The Paly Journalism program was fortunate enough to visit the JEA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee this past November. More than 3,000 student delegates from across the country and even from school around the world connected and shared their journalistic knowledge with one another.
During the trip, aside from learning at the convention, the journalism program also got to visit downtown Nashville, take a tour of the Vanderbilt campus with a Paly C Magazine alum, learn some line-dancing, test their skills at axe throwing and enjoy the games at Dave & Busters.
Every year, Paly receives numerous awards from the convention; this year was no different. Almost every publication in various competitive fields won an award. This experience was in part made possible by donations from the MAC boosters.
Michael Wu, a sophomore reporter on the Viking Sports Magazine staff, attended a national convention for the first time.
“My favorite part was probably hanging out with people from my school and also new people I met from across the country,” Wu said.
Although it was, of course, a fun experience, students also gained tremendously from the convention educationally. Sophomore Andrew Knapp loved the opportunity to make his publication stronger.
“I found all the classes helpful and more specifically when looking through all the AI classes, Knapp said. “I know how to navigate it better. And knowing everything I know now helps me advance my writing further.”
And it wasn’t just the students who were recognized for their efforts; Paly’s own Rod Satterthwaite was announced as a member of NSPA’s class of 2025 Pioneers.
Especially in our changing media landscape, students found it beneficial to have face-to-face connections with other journalists from all over the country. The MAC boosters allowed for this awesome opportunity for these PALY journalists, and future funding could help fund similar trips. If you are interested in joining a future convention trip, feel free to contact your publication adviser.
Below is a list of all the individual winners in the National Student Media Contest from the Nov. 2025 Nashville convention:
| CATEGORY | AWARD | STUDENT |
| Editorial Writing | Superior | Anjali Dahncke |
| Feature Writing | Honorable Mention | Julie Yang |
| Commentary Writing | Honorable Mention | Greg Goody |
| News Editing/Headline/Current Events | Excellent | Chris Jeon |
| Newsmagazine Layout | Excellent | Alice Sheffer |
| Yearbook Layout: Inside Pages | Honorable Mention | Dylan Wilson |
| Literary Magazine: Photography | Honorable Mention | Lucas Wu |
| Sports Action Photography | Excellent | Ava Knox |
| First-Year Photo | Honorable Mention | Alma Michlin |
| Podcast | Superior | Xuaner Duan |
| Online News Package | Honorable Mention | Alon Milman |
| Online News Package | Honorable Mention | Neel Satyavolu |
| Broadcast Newswriting | Excellent | Liani Ragade |
| Convention Recap | Honorable Mention | Om Rajan |
2025 FALL CONVENTION BEST OF SHOW AWARDS
We’re excited to share our publications earned the following in NSPA’s Best of Show!
- Viking (2nd place in specialty magazine)
- C-mag (5th place in specialty magazine category)
- Verde (5th place in newsmagazine/newspaper category)
- Madrono (9th place in yearbook category)
NSPA INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
On Saturday, Nov. 15, in a packed convention hall, multiple Paly students received national honors for standout work from the ’24–’25 school year:
- 1st Place: Staff, The Campanile: Editorial Cartoon
- 1st Place: Elise Andrade, Naveen Narayanaswami, Dalia Saal, The Campanile: Local Climate Change Reporting
- 2nd Place: Nathalia Arias, Verde, Newspaper Page/Spread
- 4th Place: Ethan Wang, Viking Magazine: Specialty Magazine Cover
- 4th Place: Juliet Frick, Elena Salvatierra, Sarah Thieman, Lucas Tung: Specialty Magazine Page/Spread
- 4th Place: Kensie Pao, Verde: News Photo
- Honorable mention: Ethan Haemer, Om Rajan, InFocus: Broadcast Commentary
- Honorable Mention: Maria Uribe Estrada, C Magazine: Opinion Story
- Honorable Mention: Amalia Tormala, C Magazine: Environmental Reporting
- Honorable Mention: Talia Boneh, C Magazine: Artist of the Year Portfolio
- Honorable Mention: Ria Mirchandani, C Magazine: Multimedia Journalist of the Year
- Honorable Mention: Kate Xia, Lucas Yuan, The Campanile: Front Page Design
- Honorable Mention: Staff, The Campanile: Editorial
- Honorable Mention: Julie Yang, Chris Jeon, Verde: Sports Story
