 "Photo: Doug Walsh")
 "Photo: Justin Kenward")
Students from the Chaffey Breeze attended the 55th annual Journalism Association of Community Colleges State Convention on April 8-11 at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles. All total, The Breeze staff took home 11 awards, the most awards the newspaper has ever won at a JACC state convention. The JACC convention, held annually during the spring semester, hosted 47 California community colleges with 613 students in attendance, its largest conference ever.
This year, 15 students from The Breeze attended the convention with advisor Doug Walsh. They participated in workshops and competitions, alongside other students and professionals in the journalism field.
On Friday April 9, the Mail-in-Awards ceremony was held, and The Breeze was awarded Online General Excellence for the www.chaffeybreeze.com website. Online Editor Daniel Solis and Editor-In-Chief Angelica Davalos both received achievement awards for their work during the spring semester.
Also during the Mail-In awards ceremony, staff writer Dave Coon won 4th place for an opinion piece on veterans at the college, and Photo Editor Justin Kenward won an honorable mention for a photo illustration of credit cards and currency.
The weekend was filled with workshops and competitions with little or no time to sleep, or even eat. Even though The Breeze was busy between events, there was always time to ask each other what happened or what was learned, all while staying together as unit.
Finally, on Saturday, the work The Breeze staff put in all weekend long came to a great conclusion. Dressed in fancy clothes, and after a three-course dinner, the award ceremony began. The first awards given were for the Bring-In competition.
Angelica Davalos received an honorable mention for a Bring-In Advertisement, Justin Kenward won first place for a Bring-In photo of a Chaffey swimmer, and Daniel Solis received a 1st place meritorious award and $200 for an essay on health care reform and students.
Aimee Munn took home an honorable mention award for a feature story on the Grammy Museum, Josh Hicken received an honorable mention for an opinion story on Impact Teen Drivers, and Daniel Solis received third place for copy editing.
At the end of the trip the staff felt a great accomplishment about the recognition received for the efforts. But there was also an eagerness to return to campus and put to use some of the newly gained knowledge to produce a better newspaper and website for the campus.
Be the first to comment on this article!