After much planning and fundraising, seven Journalism Production (JPro) students traveled to Boston, MA for the JEA National High School Journalism Convention from Nov. 2-5.

Students traveled by airplane to the convention, where they had the opportunity to attend breakout sessions on various reporting methods, hosted by professionals from the news industry, as well as advisers and other students. Sessions ranged in topic from review writing to leadership skill building, and gave attendees the chance to explore their interests and find new ideas to bring back to West Chicago’s journalism program.

The seven students – seniors Carlos Allen, Sasha Baumgartner, Dhanveer Gill, Micah Weber and Emily Ziajor, junior Jonathan Saucedo, and sophomore Miley Pegg – also competed in the National Student Media Contests, which pitted them against more than 1400 other entrants in a series of competitions designed to test their skill in journalism.

Gill took home a superior distinction in editorial writing; last year, he also placed fifth in the state in the same category. For Gill, his fellow Journalism Production staffers played a major role in his achievements.

“I want to begin by thanking my team first: all current (and former) members of the Chronicle and its leadership staff have been some of the best friends I could ask for. I would never have been able to make it this far in my career without them, and all of them have played a hugely important role in putting West Chicago on the map. Competing in Boston at the national level is something I will never forget; the preparation for this event has been (literally) years in the making, and I knocked it out of the park. If my self from six years ago saw me today, I think he’d faint from just the idea of being this successful,” Gill said.

For many, however, this was their first-time competing at all, let alone the national level.

In between sessions and competitions, the students had time to explore Boston: they toured the Boston Globe, meeting broadcaster Segun Oduolowu, who gave advice to the young journalists. JPro students also toured Harvard University’s campus, and took in a “Ghosts and Gravestones” tour on their final night in the city.