Upper School Journalism Students Attend Columbia Scholastic Press Annual Conference
Students outside the gates of Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus after attending the CSPA conference. Photo by Diana Day.
By Dinah Megibow-Taylor ’24, Marketing and Communications Department Intern
After a 5 a.m. departure from school, 12 MFS students arrived in New York City to attend the 82nd Annual Fall Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) conference, a one-day regional conference held for high school students and journalism and yearbook advisers that took place on November 7.
The conference took place at Columbia’s uptown Manhattan campus and featured lectures by professional journalists and photographers. Staff members of the student-run news publication MFS WordsWorth and MFS yearbook, The Cupola, were invited to attend.
WordsWorth adviser and Academic Technology Coordinator/Portal Content Director Diana Day organized the trip as a way for students “to get a broader sense of the world of scholastic journalism outside of school.” Sessions including “#FakeNews: Sorting the Real Info from the C.R.A.A.P.” “The ABCs of L-I-B-E-L,” “Digging Up Secrets,” and “Socially Speaking” were just a few of the lectures that students had the opportunity to attend, where they were greeted with lessons in writing, editing, management, photography, design, and digital media.
Charlotte Nesevich ’25, a News Editor for WordsWorth, was appreciative of the opportunity to attend the conference. “I think we were all able to expand our skill set by learning from really experienced individuals,” she said.
Along with gaining valuable skills, students remarked that it was a unique experience like no other, and many felt that they were able to bond as a staff and as students in a special way that cannot be experienced in the classroom.
The Cupola adviser Fran Bennett, who accompanied students to the conference, noted that even as an adviser, she gained important insights about the creative process, and that the conference “reinforced the idea of the importance of telling stories of the people of the school.”
Kira Patel ’24, a Copy Editor and Editor of Clubs and Organizations for The Cupola, gained “invaluable tips and knowledge” from her lectures, and especially appreciated the opportunity to get personalized advice from Jenny Dial Creech, a Deputy Manager for the NBA and a master in the field of journalism, who ran “Mastering the Art of the Interview,” one of Kira’s lectures.
And, of course, the group made sure to stop at the Columbia University Bookstore before making the journey home to collect some Columbia merchandise.