Every year, Spectrum High School’s broadcast and yearbook programs go to a journalism conference at the University of Minnesota. For outside eyes, however, it is a complete mystery what this convention is like.

Hundreds of yearbook and broadcast members go to the journalism conference every year, where they can earn awards for their projects. Attending the conference allows journalists to go to up to three sessions.

“The national ones are big they were a lot of fun they take place over multiple days and you get to go to a city you’re not familiar with and to see the sites in that city and go to different sessions learning about, you know, via video, photo, whatever kind of area of journalism that you’re interested in,” said SNO Sites member, Kyle Phillips.

At the sessions, students can learn more about their form of journalism. Phillips said it’s a very fun experience and he has been going since he was in high school.

As a SNO Sites member, Phillips is part of the reason why high school journalism is even possible. SNO Sites, or “School Newspapers Online,” is a site that allows student journalists to build websites for their programs.

“I provide Zoom support training to teach people how to use the back end of the site to get their stories and websites looking the way that they want. I respond to support tickets periodically. I also am the head of the SNO Distinguished Sites Committee. And so I read through any submissions to Best of Snow, which is our recognition program,” said Phillips.

By providing the necessary help that student journalists need, school news teams can flourish in their environment of work and become successful in their projects.

While you can learn a lot from the staff members, understanding student perspective is just as vital. Student journalist Matti Nhyus said she thinks the conference and the program in general is a really fun and amazing experience.

Being able to take a break from school for a few hours and focus solely on journalism is a great opportunity, and Nhyus is hoping to see a larger attendance in the coming years.

Nhyus said she learned a lot from her teachers and fellow staff, and was able to talk to some students at the conference. Nhyus attended two sessions and was excited to learn about her style of journalism: photography.

After learning about journalism in the sessions, journalists attend the awards ceremony. This is where their hard work is judged and given awards based on the quality of it. For example, the Noise News was awarded “Best of Show” two years in a row for the shows that Spectrum students see every week. After all of the awards are given, journalists say goodbye to the staff at the conference and climb aboard a bus to be taken back to their respective schools. The experience is fun for many, and a great opportunity for all.