Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana hosted its annual High School Journalism Day on April 22. It is a one-day workshop for current middle school and high school students and their advisers. It hosts four sessions that cover a variety of topics to help them learn and gain journalistic tips and strategies from professionals, college students and high school peers. This year’s theme was “The Greatest J-Day on Earth” in honor of Earth Day.

The keynote speaker of the workshop was Logan Aimone from University High School in Chicago, Illinois. His session was titled “6 for ‘16” and talked about six questions that must be asked and answered to improve a publication. The main idea he reiterated throughout the lesson was that a publication is not for the writers, but for the audience.

“[Aimone] had a lot of really good ideas and had a lot of good insight on how to write and constantly improve your yearbook or newspaper publication,” senior Kristen Shaver said. “Overall, I thought J-Day helped me expand my topics and knowledge.”

Before the workshop, students were encouraged to enter their published work into an array of contests varying from feature stories to yearbook design overall. The J-Day office staff received nearly 900 entries that were classified and distributed to qualified judges from around the nation. FHS received 24 awards, with junior Lizzie Brown receiving the highest ranking of Superior in her news story entry.

Indiana is also hosting the national Journalism Education Association Convention for high school students from Nov. 10 to the 13. Indiana has not hosted this national convention since 1990. It will be held in the J.W. Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis. All publications students are encouraged to attend. For more information on this upcoming convention, visit the JEA website to learn more.