Student journalists of the ODYSSEY Media Group including the Production class, Journalism I class, and the iliad Literary-Art Magazine, pose for a staff picture during the 2024 Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA) convention on March 2. OMG members participated in team competitions and attended various sessions with student journalists from across the South, enabling them to build connections and acquire journalistic tools in a collegial atmosphere. “It just feels like a very safe space because everybody understands the criteria for being a journalist and the expectations that are on our shoulders,” iliad Editor-In-Chief Olivia Hendershot said. “I think everybody bonds in that sense.” Photo by Daniel Cruz
ODYSSEY Media Group students participated in the 2024 Southern Interscholastic Press Association conference in Columbia, South Carolina from March 1-3.
Journalism students across the South, including 45 members of the ODYSSEY Media Group, came together for the 2024 Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA) conference for three days in Columbia, SC.
Students were presented with the opportunity to take part in on-site competitions, attend a variety of sessions, build connections with teammates and more.
“The moments of talking to people that you don’t normally talk to, interacting with everyone and being able to just be with each other in those times that aren’t planned was really, really special,” CCHS freshman and Journalism I student Liza Larson said.
Upon arrival in Columbia on Feb. 29, members of the ODYSSEY Media Group from the Production class, Journalism I class and iliad Literary-Art Magazine went on a tour of the University of South Carolina’s College of Information and Communications campus. There, they saw presentations from members of the CIC’s faculty and staff.
“Never in my life had I had the opportunity to connect with a presenter as I did during the CIC segment on biometrics,” senior Aza Khan, SIPA student president and ODYSSEY Media Group Photography Editor said, “The gentleman clearly knew his stuff and made it accessible to a high school audience.”
“The moments of talking to people that you don’t normally talk to, interacting with everyone and being able to just be with each other in those times that aren’t planned was really, really special.”
— Liza Larson, Journalism I student
Pre-convention classes began on the afternoon of March 1, allowing students to gain knowledge in subjects like photography, social media, broadcasting and investigative journalism in four-hour-long sessions. Larson attended an investigative journalism session presented by Brandon Shulleeta, a professor at USC’s CIC.
“I’m a freshman — I still have so much time to figure out what I want to do, but I do enjoy journalism now, so (I enjoyed) being able to delve into something for four hours straight, and just talk about it,” Larson said. “(Precon) helped me to gain confidence in my abilities, especially in a journalistic context. Now I know that I need to stay persistent and consistent when writing a story and just in general to be a credible journalist.”
The official convention started with a welcoming talk from Bullit East High School adviser Larry Steinmetz, SIPA’s 2020-2024 Executive Committee Secretary, who shared the convention was a celebration of SIPA’s 100 years of support of scholastic journalism in the South. Khan then kicked off the convention for the 270 student delegates, their advisers and USC personnel. Khan feels she has grown throughout her years in the OMG, which prepared her for her duties as President.
“I’ve seen immense growth for me as a public speaker. If you would ask me my sophomore year, I would have never thought I would be doing this at all,” Khan said. “I did a Q&A with Margaret Clay, the Editor-in-Chief of Columbia Metropolitan Magazine, and then introduced and started off this convention. It was a huge deal to me. I think it was worth my time and I’m proud of myself.”
Following Khan’s opening, OMG Lead Copy Editor and 2025 SIPA President Wyatt Meyer gave a speech to the delegation.
“I wanted to talk about the idea of storytelling. But once I presented it I realized (that), for one, I’m not doing a lot of things that I need to do to be engaging and be a good speaker; two, the writing itself was not necessarily what it should be for the audience,” Meyer said. “I did a lot of work that first night on rewriting that speech, making it kid-friendly and fixing the things I missed the first time.”
ODYSSEY Media Group Lead Copy Editor Wyatt Meyer, a junior, delivers his presidental speech to the 270 students in attendance at the SIPA convention on March 1 in Columbia, South Carolina. After a practice run with classmates on Thursday night, Meyer rewrote the majority of his speech to be more compelling for students. “I wanted to talk about the idea of storytelling. But once I presented it I realized (that), for one, I’m not doing a lot of things that I need to do to be engaging and be a good speaker; two, the writing itself was not necessarily what it should be for the audience,” Meyer said. “I did a lot of work that first night on rewriting that speech, making it kid-friendly and fixing the things I missed the first time.” Video by Daniel Cruz.
