Gallery • 4 Photos

Madison White

Student photographer sits on her peer’s shoulders while taking photos in the Palm Ballroom at the 2019 FSPA Opening Ceremony, Thursday April 11. Best of the Best finalists received awards for their previous submissions during the event

Florida Scholastic Press Association’s 2019 spring convention opened with a record 1,400 attendees from throughout the state.  

Students and advisers from various fields of scholastic journalism arrived in Orlando for a three-day convention beginning April 11 involving competitions, awards ceremonies and workshops.  

Sports journalist David Schiele was the featured keynote speaker, and discussed the importance of authenticity in journalism, specifically broadcast.  

“I thought that was really interesting,” eighth grader Alyson Mizanin from Pine View Middle School said.  “I thought he was really down to earth.” 

Apart from the opening ceremony, the first day of the convention was dedicated to individual and team events involving various aspects of journalism, from writing to photography. Results from the on-the-spot student competitions are announced Saturday morning at the closing ceremonies.  

“Lots of times when you do stuff just in a class you might get 2 or 3 [students], here you got a bigger group of people that are actually doing stuff,” Ed Gigante, broadcast adviser of 23 years at Palm Beach Gardens High School said. “It helps them when they go back to the school, plus it also gives them an opportunity to mingle with other schools and other people.”