Hillstar editors, writers join journalism academy for upcoming schools press conferences 

To prepare themselves for the upcoming schools press conferences, selected editors and staffers of Hillstar joined in the Campus Journalism Academy Year 8 held at Matina Central Elementary School, December 6, 2024.

There were nine participants from Hillstar this year, namely, Alessandra Monique Ang, Karylle Asesor, Jaz Diamond Kiang, Chris Daniel Banquerigo, Mari Adreienna Jaye De Guzman, Gian Ysmael Villaviray, Fei Huang, Aaron Fuan Chen, and Jacob Raphael Clamor, who attended the journalism academy.

After the simultaneous lectures for different events, workshops were conducted, wherein Alessandra Monique Ang and Chris Daniel Banquerigo, won fifth place in editorial writing and third place in sports writing, respectively.

“It was a nice experience because I learned many new insights about editorial writing and so, being able to apply it during the workshop and then, to be recognized by the teacher-in-charge was something that I saw as an accomplishment already,” Ang said about her achievement.

She also stated that she was “surprised and happy with the result” and was quite tired since it was the second round of writing in the afternoon. “I really just asked the Lord, and he provided what I needed,” she added.

According to sports writer Chris Daniel Banquerigo, it was a very rewarding workshop, for he was learning from the instructors and the other students there. “I was hoping to place in the top ten, and I was really relieved to place third. I made a couple of friends there after a group activity,” he said.

“The greatest insight from last Friday was realizing how important it is for journalists to connect with other journalists because it makes writing easier. Looking forward, I feel excited and motivated for the DSPC because of that sweet moment,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the same campus journalism academy for school paper advisers which was held at St. Paul’s College in Crocodile Park, Hillstar moderator Chris Jay Leyga won first place in copyreading and headline writing.

The schools press conferences, dubbed as the “olympics of campus journalism,” are held in every city and every province of the country to look for the best campus journalists for individual writing, TV and radio broadcasting, mobile journalism, photojournalism, editorial cartooning, collaborative desktop publishing, and online publishing.

The journalism academy sought to prepare the school publication advisers and campus journalists from both public and private schools in Davao City, especially that Region XI (Davao Region) is the reigning over-all champion of the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC).

Victor Asnahon, one of the key members of the Davao Association of Public and Private School Paper Advisers (DAPPSPA), emphasized during the opening ceremony the goal of Region XI to retain the championship crown after it dethroned this year the NSPC over-all champion for 9 straight years, Region IV-A (CALABARZON).

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