Nearly 300 high school students from Alabama and Florida participated in the Hall School of Journalism and Communication (HSJC) annual J-Day on Tuesday, Oct. 20. 

Students took part in workshops on broadcast journalism, multimedia journalism, yearbook production and journalism fundamentals, including photography and how to prepare for college media programs.

Faculty members Dr. Bridgette Colaco, Morgan Drinkard and Dr. Stefanie East served as organizers for the event. Drinkard said the J-Day reflects the mission of HSJC, to shape ethical and trustworthy communicators, something she hope students learned during their time at the event.

 “J-Day gives us an opportunity to help high school journalists understand best practices and ethical storytelling,” she said. 

The workshops are led by TROY and HSJC faculty, along with industry professionals, many of whom are TROY alumni. East shared J-Day is a great recruitment event for TROY and HSJC.

“We have so many students who tell us they decided to attend Troy because of their experiences at J-Day, and that includes many of our workshop presenters who have already graduated,” she said. “To see the excitement in the students’ eyes when they get to tour the TrojanVision studios, hear from professional reporters working in the industry, or learn about photography from Troy’s own Director of Photography, is truly a powerful thing for us as educators.”

Anniston Page, a student from Andalusia High School, said what she enjoyed most about J-Day was the opportunity to explore the different roles in journalism and encouraged other students to join next year.

“Get involved in the broadcasting or yearbook program and come on over here because it’s so much fun and it’s something that I look forward to every year.”

Dylan Seymore, a 2023 graduate of HSJC and reporter at WTVM, said he enjoyed presenting and sharing insight into working for a local news station, especially to students who are curious and already have a passion.

“There’s only so much you can see while you’re watching the scenes but there are so many moving parts behind the scenes and that’s just as important to storytelling and journalism,” he said.

Seymore added that you can’t put a price tag on students learning how they can start exceeding expectations and having the tools they’ll need to succeed.

“Students who wrote for their school newspaper asked what they could do better, how they could increase engagement,” he said. “I think if your someone looking for those answers that can’t be found in your normal environment you have to venture out to find those answers and that’s what J-day allows.”

J-Day is held annually each fall and is funded by a grant from the Alabama Press Association. The photo gallery for J-Day can be found here.