On October 31 The Roar staff, Journalism One (J1) students and members of the yearbook staff attended the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) fall conference at the Lansing Center.
The students had the opportunity to attend different sessions that interested them with the goal of gaining new ideas to better the publication or yearbook. Professional journalists as well as advisors of other school newspapers or yearbooks taught the sessions.
Students attended sessions on writing, broadcasting, advertising and social media. One that was popular among the attendees was “Fix your broken creative.”
“It gave me this new point of view on life,” J1 junior Emily Nyquist said. “[The teacher] felt like creativity wasn’t art, it was truly expressing your real self. I think that is incredible and so important.
The sessions attended by the J1 students were a great opportunity for them to dive deeper into the world of high school journalism before having the opportunity to be on The Roar staff.
“[MIPA conference] is an excellent way to expose students to a wide variety of tools used in all aspects of interpreting someone’s story,” J1 sophomore Calvin Hyde said.
In addition to the journalism students, five of Matt Howe’s yearbook staff attended including yearbook editor senior Anna Robinette.
“I felt that it was very beneficial and I hope staffers will continue to go every year,” Robinette said.
The yearbook staff also came back from the field trip with new ways to improve next years book.
“[I got] a lot of ideas for future yearbook themes and how to better the structure of our yearbook,” sophomore Natalie Tyson said.
The Roar will return to the Lansing Center in April to participate in the MIPA spring award ceremony.
