FNN Explores the Pacific Northwest: "When Things Fall Apart, Put Them Back Together"

Day 3: Saturday, April 17, 2010Read more entries from the Pacific Northwest Blog!

Second full day in Portland and still loving it. Long morning in all these different seminars, but yet they were very helpful for when we get back home. The weather was playing games on us today with some heavy showers and then complete sunshine but either way we still had a good time with our new friends from Washington. Tonight I might get a chance to mix with the DJ at tonight’s party so wish me luck that I keep the crowd live. -Darin Davis

Oh, what a day! During breakfast I had a chance to talk to a lady (Carol Knopes from the Radio Television Digital News Foundation) who not only worked with USA Today in the days of old but also was the very person who kept FNN’s broadcasts alive with grants from the foundation. The talk with her was very interesting, and I got a chance to hear her point of view on education which, to her, is a two-way street in which a teacher actually teaches and engages with students, with students actually taking the initiative to dive deeper.

After breakfast, the boys and I (my student roommates) made our way back to the convention to get some knowledge on. After we got there and talked to a few other students about their time here in the convention, we made our way to our first session, which talked about writing about entertainment in a newspaper. But even if it was for newspapers, it was more about writing about interesting things to get people to want to read your student material on every release.

After that session, the boys and me went to the second session with an interesting title, “Design so good it will make your eyes bleed!” Those designs were good—let me tell you. The interesting way that those kids designed newspaper layouts was way cool. But at the end of it all, the boys and I went back to the hotel to wait for the awards ceremony then the party. The party was AWESOME!!!! So much dancing, so little time… -Karlton Chapman

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting… Rated-T is waiting to hear the results from the awards ceremony for magazines, yearbook and newspapers (all student-made). We are nervous… unsure if the magazine was good enough. Words left unspoken as anticipation filled the air. It seemed as though the waiting itself would last a lifetime. -Maurice Williams

Today was an interesting day. We attended the convention and went to three sessions. One session talked about transforming your publication to something completely new and cool. The other session we attended was about how to sell your publication through advertising. After the convention we all went back to the hotel to chill. However we got yelled at because Ms. K assumed we didn’t attend the convention. After sorting out our differences we went to the awards ceremony where we didn’t place at all. Disappointed we went back to the hotel to hang out and get ready for the conference party. At the party we had a blast. Afterward, we all went to Denny’s for dinner and then retreated to the hotel for some much needed sleep. -Shaquanda Noble

Disappointing, depressed, so un-cool. See, today, me and the Rated-T crew went to the Journalism Education Association conference to have our magazine ranked among many other aesthetic magazines. However, we didn’t even place. I was disappointed in myself and very unhappy about the results, though I did feel proud about this magazine compared to the rest because it was just better. Although, the magazine didn’t place, at all, it warmed my heart (not really) to know that when we got there so many kids took our magazines and that none of them were left. Man, I love Oregon... -Maurice Williams

Today we went to the JEA conference again and attended three sessions, “The Redesign Retreat,” “How to Keep the Chicken Laughing,” and “How to Make the Big Bucks.” After we were done, we were supposed to do whatever we wanted, but it didn’t work out like that. And we kind of got into some disagreements. It was either a misunderstanding or somebody forgot what they told us. (No names.) At 3:30, we attended the NSPA Awards Ceremony. Although we entered our magazine and website in the contest, we didn’t win at all. It was sad but I didn’t care because I know we did a very good job on the magazine and the website. After that we went back to the hotel and got in another disagreement, I think everyone was overwhelmed that we didn’t win. When the disagreement was over, everyone got dressed to go to another party and to listen to Darin DJ for the party. But once again it happened, and we ended up going to the party an hour late. After the party we went to Denny’s and I got some hot wings. Yum! -Courtney Shackleford