On Tuesday October 27th of 2015 Arizona Interscholastic Press Association held their annual fall convention for aspiring journalists at Arizona State-Tempe.

The convention held 2 sessions of workshops totaling 23 in all on various different photography, reporting and leadership topics. Each student was allowed to choose the two they were most interested in. The purpose was to inspire the over 500 journalists from schools around Arizona.

Sierra Linda Journalism and Yearbook staffs sent 23 students to engage in this opportunity.

“So many things were offered at this convention and I experienced interesting things about social media I would have never known,” Natalia Salas, newspaper reporter, said.

Senior Brandon Rosas said, “I thought it was really cool and there were many varieties of classes.”

The highlight of the event was when over 50 journalism awards were presented to deserving students for their 2014-15 work.

“We plan to be there next year,” said Sierra Linda Journalism teacher, Larry Ross.

Another highlight was the keynote speaker Nick Ciletti from ABC 15. He spoke about how he became a reporter and described his journey through cancer and treatment.

Photo courtesy by: Nick Ciletti

Key speaker Nick Ciletti takes selfie with AIPA conference students

Photo by: Kelly Mercado

Mr. Ross, journalism teacher, and Mr. Marks, weightlifting teacher, pose for the random selfie