After the student speeches, Delia D’Ambra, producer of the award-winning podcast CounterClock, a series about cold cases and the investigations behind them, delivered the keynote address.
“Delia was transparent in sharing her personal journey as a storyteller. There was a particular segment in her talk about fact-checking and context that was compelling for me,” senior Audrey St. Onge, OMG Business Manager and Journalism I facilitator said.
At the conclusion of D’Ambra’s address, students split up into break-out sessions, one of which was “Redefining Objectivity,” presented by OMG Editor-In-Chief Molly Harwell and Aza Khan, a session inspired by the work of 2024 National Journalism Teacher of the Year Logan Aimone.
“(We were) talking about the tangible ways to work on making our stories more objective, and identifying bias and learning to tell stories in the right way,” Harwell said. “That was really fun. I loved preparing that with (Khan) and getting to (present) with her.”
CCHS was then represented in the qualifying round of the 2024 SIPA Quiz Bowl by four teams, Quiz Bowl tests students on current events, Associated Press style and politics. Competitors included Maya Clement, Wyatt Meyer, Khan, Cadence Schapker, Anna Shaikun, Lydia Rowell, Adah Hamman, Jesse Dantzler, Harwell, Angel Jara, Peter Atchley, Lea D’Angelo, St. Onge, Cooper Jones, Isabella Westrich and Janie Ripps.
ODYSSEY Adviser David Ragsdale poses with the Leslie Dennis Heart for Diversity Award at the 2024 Southern Interscholastic Press Association. After the presentation, Ragsdale was awarded SIPA’s Leslie Dennis Heart for Diversity Award for his commitment to issues of identity, representation and inclusion. “I felt positively about our session and it was fun to tag team with colleagues I know well and whose work I respect. What blew my mind was the Dennis Award,”Ragsdale said. “I didn’t see that coming, and I’m grateful the organization sees our work at CCHS and my personal contributions to these issues in the world of scholastic journalism as meaningful.” Photo by Dr. R.J. Morgan
On Day 2 of the convention, CCHS students participated in either a Review Writing Competition or Team On-Site Production (TOP) competitions in broadcast production and anchoring, news writing, literary art-magazine layouts and photography. iliad Literary-Art Magazine Visuals Director Flannery Ragan participated in the Literary Arts Magazine TOP.
“I drew a piece that was a lot of trees and nature, and how all animals and stuff interact with each other,” Ragan said. “It was kind of stressful to do it so quickly. But it was a lot of fun overall, and I really liked the people in my group and I think it turned out really well.”
While students were engaged in competition, OMG adviser David Ragsdale co-facilitated a three-hour hands-on workshop called “Southern Storytelling.” Ragsdale, who collaborated with Dr. R.J. Morgan, Steinmetz, Phillip Caston and Amanda Heckert, focused on the cultural context of Southern Hip-Hop. After the presentation, Ragsdale was awarded SIPA’s Leslie Dennis Heart for Diversity Award for his commitment to issues of identity, representation and inclusion.
“I felt positively about our session and it was fun to tag team with colleagues I know well and whose work I respect. What blew my mind was the Dennis Award,” Ragsdale said. “I didn’t see that coming, and I’m grateful the organization sees our work at CCHS and my personal contributions to these issues in the world of scholastic journalism as meaningful.”
Time after lunch provided students the opportunity to attend sessions covering various journalistic subjects, such as the session “Using Your Camera in Manual Mode” presented by Britt Hogg, which CCHS freshman and Journalism I student Brandon Frazier attended.
“(My favorite session) was (Hogg’s) because when I go to Production, I want to do photography,” Frazier said. “(I learned about) aperture, where it should be when you’re shooting in sunlight, the IOS, the shutter speed, different types of stuff.”
The end of Day 2 brought three head-to-head rounds of Quiz Bowl. All four CCHS teams competed with two teams advancing to Sunday’s semifinals.
