Staff Notes

Student journalists compete at PSPA State Finals, earn state championships

The rain held off long enough for the team to enjoy exploring the Penn State campus.

Staff • Apr 10, 2024

Haven student journalists and advisers Ms. Kate Plows and Mrs. Mimi Drew pose with ice cream from the Berkey Cremery after the state finals.

Six Haven students attended the Pennsylvania School Press Association’s 2024 Student Journalism Competition Finals on Wednesday, April 3 at Penn State University’s main campus.

Leah Gonzalez-Diaz ’24 (Literary Magazine Artwork), Kaitlyn Ho ’26 (Editorial Writing), Charlotte Horetsky ’24 (Yearbook Caption Writing), and Annika Slootmaker ’26 (Yearbook Photography) qualified for state finals at the regional competition hosted at Temple University. Jo Kelly ’24 also qualified for Literary Magazine Poetry, but did not attend the state event. Luci DiBonaventura ’25 and Cali Fries ’27 of the Jabberwocky Literary Magazine also attended to learn from the experience of the PSPA event.

Students participated in a press conference with Sarah Higgins, Penn State University’s Assistant Athletics Director, who spoke about her career path and work in creative content and branding. Students then competed in writing, design, photography, and video categories based on the themes of the conference.

The afternoon featured roundtables with Penn State University students in the Bellisario College of Communications, as well as a presentation by Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year Ashlie Crosson. Student representatives shared information about the campaign for New Voices legislation in Pennsylvania.

The 2024 Pennsylvania Student Journalist of the Year, Ben Shapiro of Conestoga High School shared remarks about his path in journalism, and the 2024 Journalism Teacher of the Year Mr. David Weikert accepted a certificate of recognition.

Both Horetsky and Gonzalez-Diaz won their categories, earning their titles as State Champions in student journalism. The Panther Press website received the 2024 Clyde F. Lytle All-State Award.

The team finished out the day with ice cream from the Berkey Creamery

Read our students’ takes on the experience below.

Luci DiBonaventura '25

I had a great time at the PSPA finals at Penn State. Even though I had to get up at 4:30, I ended up just sleeping on the bus. When we got there, everything was set up cool and there was an opportunity to see the other school’s publications.

The day then started with a press conference with the Assistant Director of athletics and branding for Penn State. It was interesting to learn more about a job I don’t know a lot about and to see what interests the other students regarding that profession.

The trip was also a great opportunity to see Penn State. I got to walk around the campus with my friends and see what the college life and culture at Penn State were like. Even though it was raining the campus was still really pretty. We also got to eat at the food court. The food there was pretty good and they had really good acai bowls.

After we ate, we then met with other students from other schools and got to hear about their publications. A journalist from Penn State also met with us and we got to ask them questions and share our thoughts with one another.

To end our day we got some ice cream. The ice cream was very good and they were not shy with their scoops. The hardest part of this trip was trying to keep my ice cream scoop on my cone.

The trip was a lot of fun and was a great learning experience. It was so nice seeing my peers win awards, exploring the campus, and seeing other school’s publications. I will definitely be going in the future and I’m so glad I have these opportunities as a student journalist.

Cali Fries '27

The PSPA finals at Penn State were a great time. Even though I wasn’t competing, watching my fellow classmates win and hearing the guest speaker were both invigorating and interesting experiences.

The day started grim, with a 3-hour drive to Stage College. But even though it was a long ride, it did have some beautiful scenery, with mountains and lakes. When we first arrived at Penn State, we were greeted with bags of Penn State themed writing/office utensils and by a press conference with the Assistant Director of Athletics and Branding of Penn State. I’m not very knowledgeable about Penn State and the culture that surrounds it, but it was still interesting to hear her experience in such a role.

Throughout the day we got to walk around the campus, as well as eating in the food court. As I've never been to Penn State it was exciting to be on the campus, I’ve never seen any schools as big as Penn State before, and it was interesting to see the environment. Afterwards, we got to talk to some students at Penn State and some other students from across Pennsylvania about their experiences.

