The Kansas Student Journalist of the Year contest gives student journalists the opportunity to showcase their work. The competition is separated into 3 classifications: 1A/2A, 3A/4A, 5A/6A. A winner is chosen from each of those categories and then a finalist is chosen to be sent on to the national competition.
This is the portfolio for 2023-24 Charger editor in chief Sophia Castillo.
Editing, Leadership and Team Building
Explanation
This was one of the first stories that I ever wrote. I worked with a partner to gather information as we both weren’t yet comfortable with interviews. We worked to pick out quotes and format the story. I learned to work with others during my first few weeks in journalism. I feel my writing has grown a lot since my first story in both formatting and voice.
Changes
The first thing I noticed when looking at this story was the opening sentence. The point that I was trying to make could’ve been made differently. I feel that the opening sentence could be misconstrued, so I would definitely fix that. If I were to write this story now I would also break up some of the paragraphs. There are multiple thoughts in the same paragraph so it’s difficult to stay engaged. Overall, I would just fix the formatting.
Design
Explanation
This design was a fun way to inform people about the cross country course which has changed multiple times in the past few years. The design includes input from the cross country runners and their feelings throughout the course. Besides helping design our layouts, I don’t do designs often so this was one of my first.
Explanation
This page was intended to introduce the fall 2024 homecoming candidates. The week’s theme was “Barbie,” so we worked with each candidate to choose their Barbie, set up times to photograph each candidate, edit pictures, do interviews and put together the complete page. I like that it turned out different than things we’ve done in the past.
Commitment to Diversity
Explanation
I decided to write this story because a proposal to ban books was made in a community nearby. The goal was not only to educate people about the dangers of banned books, but also inform people that this is a problem in communities around us too.
Explanation
Myself and a few other staff members participated in a mission trip to Guatemala over Christmas break. People around here don’t really see the things I saw on the trip. I wanted to share the experience and encourage people to take opportunities. When I first wrote the story I made it very vague. I found it hard to share a personal experience and emotions. I had to rewrite it with more emotion and detail.
Explanation
Girls wrestling is a new and growing sport and it was new to our school last year. I participated in wrestling and there were a few things I noticed in terms of equality between girls and boys. I thought it would be good to draw these to people’s attention. As the sport is growing the girls teams have to fight for equal treatment.
Law Ethics and New Literacy
Explanation
Although I didn’t write this story directly, I was a big part of the discussion. I was a part of the wrestling team so we didn’t feel it was appropriate for me to write the story. As a team, we had to address how we could legally write the story because we knew what happened, but what could we actually publish? This was a big learning opportunity for us all as we learned about legalities in journalism. Our editorial team also had to meet with the superintendent before publication and attended the school board meeting where the coach was fired.
Reporting and Writing
Explanation
There were a lot of modifications that had to be made in fall sports with the extreme heat earlier this school year. The goal was to inform the public how sports were being safe in the heat. I had to research the KSHSAA heat policies and interview each coach about the modifications they were making to stay safe.
Explanation
This past year our district made the decision to switch leagues. This affects our amount of traveling and the schools we compete against. This story was to inform the community of the change and explain how each sport would be affected. The map was a fun visual to show where we stand between two leagues.
Explanation
Our school has a speaker come in about once a semester. This presentation was about abusive relationships. There wasn’t a lot of positive feedback from the student body as they thought it didn’t pertain to our school. It was difficult to write this story without being completely negative about the presentation. I tried to find quotes from people with two different viewpoints which was challenging.
Photography
It’s often difficult for me to take photos at events because I participate in a lot of the activities. When I take photos it’s a lot of multi tasking so I don’t do it very often. Although I don’t take a lot of photos, I do write cutlines and help pick out the photos that we use on our website and in our weekly issue.
Broadcast Journalism
Explanation
Our journalism class puts out monthly podcasts. The podcasts are another platform that we use to engage our audience. We can have a lot more in-depth conversations. They are also a fun way to talk about interests of students in the school. Although I don’t conduct the interviews or edit the podcast, I do help participate in ideas for it, which is part of the weekly process of assigning stories. I have also been a guest on the podcast before, discussing girls wrestling and other topics.
The Charger 