Two Arrowhead staff members earned a spot competing at a state-level journalism competition.
Junior Lillian McCulloch placed first in Podcast, and sophomore Catherine Hittle placed fourth in News writing at the regional PA School Press Association’s, or PSPA’s, competition at Bloomsburg Universtiy in October, securing their spot to compete against other student journalists at Penn State University, University Park, on April 1.
“I don’t want to say I was confident but I had a really good feeling that I knew what I was doing and I felt like even if I didn’t make it, I would still get really good feedback from the judges,” said Hittle. This was not only Hittle’s first competition at PSPAs but also her first win.
In more recent years the PSPA competition has grown, and with more students attending, the harder it is to get to states.
“I walked into the room and it was really scary. There were so many people there and I only lost two points and barely made it, so there were a lot of good people there,” said Hittle. “I’m very excited, and I was very excited when I found out that I made it. I rushed home and told my mom I made it to the states right away,” said Hittle.
When looking forward to the competition in April Hittle considers everything she may need to do to prepare for states.
“I think that if I work a little bit more on my grammar and the mechanics of journalistic writing, I think I’ll do pretty well,” said Hittle.
However, there is more to look forward to than just the competition. Most students have a place they want to check out during their trip. “I want to go to the bookstore so bad,” said Hittle.
“It was the same process. I knew more of what I was doing going into it. I was able to pick what podcast I wanted to use because I had a whole year of making them. But other than that the experience itself was pretty much the same,” said high school junior and second-year winner at regional PSPAs Lillian Mcculloch.
McCulloch said she was glad to make it to the state level, especially since there were more people competing in her category than last year.
“I get to hang out with my friends again, and I like states more because it’s more hands-on and I get to make the podcast there, so I’m excited to see what the prompt is and I’m also excited to eat food there,” said Mcculloch.
PSPAs wouldn’t be here without the journalism advisers to make it all possible.
“One thing I love about going to PSPA is that I get to see and touch base again with advisers in the area,” said journalism advisor and English teacher Mrs. Sandra Trick. “I always like to find out different things that they are doing. I like to ask for their advice.”
Trick has been attending PSPAs for 19 years since she began working as a Journalism advisor for MAHS.
“We like to brainstorm different ideas with each other. It makes you feel like you’re not so much on an island as an adviser,” said Trick.
Trick gets a unique point of view during the competition. She gets to see her students overcome challenges and see when they gain their confidence during the competition. She also said she enjoys the state competition becasuse it’s held at Penn State, which is where she attended college.
“I think the minute we stop asking how we can get better is when we go down the slide as far as performing goes, we always want to try to get better. And so this is one way to make ourselves uncomfortable and push ourselves to get to that higher level,” said Trick. “It’s always a good day when you’re in Happy Valley.”
(Featured Image): State advanced junior Lilly Mcculloch and sophomore Catherine Hittle pose for a photo. Both students will be advancing to the April state PSPA competition held in Penn State. Photo taken by Ryleigh McConnaughhay
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