Natchitoches, La. (Nov. 2, 2018) – Northwestern State University’s Department of New Media, Journalism & Communication Arts hosted its 45th annual J-Day this past Friday. The half-day event in NSU’s Student Union included 10 communications-based competitions, seven panels with communications professionals and facility tours.
Just under 400 participants, advisers, NSU students and faculty attended this year’s event.
Students had the opportunity to choose two panels out of the seven offered. The panels included Student Media, Radio Industry, TV Broadcast, Public Relations, News Writing, Internships and “How to Get Your Dream Job.”
Competitions included pre-submissions and on-site events.
The pre-submission categories were Photojournalism, Short Film, Sports Writing and Media Writing.
The on-site competitions were for Yearbook, Newspaper, TV, Radio, Media Writing and Sports Reporting.
The winners of each competition are as follows:
Pre-submissions competitions
- Photojournalism – Carly Barras of Elysian Fields High School, first; Kelsie Marcantel of Elysian Fields High School, second; Morgan Durett of Elysian Fields High School, third
- Short Film – Summer Driggers of Bossier Parish School of Technology and Innovative Learning, first; Nand Patel of Bossier Parish School of Technology and Innovative Learning, second; Amanda Sifuentes of Bossier Parish School of Technology and Innovative Learning, third
- Sports Writing – Sam Cooley of Vidalia High School, first; Aden Woodard of C. E. Byrd High School, second; Zachary Schleter of the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, third
- Media Writing – Kelsie Marcantel of Elysian Fields High School, first; Harleigh Whitehead of Elysian Fields High School, second; Jessica Collins of Elysian Fields High School, third
On-site Competitions
- Yearbook – Elysian Fields High School, first; Pineville High School, second; Louisiana School for Science, Math and the Arts, third
- Newspaper – Neville High School, first; Airline High School, second; Louisiana School for Science, Math and the Arts, third
- TV Broadcast, heat one – Brianna Roblow-Law of Parkway High School, first; Acacia Coker of the Louisiana School for Science, Math and the Arts, second; Bailey May of Parkway High School, third
- TV Broadcast, heat two – Allison Darty of C. E. Byrd High School, first; Kayla Olson of the Louisiana School for Science, Math and the Arts, second; Salem Johnson of Lakeview High School, third
- Radio – Brayden Kimbrough of the Louisiana School for Science, Math and the Arts, first; Audrey Livigni of Neville High School, second; Brooke Copeland of Elysian Fields High School, third
- Media Writing – Zachary Schleter of the Louisiana School for Science, Math and the Arts, first; Chance McLane of Airline High School, second; Kelsie Marcantel of Elysian Fields High School, third
- Sports Reporting – Allison Darty of C. E. Byrd High School, first; Annie Pryor of Parkway High School, second; Summer Driggers of B Bossier Parish School of Technology and Innovative Learning
The overall competition winner was Alison Darty, a senior at C.E. Byrd High. She is involved in many extracurricular activities, most notably as the executive producer of YBYRD, a school-based television program at C. E. Byrd.
“She is the hardest working student that I know,” says Sarah Skiles, teacher at C. E. Byrd and J-Day chaperone.
Darty says that she wants to study sports broadcasting. Her current goal is to work for the Dallas Cowboys.
The NSU Department of New Media, Journalism and Communication Arts thanks each school for participating as well as the panelists, judges and volunteers. J-Day 2018 would not have been possible without your support.
The NSU Department of New Media, Journalism & Communication Arts is dedicated to investing in the future of the communication field through awareness and education. For more information about J-Day visit https://www.nsulajday.com, or call us at 1-318-357-5360.