At the end of the day, we finally got to see awards. Strath Haven won three awards, and it made me proud to see the school performing so well on a statewide level, and I was happy for everyone who won them as well. We concluded the day getting some absolutely enormous Ice Cream at the creamery, which was generously paid for by Ms. Plows, and got back to school at 8 p.m. All in all, it was a fun experience, in which I learned a lot, and I hope to repeat in future years.

Leah Gonzalez-Diaz '24

On April 3, I woke up at 4:30 AM for my fourth and last PSPA journalism competition. Cocooned in my blanket fuzzy, half-awake, and coffee-starved on the shaky bus ride to Penn State, I was determined to be a two-time Lit Mag Artwork state champion as I watched groggy Conestogans shuffle onto the bus.

After being conked out for two hours, the time had finally come: the flooded, muddy landscape of the Appalacians battered by the week’s Pennsylvanian monsoon peeled back to reveal State College PA. After gorging on some Panera bagels with cream cheese and sharing our copies of Jabberwocky, the day’s activities commenced.

The most notable portion was, of course, the contest. We in the 11L category all shared one table, fellow opponents squaring off against each other face to face. When the timer began, I flipped over the poetry sheet I would have to interpret and began my chaotic scribble sketching to grasp for ideas. Finally, the vision came to me, and soon began an hour of messily putting it on paper. When time was up, I wasn’t necessarily happy with what I had made- an hour is quite limiting- but I felt it had a good shot to get a two-time winning title.

Of course, after such an intense hour of olympic-level performance, we were completely famished. After exploring the hub for a bit and getting some Penn State poké bowls, we wandered around the campus fair happening at that moment, spinning some rainbow wheels for goodies and prizes and somehow correctly answering several Penn State-related questions. With our lovely freebies in hand, we returned to the event center for the contest conclusion.

Overall, it was a great day to be a Havenite in a publications. We won several awards, both as individuals and as a group with the Panther Press. And I had won my category! Adding the bucketfull of Conestogans who had won prizes, we had a loaded contest-winning bus. Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to PSPA state finals without going to the creamery, and cinnamon ice cream in hand (or bowl, because it was too huge for the cone…), we began our trip back to Haven.

Charlotte Horetsky '24

From a van-bus to a flying eraser, my experiences at PSPA competitions have always been a combination of learning and adventure. Today was no different, although it lacked the dramatics.

For the duration of the three years of my in-person high school experience, competing in the caption writing category has unintentionally become a tradition. I placed third in both 10th and 11th grades, as well as first in 12th grade.

Regardless of my placement, captioning is something that I enjoy—especially when I have ample information and a good quote. For me, it can be a way to reflect on photography, elaborate on or establish a story, and even evoke emotion.

One of my favorite parts of the competition itself is the caption that I invent based on a single quote and a startling image. It enables me to be creative with my writing—I can develop context and plausible explanations for outlandish situations.

Outside of the contest, I enjoyed spending time with friends, observing the press conference between Sophia Montanye and Sarah Higgins, the roundtable discussions, listening to Ashlie Crosson’s advice, ice cream—the entire day was fun and educational. I appreciate the trust granted to me when I traveled to Central PA the night before and read Macbeth as I waited for the group to arrive in the morning.

My day in Penn State was bittersweet. From my dad driving me to the school in the rain to drafting this blog post on the bus ride back, my final PSPA competition was an invaluable one.

Kaitlyn Ho '26

What is it with PSPA competitions always being on the coldest and windiest days of the year?

Stumbling out of the bus with the sleep-deprived eyes of a girl who woke up at 5 a.m., the competition suddenly seemed daunting. I felt the mounting anticipation attack me at a velocity comparable to the aggressive breeze.

This was the state finals. These kids were the best in their region.

