Stories published in the Daily Iowan, print and online
Sarah Arp
Wilton HS, Wilton, Iowa

Students Competing at Workshop

It’s a few days after registration for the young members attending the Iowa City Journalism camp and the tension is high to complete their stories.  The frenzy in the computer room is heavy as the hours count down to the final deadline.  Some seem to be on the right track, while others aren’t trying as hard. 

Every year for the students attending the workshop there is a contest of who can complete the greatest feature story.  The main topic can be on any subject for the students to get the story published in The Daily Iowan.  Each class is assigned different types of articles and all are soon on the hunt to find the best story.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to get work published,” said Megan McCoy, a senior at Washington, Iowa, High School said.

All is not so easy for some students like McCoy who has yet to find a topic a few hours before deadline.  Most students remind themselves that it is not graded which allows some to think lowly of themselves.

“I might as well not even try,” McCoy said with a laugh.

However many students seem to be putting their heart into it.  And some have a lot of confidence in themselves.

“I think it’s amazing,” Luke Christisen said looking upward dreamily, a sophomore attending Francis Howell North High School in Missouri.  “Because I’m going to win.”

The teachers in the workshop are also working very hard with the student, taking time to help them any way they can.  One teacher, Donna Lee Olson, of News II class had a lot to say about the up-coming contest.

“No one should feel as if they don’t have a chance,” Olson said.  “Because they all do.”

Olson has been teaching each year at the summer camp for seven years now, giving her a chance to get prepared for going back to advise her student’s newspaper in Mason City, IA.

“I like that it’s a month before school starts again, she said.  “It gets me galvanized for the New Year.”

However, the teachers and students aren’t the only ones that poke their head into the world of journalism at the camp.  Counselors that live on the floors with the students seem to notice more than they are telling.

“To make a good journalist, they have to be wise about things,” Julie Siedler said, one of the girls counselors.  “I hope students get as much as they can out of the workshop.  It’s a really good opportunity.”

Siedler has been working as a counselor for about ten years, all the while saying “students will be students.” However, she also had a few stories to tell of her own.

“A couple of years ago,” Seidler reminisced.  “There was a student with piercings, chains and wore all black clothing.  I immediately expected trouble from her.  And she actually ended up being one of the ones to win an award for her writing.”

The devotion that most of the students have to writing is great since so many traveled from far away.  Some students were surprised to find a Texan in the workshop.

“I’m like a famous foreigner,” Courtney Cambell said, a senior, laughing, as she talked about arriving all the way from Austin, Texas.  “I travel a lot, so it’s not that bad.”

On Wednesday night, the day prior to the last, campers are asked to show their skills at a Karaoke and Talent Show gathering.  This is a very popular event where most of the students come out of their hiding places at the end of the day and try to have one last blast before leaving the workshop.

“I’m pumped.  I think its cool,” said Sara Johnson, a junior at Dundee-Crown High School in Chicago.  “It’s definitely a good idea for the last night.”

However, all good things must come to an end.  On the last day around noon, the students and their family members are asked to attend the award ceremony, time to recognize the students and their work.  Seniors are also capable of winning the $500 scholarship given out by the university.

So as the students are winding down their stay at the U of I, some seem excited for the chance to be awarded on their writing skills, and some are a little sour on the subject.

“I don’t feel I need public recognition for my work,” Jessica Vetter said, a senior attending Wilton High School in Iowa.  “And I don’t think other people need two hours of public recognition for their’s.  It’s just the sitting and listening I don’t like.”

Despite some of the campers dreading the up-coming ceremony, Luke Christisen stands to argue the point.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily about getting recognition for your work,” he says.  “It’s about trying your best and hoping you win.”