Trisha Mae Rojales
Header Artist
Elizabeth Seton School-South showcased excellence in journalism as ten of its learners competed in the first online CavPUSO Schools Press Conference held last November 26, 2021, hosted by Academia De Julia Victoria of Cavite and spearheaded by the Cavite Province Union of School Organization Inc.’s president, Dr. Marietta Opulencia.
ESS-South was one of the 24 schools from all over Cavite that participated in the program with the theme: “Digital Trust and Intuition in Campus Journalism: A Challenge of the New Normal.”
The press conference aims “to address the gap of Campus Journalism exposure among private schools in the province of Cavite and to sustain this scholastic journalism program in time of the pandemic in compliance with RA 7079, otherwise known as the Campus Journalism Act of 1991” (CavPuso Facebook Page).
Ms. Aubelle Floranda and Ms. Dolly de los Reyes from the English Department coached the ten Setonian representatives to compete in the following categories: Editorial Writing, News Writing, Feature Writing, Sports Writing, Column Writing, Copyreading and Headline Writing, Photojournalism, and Editorial Cartooning.
The categories were further separated based on the media: English and Filipino, and into three brackets (A-C), splitting Elementary, Junior High School, and Senior High School learners. The contestants had one hour to write their articles after a lecture on their respective category.
The announcement of winners commenced the next day, November 27. Among the ten Setonian representatives, the following six learners managed to seize a spot in the top three:
Also worth mentioning are the four learners who ranked within the top ten, namely:
- Juliana Colleen Consorio (fourth place in English Copyreading and Headline Writing)
- Ireland Star Laguio (fourth place in English Editorial Cartooning)
- Penelope Wong (sixth place in English Column Writing)
- Patricia Emmanuelle Bansil (eighth place in English Feature Writing)
The panel of judges was composed of Mr. Patrick T. Coquilla, Dr. Alexander Blanco, and Dr. Lilibeth Gregorio, all winners of the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC), as well as Dr. Cris E. Avila, winner of the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA).
The winners were acknowledged by the organization in a live stream on their Facebook page. Candidates in the top ten are automatically qualified to partake in the Montessori School Administrators Association (MSAA) press conference.
It will undoubtedly be interesting to see the school’s performance in future campus journalism ventures.