IHSA Journalism Sectionals were held at Palatine High School on Saturday, April 21. Junior Ellen Stojak placed second in copy editing and participated in the State competition on April 27.

“At Sectionals, I thought I was doing terribly because I was the only one stressed out, but at State everyone was madly flipping through their books and glaring at their papers,” said managing editor of The Knight Times Ellen Stojak.

The journalism conference is divided randomly by who’s closest to each school, rather than by conference.

“I am very proud of everyone who participated in Sectionals. It can be stressful at times. Overall, it’s a great experience, and it’s super fun to spend the day with everyone on staff and some yearbook staff members as well,” said co-executive editor of The Knight Times Erin McBriarty.

Journalism and yearbook students participated in the competition. The competition started at nine in the morning, so students left school around seven in the morning.

“We arrived around 9 a.m. and waited for block A to go [to their competitions]. I did broadcasting, so I was block A and B. It was a total of three hours that felt like three minutes,” said The Knight Times online editor Isa Kregel.

Overall, Ellen Stojak placed second in copy editing. Erin McBriarty placed fifth in headline writing, Isa Kregel placed sixth place in broadcasting and Anne Mattea placed fourth in editorial cartooning.
“Experience is key. We were up against schools like Stevenson, Hershey, and Fremd, big journalism schools. It’s more fun if you go in to learn from it rather than the actual placing,” McBriarty said.