Flame Staff Attends Networking with Teens, Pros

​By Rachel Max '24 
GOA Flame staff editors networked with professional journalists and student journalists from across the state in October at the Garden State Scholastic Press Association’s (GSSPA) annual Fall Student Press Day Conference.

The conference was held at the Rutgers University Busch Campus Center, and students reported that it was an exciting place to spend the day.  In addition to Flame staff editors, some GOA students who are frequent writers for the Flame also joined the trip.
Junior Hannah Weisz said, “I had a great time! I bonded with frequent writers and staff members out of my department. I also learned about the new ‘New Voices’ legislation, which is very exciting for this country.”
The keynote event of the conference was a panel discussion on the New Voices Act, a recently passed act that protects the rights of student journalists in New Jersey. The State was the 15th state to pass this act, and this panel focused on educating student journalists and teacher advisors on their rights and protections as laid out by this new law. The panel also provided anecdotal stories on how these protections will protect students and teachers as compared to previous laws.
According to the GSSPA, the goal of the conference is to gather student journalists from across NJ to meet, share ideas, learn about current events in journalism, socialize, and enjoy classes taught by college professors. This year’s conference was the first in-person Press Day Conference since 2019.
    Sophomore Shayne Cytrynbaum enjoyed one journalist’s class so much that he continued to network with the teacher.  “For one of the seminars that I attended, I ended up just talking with the journalist who taught it for the next 45 minutes after his lecture had ended, and then I attended his next lecture later that day,” he said.
Conference workshops and lectures  provided guidance on everything from political cartoons to interview skills, some led by experts in the field and others led as student round tables, by students for students.
“The conference was a really great opportunity for all of us,” said Cytrynbaum.  “I know I truly learned a lot.”
The GSSPA is an affiliate of the Journalism Education Association (JEA) specifically focused on promoting, supporting, and educating student journalists in NJ.