“It wasn’t really about winning,” Shaikun, Digital Editor in-Chief, and a senior, said. “It was about growing (our) journalistic knowledge because every year, you retain a little more from Quiz Bowl the year before. Even if my team didn’t make it very far, I’m still very proud of them.”
The final rounds of the Quiz Bowl competition were held at 9 a.m. on March 3. St. Onge’s team faced Cedar Shoals High School, while Meyer’s team faced Wando High School. Each CCHS team ended regulation in a tie but lost in the lightning round featuring a tie-breaking question.
“I am incredibly proud of all of our Quiz Bowl teams this year, even if we didn’t win. We studied hard, tried our best and had a great time competing, which is the most important part,” Harwell said. “I loved watching some of the younger staffers work hard and put in the effort to help their teams, so I’m really proud of them, as well.”
Student journalists of the ODYSSEY Media Group including the Production class, Journalism I class, and the iliad Literary-Art Magazine, engage during the 2024 Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA) convention. Two online media awards went to CCHS in the Best of Show category, 3rd place to the iliad’s website and overall Best in Show to the ODYSSEY Media Group website. “I like to say it takes a village to raise a story, and that’s true for everything on (the website). So I really applaud the rest of the digital team for their diligence in posting and editing, and the staff for creating content,” Digital Editor in-Chief Anna Shaikun said. “It is an honor to get that Best in Show and it is just a good send-off for my senior year.” Video by Daniel Cruz
After two morning sessions, the second of which ran concurrently with the Quiz Bowl final, the convention ended on March 3 with a speech from Ragsdale in his new role as SIPA Executive Committee Chair, followed by the presentation of awards for various competitions, including Best of Show.
“As SIPA chair for the next two years, my role is to work with the University of South Carolina and SIPA to offer students and advisers the best programming possible. A secondary mission is to ensure access to SIPA programming to more schools across the South,” Ragdale said. “I think people often forget, but the South has something to say.”
The 2023 iliad won top honors as a Scroggins: Best of the South Award winner. Likewise, two online media awards went to CCHS in the Best of Show category, 3rd place to the iliad’s website and overall Best in Show to the ODYSSEY Media Group website. The ODYSSEY Newsmagazine placed 2nd in the Best in Show category.
“I like to say it takes a village to raise a story, and that’s true for everything on (the website). So I really applaud the rest of the digital team for their diligence in posting and editing, and the staff for creating content,” Shaikun said. “It is an honor to get that Best in Show and it is just a good send-off for my senior year.”
After wrapping up his 17th SIPA convention, Ragsdale reminded students to show their care for each other daily and not just at conventions.
“Mentorship and friendship once every few months or once a year won’t cut it. We should show our friendship to each other in the moment,” Ragsdale said. “That’s what keeps people coming back to SIPA and continues to help grow our program.”
Staff awards:
2024 Literary Magazine Scroggins Award: Best of South:
iliad Literary-Art Magazine
Best of Show at SIPA
Literary Magazine:
1st – iliad Literary-Art Magazine
Online Media:
1st place – ODYSSEY Media Group
3rd Place – iliad literary-art magazine website
Newsprint:
Newsprint, 2nd – ODYSSEY Newsmagazine
2024 Convention on-site competition winners
Review Writing
1st place – Violet Cantarella
Online Media Team On-site Production Competition
Best visual/interactive element – Wyatt Meyer, Lydia Rowell, Carolyn Griffeth and Cooper Jones
Newsprint Team On-site Production Competition
Best story – Molly Harwell, Peter Atchley, Amya Hopkins and Jovi Grantham
Best design – Maya Clement, Janie Ripps, Adah Hamman and Isabella Gresham
Literary-Art Magazine Team On-site Production competition
Best overall – Victoria Garland, Margo McDaniel, Sam Harwell and Lea D’Angelo
Best written element – Olivia Hendershot, Cara Niles Flath, Flanery Ragan and Jazlyn Gonzalez-Alvarez
Special Recognition:
Leslie Dennis Heart for Diversity Award: David A. Ragsdale, CJE
