Valley Stream North High journalists take part in Adelphi Press Day

Student journalists from Valley Stream North High School’s news magazine, The North Star, and literary magazine, Polaris, took a trip to Adelphi University on February 17 to participate in the college’s Press Day. The event had the editorial staff of school newspapers from across Long Island meet with college professors, collaborate in workshops, and learn how to improve their journalism skills. North students also had the opportunity to learn all about the evolution of the newspaper as it moved from print to online.

Students listened to guest speaker and experienced journalist, Chris Corry. Other speakers included the editor in chief and faculty advisor for Lynbrook High School’s award-winning newspaper: The Horizon. Speakers used their experiences in the press to further inspire student journalists. After a Q&A with the panel of speakers, students participated in two workshops of their choice.

For the first workshop, North students took part in the hashtagAUPressDay Photo Challenge with Corry, in which they learned photography fundamentals such as the rule of thirds. They were also taught best practices for cellphone photography. Students went around campus taking photos and later reviewed them with others.

For their second workshop, the North Star staff separated into two groups, and attended the “Finding Ideas: From the News Pages to the Book” and “Share Your Online Successes /Missteps workshops.” The groups discussed how to improve their writing and journalistic skills and collaborated with other students to discuss ways to improve their newspaper’s online presence. After the workshops, the North students attended Adelphi’s Quill Awards, which recognizes school newspapers from across the region.