Members of the Horizon staff attended Adelphi University’s Press Day with advisor Jessica Sanders on Friday, February 17. Many high school newspaper publications across Long Island were in attendance at the event. Sanders explained she has been attending Press Day for the last 15 years. She said, “It was so nice to finally be back in person at Adelphi for this event since it was held virtually the past two years.” Student journalists got the opportunity to hear from a panel of those experienced in the field of journalism. Sanders and Horizon’s editor-in-chief Kate Chiulli were invited as members of this year’s panel discussion. 

Attendees were welcomed by Professor Mark Grabowski, who runs the event, and addressed by keynote speaker Carl Corry. Corry is a 25-year professional freelance journalist who has worked for publications such as Newsday, The Long Islander, and Long Island Business News. Corry was one of the journalists in the panel discussion who left the student journalists with a memorable piece of advice: “Do something you’re passionate about. Put the hard work in.”

The panel discussion topic was “Harness the Power of the Internet: Best Practices for Online High School Newspapers.” The journalists on the panel included Grabowski; Corry; Liza Burby, Adelphi professor and journalist; Sanders; and Chiulli. This was Sanders’ first time being a panelist; however, she has hosted breakout sessions many times during past Press Days. “Grabowski was very complimentary and said he thought others would learn a lot by hearing from us and what we do at Horizon since we have a successful history of winning Quill Awards,” she shared.

During the event, student journalists had the opportunity to ask questions about the pros and cons of running an online and printed newspaper publication simultaneously, the costs for managing an online website, potential legal issues one could run into online, and many other inquiries revolving around the topic of journalism. Senior Alyssa Inserra elaborated, “The panel discussion was a great chance for me to see not only our advisor, but our editor-in-chief conversing with people who all really knew what they were talking about in the world of journalism.” 

Beyond hearing from the panelists, students had additional chances to gain insight into the field of journalism through the selection of workshops. Whether it be learning how to take quality photos with any camera or sharing and learning about other students’ journalism experiences, high schoolers were able to attend two of the five provided workshops. Freshman Gabriella Jarama attended a workshop called “#AUPressDay Photo Challenge” and explained,  “[The instructor] taught us that taking pictures isn’t as easy as it seems; you really need to grab readers’ attention with colors, patterns, or the thing you’re taking a picture of. I personally love to take photos, so this would help me not just in Horizon, but also in my personal life.”

The day had a lot of interesting festivities on the agenda, most notably the Quill Awards: a competition in which high school publications compete for first, second, third, and honorable mention titles in categories such as “Most Outstanding Newspaper,” “Best Opinion Piece,” and “Best Feature Article.” Of the six categories Horizon entered, staff members brought home five awards:

• First Place for “Most Outstanding Newspaper” – Horizon (two years in a row!)
• First Place for “Best News Article” – “Bathroom Stall Vandalized with Anti-Semitic Symbol and Racial Slur” by Alyssa Inserra
• Third Place for “Best Feature Article” – “History Hides in the Walls of LHS” by Olivia Lanteri
• Honorable mention for “Most Outstanding Reporter” – Abbey McManus
• Honorable Mention for “Best Arts Review” – “Seeing Every Movie That Came Out This Summer” by Jaiden Moreno

             Chiulli went on to express her fondness and gratitude for the publication’s recognition. “I am so incredibly proud of Alyssa, Jaiden, Abbey, and Olivia for their awards! I am also proud of the entire Horizon staff for allowing us to win the Most Outstanding Newspaper award; running a newspaper takes a tremendous amount of teamwork, and the Horizon staff works together so nicely and is so supportive! We’re truly like a family here.” Sanders also conveyed: “I am always so proud of the teams of students I have worked with on Horizon over the years. I love to see all their hard work and talents recognized in competitions like the Quill Awards. It really is an honor to work on Horizon with this group of hard-working, dedicated, fun, and talented students.”