Jaya Eapen

Griffin Gazette’s staffers Bella Kim and Maleah Fennessey will attend the convention in November.

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — The Fall National High School Journalism Convention, the U.S.’s biggest gathering of high school journalists, will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Nov. 7-10. For 50 years, this event has, on average, attracted 5,000 attendants annually. This year, the Los Alamitos High School Griffin Gazette will attend for the first time, sending seniors Bella Kim and Maleah Fennessey. 

In eighth grade, Kim and Fennessey were co-editors-in-chief of the McAuliffe Middle School Birdwatch online newspaper.

“This is such a great opportunity that I never pictured being able to have. To think that we’ll be around such an amazing national community of journalism students makes me really proud of how far (Bella and I) have come. From starting journalism together in middle school to going to the convention in high school; it’s been an amazing journey,” said Fennessey, staff writer.

The convention will include learning sessions from professional journalists and hands-on breakout sessions that focus on newspapers, site design, broadcasts, yearbooks and magazines. These skills will allow the Griffin Gazette to gain irreplaceable experience to add to their writing abilities and share with the rest of the class. 

This will be the first time the Griffin Gazette has attended a convention of this caliber.

The convention has been sponsored by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association for over 50 years. Both of these sponsors strive for education in journalism and writing, awarding both teachers and students for the work that goes into their sites.

Some convention activities are exhibit halls accompanied by vendors who sell to student media. JEA and NSPA will also host competitions at the convention and awards ceremony on the last day.

Kim has gratefully accepted donations from South Bay Youth Journalism, a program by CalMatters, as well as a scholarship from The Youth Center to cover almost all of her costs to attend. The Griffin Gazette is indebted to the community for its generosity, including donations from the Rossmoor Homeowners Association, teachers, parents and more. Even so, the Griffin Gazette still needs help to cover Fennessey’s expenses and Kim’s mom’s, who is chaperoning. 

To raise money to attend the convention, the Griffin Gazette has opened a GoFundMe and encourages community members to donate.

“I am beyond grateful to South Bay Youth Journalism for sponsoring my flight and The Youth Center for awarding me a scholarship to help me travel to Philadelphia. It is thanks to their generosity and continued support of student journalism that the Griffin Gazette can attend this convention at a much lower cost,” said Bella Kim, editor-in-chief.

Thank you to anyone who keeps up with and continues to support the Griffin Gazette because it allows us to further pursue journalistic excellence, expand our program and create more quality articles, media, broadcasts and podcasts for LAHS students to enjoy.