Event Coverage: Sights in Soda City
Above: POSING FOR PROGRESS: iliad Editorial Board members stand with their faculty adviser, David Ragsdale, at the Southern Interscholastic Press Association Convention in Columbia, South Carolina on March 8. Throughout the convention, students had the opportunity to attend sessions taught by experts in the journalism field. “One (session) that stuck out to me was about incorporating memories into poetry,” iliad Writing Director Margo McDaniel said. “It was different than my usual writing process, and it was cool to try something new.” Photo by Grady Dunston
iliad Literary-Art Magazine and ODYSSEY Media Group members participated in the annual Southern Interscholastic Press Association convention in Columbia, South Carolina, from March 6-9.
From March 6-9, a group of 29 ODYSSEY Media Group members and four iliad Editorial Board members traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, to attend the Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA) Convention. For iliad Editor-in-Chief Olivia Hendershot, a senior, the trip was inspiring.
“I hope the iliad’s Ed. Board members learned from each of their sessions but also had fun with the rest of the team,” Hendershot said. “It’s important for programs like ours to participate in team bonding because it helps us build trust and understanding with one another.”
The event began on March 7 with pre-convention workshops at the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications. iliad Writing Director Margo McDaniel, a junior, attended a class about leadership in which she learned that the intention of leadership choices can have an unpredicted impact on the team.
“I learned a lot about myself as a leader and I got to recognise some of my strengths and weaknesses,” McDaniel said. “It was a reflective session, and I will definitely carry what I learned with me through the rest of this year.”
After pre-convention classes, the formal convention began with keynote speaker Aaron Manful, the director of student media at Francis Howell North High School. Manful spoke to students about the importance of student staffers and the role they play in high school media.
“Aaron had inspiring words about tapping into students’ creativity and allowing them to earn opportunities to do innovative storytelling,” iliad and OMG adviser David Ragsdale said. “As we learned, sometimes you have to just ‘Let Kevin be Kevin.’”
On March 8, students participated in a variety of journalistic activities, including sessions taught by journalism experts, Quiz Bowl, and Team On-site Production (TOP) competitions. Two iliad teams took part in TOP - iliad Outreach Director Niles Flath, iliad Managing Editor Victoria Garland and Journalism I student Sasha Barkan were Team 1 and Team 2 consisted of Hendershot, McDaniel and OMG illustrator Sam Harwell. Team 2 was awarded Best Overall Literary-Arts Magazine spread.
“The TOP competition was a challenge (because) it required us to work together in a short amount of time,” McDaniel said. “Bouncing around ideas within (a) team can be challenging, but it can also produce really cool and unique results, which I felt was the case in our TOP team this year.”
Flath and McDaniel led a session to teach peers about what it’s like to run a literary-art magazine program.
“I had never presented at a conference before, and it was a really exciting opportunity,” McDaniel said. “I liked connecting with the people that came to my session and getting to present in a professional environment.”
Garland said. “It’s bittersweet that my student journalism career is coming to an end, but the journey has been great, and I’m motivated to finish strong.” Photo by Grady Dunston
Above: AWARDING EXCELLENCE: iliad Editor-in-Chief Olivia Hendershot and iliad Managing Editor Victoria Garland, both seniors, were recognized as Southern All Stars at the Southern Interscholastic Press Association convention on March 9. The iliad Editorial Board Members received the Scroggins Best of South, top honors,for their work during the 2023-2024 academic year. “It felt great to be recognized as a senior All-Star at SIPA along with my peers,” Photo by Grady Dunston
SIPA held its annual awards ceremony in March. 9 to recognize students for their hard work throughout the year. iliad staff members received a Scroggins Best of South award, the organization's highest honor, was awarded Best in Show, and several individual awards.
“Receiving the Scroggins award was very rewarding,” McDaniel said. “It’s very motivating for us to finish out this year as Scroggins winners for 2024.”
Iliad Editorial Board members participated in various team bonding activities throughout the trip. This included a night at Frankie's Fun Park, a tour of the University of South Carolina, and a morning exploring South Carolina’s Capital building. For Garland, spending time with her fellow Editorial Board members was a treat.
“My favorite part of the trip was hanging out with everyone and engaging (in) activities we did,” Garland said.
Ragsdale, who serves as the SIPA Executive Committee Chair, helped to plan the event with the intention to unite student journalists from across the South. With roughly 300 attendees from eleven different states in attendance, the event allowed students and advisers to network with others and grow their journalism skills.
“If you were here last year or the year before, I hope you can tell that SIPA is stacking the deck in your favor—more sessions, cooler t-shirts, incredible speakers, and bigger opportunities to celebrate Southern storytelling,” Ragsdale said. “Because this game is about you—the 300 students, advisers, and chaperones who make SIPA what it is.”
Story by Niles Flath
Niles Flath is a junior at Clarke Central High School in Athens Georgia. She serves as Outreach Director for the iliad Literary-Art Magazine. Flath hopes to make connections with creators both inside and outside the CCHS walls and showcase their work through the iliad program. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, swimming, and hanging out with friends.