Chronicle Staff at Columbia Scholastic Press Convention

Members of the staff of The Chronicle, the Shorecrest Upper School student newspaper and news blog, took a trip to NYC to attend the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Spring Convention. The conference prepares students for the future with skills, confidence and integrity while focusing on the importance of fair and balanced reporting in light of technological advancements. 

The faculty sponsor of The Chronicle, Upper School English Teacher Kristie Dowling, said, “I knew The Chronicle staff needed to be trained. I felt like I wasn't capable of that in the time periods we had. I’m so grateful we went on the trip because I got so many ideas from other advisors about how to help The Chronicle grow, how to organize the staff, how to take advantage of the talent we have... We have so much talent here! It would be a shame if we didn’t take advantage of that and didn’t have an excellent school newspaper.”

On March 14 the Chargers arrived in NYC, and for some it was their first subway ride into Manhattan. Wednesday through Friday they attended the Scholastic Press Association Convention. This national gathering of student editors and faculty advisers to newspapers, yearbooks, magazines, video productions, and online media was held at Columbia University. Students chose from over 350 sessions organized in seven sequences: digital media, newspaper, yearbook, magazine, photography, broadcasting, advisers, and law and ethics. They were able to learn, exchange ideas, and bring information back to share with each other. 

Odeyah Rozin ‘26 particularly liked the session "Interviewing Like a Pro." She shared with the staff, “It gave some very valuable information about preparing before an interview. Clarify when you are on the record and off the record with the interviewee, and if you find something interesting while interviewing go down that path and keep asking questions about that thing. Always record, take notes and follow up afterwards.”

Other students shared details they learned about writing captions, storytelling through interesting photography, using infographics and timelines, writing with confidence, ethics and software that may make their process more efficient.

Bijoy Alam ‘26 reminded his peers that a school newspaper should have great content, but awareness and support amongst the Upper School faculty will help them grow. 

Shorecrest students also experienced New York City through a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge for dinner, trips to Little Island, dining at Chelsea Market, a visit to MOMA, and more.

“The last night we went to dinner at Time Out Market, we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge," Arden Katcha ‘26 shared. "The views were incredible. The food was good, there were Irish dancers - everything in there was really cool, it was very active.”

"The trip was a really great experience for us to learn more about a school newspaper, so we can grow and strengthen our Chronicle community,” said Jo Hart ‘25. “I learned information about how to be a stronger and better writer… I may be in an editor position next year and I’ll be a more confident editor.”