parking lot, in order to arrive in Iowa City at 9 a.m. for the start of the conference.  After the last session at 2:30 p.m. the group headed home.

The conference consisted of a keynote speaker, four sessions, and a lunch break.  Bobby Hawthorne, the keynote speaker, talked to about 500 journalism students from all around Iowa about some of his works and tips for aspiring journalists. (To learn more about Bobby Hawthorne, click the link here.)  After the keynote, the students dispersed into separate sessions on topics ranging from writing tips to managing social media.  When session three ended, the students were on their own for lunch.  Lauren Krogman, a senior journalism student, said her favorite part of the trip was seeing her sister for lunch.

Journalism Adviser Allison Berryhill, seniors Meghan Plambeck, Sierra Smith and Lillie Zablocki presented during the sessions.  Their presentation was about covering controversial topics.  Berryhill and Smith attended the conference while Plambeck and Zablocki Skyped with the listeners.

Sophomore Dustin Rudolph said his least favorite part was the last session, because he wasn’t fond of the speaker.  Rudolph’s favorite part was “trying Quiznos.” Quiznos was just one of many options students had for lunch.  Krogman thought “it was a good experience,” even though she didn’t like 3 of the 4 sessions.  Krogman and Rudolph both commented saying it was an enjoyable experience.