On Friday January 29, The Corsair staff virtually attended their annual conference for the Florida College Systems Activities Association (FCSAA).
Normally, they would travel to Tampa with a small platoon of the finest writers and artists PSC has to offer for a weekend of real ted talk level discussions with experts in the collective field of Journalism.
However, the travel was not to be this year, as COVID-19 has restricted travel.
Normally, due to budget restrictions and space, the conference was only able to be attended by a few students, and normally they are the editor-in-chief and maybe one more staff writer along with a small contingency of Kilgore staff and each publication’s respective advisor.
This year, the Corsair decided to broadcast the conference from a socially distanced classroom via the projector system. This was to ensure that the entire staff would be able to get the full experience that this conference has to offer.
The conference ended with an awards ceremony.
The Corsair came home with 1st place for their news photo, courtesy of Enrique Viveros.
“I was shocked when they called my name,” Viveros said. “I didn’t think I would place because it was my first year competing, and we were up against bigger colleges. The photo was from the George Floyd protest.
The Kilgore Review won 1st in Poem for Sarah Beal’s On The Death Ritual of An Ant and Poetry for Sarah Beal’s He is This, Ginna Burton’s I Learned the Self-Defense is The Best Offense as well as for Artwork Individual for Kelly Coberley’s Lion.
In the Newspaper category, The Corsair won 2nd for Design and Headlines. Additionally, Ben Murzin and Daniel Cheer won 2nd for their Humor Column with Todd Sanderson coming in second as well for his sports column Breaking the Press.
In the magazine category, The Kilgore won second place in General Excellence overall, as well as in the fiction category for Madeline Copeland’s story. Danny Nguyen won second place for the design section. Jenny Manare, Alyssa Zavocki and Bailey Walker placed 2nd for Artworks Magazine along with Kelley Coberly, Kylie Crowell, and Evan Osburn for their work in the Magazine Photography category.
Both publications additionally won third place for different sections. For The Kilgore, Kylie Crowell won third for the photo individual contest. Veronica Lockamy of The Corsair placed third for her General Column The Art of The Game. The staff as a whole placed third for their editorial as well as the editorial cartoon about vending machines. Shea Dixon placed third for his comic about St. Patrick.
Both publications will receive their collective awards in the week following the conference. Where they will once again return to the creative grind of creating the news and art made by students, for students.