Over 5000 journalism students, advisers, and media professionals gathered in Nashville, Tennessee for the Journalism Education Association/ National Scholastic Press Association Convention (JEA/NSPA). Out of the 1668 students that competed individually, 7 of our very own bulldogs ranked nationally. Thirty six CPHS students from Excalibur Yearbook, Inklings News and CPTV attended the convention.
Among these winners was Ma’Rae Wallace (12), Inklings Video Editor.
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Thirty six CPHS students travelled to Nashville to compete at the JEA/NSPA national convention. They visited the Nashville Parthenon on their trip and gathered in front of the replica statue of Athena.
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Senior Excalibur Yearbook Co-Editor-in-Chiefs Alyssa Torres, Samantha Uren, and Isabella Valenzuela met with industry experts for critiques on the 2026 “Uncomparable” yearbook.
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DEI- certified junior Duaa Khan serves as the Copy Editor for Excalibur Yearbook. She also presented a session on her “CP in Session” podcast at the national convention.
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Junior Duaa Khan’s “CP in Session” podcasts asks students to share what’s on their minds and talk about their experiences.
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Crown Point High School students supported Duaa Khan in Nashville at her first national convention presentation on her “CP in Session” podcast.
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Lisa Keene spoke at the JEA/NSPA fall convention in Nashville about self publishing her YA novel intended as an anchor text for freshmen.
“I enjoyed the challenge because there were around 50+ people in my competition,” Wallace said. “When I found out I won, I was surprised but happy.”
Maddison Duffy (10), our junior sports editor for Excalibur Yearbook, ranked 10th in the NSPA sports photo competition.
“I submitted a photo I took of soccer because I really liked it. I was really shocked to have placed in the competition and was thrilled to see my ranking,” Duffy said.
Excalibur Yearbook’s Co-Editor-in-Chief Alyssa Torres also won an honorable mention from JEA for academic copy/captions.
“I felt really proud of myself that I won an honorable mention. There were a lot of people competing against me, so it felt good to know that I was one of the best,” Torres said.
Abby Vester also won an honorable mention from JEA for yearbook sports captions/copy. Jayla Miller won an Excellent for broadcast anchor, and Cam Qualls won an honorable mention for broadcast newswriting.
Copy editor for Excalibur yearbook Duaa Khan won an honorable mention for news editing/current events, and was also selected to present a session in Nashville.
“Hosting my own session was unreal, and I did it on my podcast, “CP in Session.” The opportunity to compete and speak in Nashville was amazing,” Khan said. Khan became DEI certified at the previous national convention in Philadelphia. Because of this, she earned the opportunity to host her own session about DEI in podcasting and talked about her own podcast “CP in Session” and becoming a national speaker.
Lisa Keene, CPHS Excalibur Yearbook Adviser, also presented the session, “From Yerd to Author.” Keene shared self-publishing tips for other aspiring writers and excerpts from her young adult novel, “Yerd: A Yearbook Nerd’s Epic Quest for Spiritual and Grammatical Enlightenment.”
