Dear advisers,

With the first half of the school year now behind us, I wanted to share some information and exciting opportunities with you and your students regarding the weeks and months ahead.

PSPA REGIONAL STUDENT JOURNALISM CONTEST (SJC) RESULTS & STATE FINALS

In recent weeks, Paul Fantaski (PSPA SJC Chair), emailed results and judges' feedback to advisers from schools who competed in our Fall Regional SJCs. Regional Site Coordinators are currently in the process of compiling students' actual entries from the contests to return to advisers, so students will be able to reference their work when reviewing their feedback. Keep an eye out for those emails in the coming days.

Advisers of students who qualified for Finals: We're currently working with Penn State to develop an itinerary for the day, and I will be sharing all of those details with you as soon as they are finalized and available. In the meantime, as I'm aware many of you have begun the planning process for the trip, here's what we know so far:

Who: Competing students (and their advisers/chaperones). Each school may bring up to five non-competing guests or students. If you need/would like to bring more than five non-competing guests or students, please notify us as soon as possible.
What: 2024 PSPA SJC Finals
Where: Penn State University, University Park | HUB-Robeson Center
When: Wednesday, April 3 | ~9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Cost: There is no fee for Finals competition.
Lunch: On your own. There is a food court in the HUB-Robeson center and a number of dining options along College Ave. within walking distance from campus. We're working on getting some information from Penn State on how to support students who may not have debit cards, since the HUB is all cashless dining. Please stay tuned.

I hope that's enough for everyone to process travel requests; however, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me or Paul at any time. If you joined PSPA in the time since our Regionals, we hope to see you at next year's competitions! Be on the lookout for information on that, as well as other PSPA news and offerings, in the coming months.


PENNSYLVANIA STUDENT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
The Pennsylvania Student Journalist of the Year contest is officially open and runs through February 10. Please encourage any outstanding senior you have to apply. The PA winner wins a scholarship and advances to the national competition. If you have any questions, you can contact Cyndi Hyatt, PJOY chair/JEA State Director, a [email protected].


CALL FOR STUDENT WORK
Scholastic Journalism Week (February 19-23) and Student Press Freedom Day (February 22) are quickly approaching, and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (PNA) wants to help us spread the word! Have your students write an opinion piece or produce a broadcast video explaining the importance of student journalism, in celebration of Scholastic Journalism Week and/or Student Press Freedom Day, and send it to me with the subject line "SJW Submission" by February 9 for a chance to be published in a Pennsylvania regional publication! If they publish their work on your school's website, feel free to send the link to the published work. PNA has offered to distribute student work to local media outlets and encourage them to publish these pieces in support/celebration of Scholastic Journalism Week and Student Press Freedom Day. I hope you'll encourage your students to take advantage of this awesome opportunity!

Resources:

• Student Press Law Center 
• Student Press Freedom Day 
• Scholastic Journalism Week
• Pennsylvania New Voices
• Your experiences as a student journalist

Sample Columns

• Pennsylvania needs the student journalism protection act | The Spoke, Conestoga H.S.
• Student journalism is real journalism | The Panther Press, Strath Haven H.S.
• Student journalists celebrate Student Press Freedom Day with call for New Voices in PA | FHS Press, Freedom Area H.S.
• The Stinger protects and supports student voices, right to free speech | The Stinger, Emmaus H.S.

That's all for now. If there's any way that PSPA can help you, your students, or your programs in any way, please don't hesitate to reach out. Otherwise, we'll be in touch in the coming weeks and months with further details for advisers of SJC finalists and the latest from PSPA. Until then, be well, everyone!

Thanks!
Aaron

The Pennsylvania School Press Association is proud to announce the state finalists in its 2023-2024 Student Journalism Contests. Over 700 students competed in regional contests at Point Park University, Slippery Rock University, Penn State Behrend, York College, Juniata College, Temple University, Bloomsburg University, and Penn State Berks. The winners will compete for a state championship on April 3, 2024 at Penn State University.

Please review the list of winners at the link.

Congratulations to all of our participating student journalists and their advisers. We look forward to celebrating with you at the state finals. Watch for more details in early February.