Fears were assuaged when we talked to the other students. Everyone was very kind, and the event coordinators were eager to help.

I have some thoughts on the prompt for the editorial section. When you write an editorial, you usually have more choice on what to write about, and more material than a press conference about one person, even if you had access to the internet, which actually wasn’t very helpful at all. I (might) just be salty I didn’t place and lacked enough creativity to muster up a brilliant editorial, so take my words very lightly. The event as a whole was quite nice, though!

Although we had known beforehand that we got the 1st place in the news website category, standing up to receive the award was a euphoric yet slightly awkward feeling. Pictures of me turning in confusion on stage, trying to figure out where I was supposed to face the camera, are probably clustered in KP’s camera roll.

Congrats to Leah and Charlotte—1st place barely deserved you. If there was a 0th place for people who rock at their category and are terrific people, you guys would win it.

One of the best parts was coincidentally ending up with the Saegertown students, aka, The Other Panther Press, during the roundtable discussion. It was awesome to check in and see how they were doing after the book ban. Thrilled to know that their paper is still being run by such creative and talented writers.

We got back around 8:30, which actually isn’t too bad. The next day of school wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I felt very proud to stand next to Leah and Charlotte holding our awards, even if I probably looked half-dead and extremely distraught.

If you’re wondering whether or not you want to do state finals, don’t hesitate! It’s a break from school (March is a strangely stressful month), and you get ice cream. Really really good ice cream, because my craving for sweets does not falter in the face of inclement weather.

Annika Slootmaker '26

As a student-athlete, I have taken many bus rides over the years going to and from away games, but none as long as this one. Over three hours in an uncomfortable bus seat was not something I was leaping for joy to do, but it was definitely worth the discomfort. I had rushed out the door that morning, hoping I wasn’t going to miss the bus to what I had been waiting for for ages.

When I heard I qualified for the PSPA State Finals in Yearbook Photography, I was stunned. This year is my first on the yearbook staff after I found a love for photography after taking Photo 1 last year, so I wasn’t expecting to qualify for the next level. When I did, the competitive side in me came out, and I knew I was going to give it my all. It was a bit daunting, knowing that I would be up against some very good photographers from around the state, but I had to persevere if I was going to win.

After the bus ride, which included a lot of sleeping, we arrived at the HUB at Penn State. Despite our area’s infatuation with the school, I had never been there before, so I was excited to see what all of the hype was about. As a sophomore, I have been starting to look at college more, so I treated it as a little bit of a tour of the school.

As we walked in and grabbed some food, I assessed the situation. There were a lot more people than I anticipated, all looking very serious about their respective competitions. It was a bit unnerving to me, but I finally took out my camera to start the day just as the press conference began. I’ve dabbled very briefly in this type of photography, so it took a while to find my settings and angles in the center.

Eventually the main event of the press conference began, a conversation between a Penn State journalism student and the school’s assistant athletic director and creative content maker, Sarah Higgins. I roamed around the stage for a bit, shooting from every angle possible, but also listening to the interview, finding a new appreciation for Higgins’ job.

When the conversation concluded and the competitors for the day set off to do their magic, the other photographers and I piled outside to find our outdoor shots. There were beautiful blossoming cherry trees, bunnies, and gardens to look at despite the gloomy weather. This point of the day was when I really started to take pictures of anything and everything. I roamed around the Quad and the HUB, taking pictures and discovering what Penn State was really about. There was so much going on, from a blood drive to pride week activities like a Drag show, all happening in one building.

Eventually the day’s activities came to an end as we finished the day off with a trip to the Creamery. We piled back onto the bus where we started the reentry into society.

Charlotte Horetsky ’24 (First Place, Yearbook Caption Writing), Kaitlyn Ho ’26 (Clyde F. Lytle All-State Award, Panther Press Website), and Leah Gonzalez-Diaz ’24 pose with their awards at the end of a long bus ride home.

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Student journalists compete at PSPA State Finals, earn state championships

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