Gallery • 10 Photos

PC student journalists spend time exploring time square after a long day of classes at Columbia University.

From March 20 to March 22, students from across the nation traveled to Columbia University for the 95th annual Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s (CSPA) spring convention. This year, 13 Upper Schoolers involved in The Crestian Yearbook, Type One, PCTV, and The Scribbler attended the event.

Participants in the convention each took between four to five class per day, all run by instructors esteemed in their respective field. The classes offered by the CSPA were organized into six sections: newspaper, yearbook, magazine, online media, video and broadcasting, and law and ethics. These sections all ran simultaneously throughout the three-day convention.

In addition to partaking in the conference, students had the opportunity to meet with Pine Crest alumni who work in journalism. Students toured the offices of renowned publications, such as the Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal, and spoke with alumni regarding their professional careers after graduating. Students also visited the Museum of Modern Art and watched the Mean Girls musical on Broadway.

Karene Hermon (‘21), a first-time attendee of the CSPA conference, said, “I’m so happy I went on this trip. The large amount of makeup work that I have to do is all worth it because of the amazing experiences I got from the trip.”

Pine Crest has made this trip available to those passionate in the field of journalism for five years. The current organizer of the trip and sponsor of the Crestian, Spanish teacher Señora Gomez, has seen that the students who attended the conference have already greatly improved as journalists.

“I loved witnessing the passion and enthusiasm with which our young journalists take on the classes offered at Columbia,” said Señora Gomez. “They come out of each lesson planning how they will immediately apply what they learned into their work at school and beyond.”