The Los Medanos College Experience staff brought home 20 awards from the JACC National Regional Conference at San Francisco University Oct. 26, including the coveted meritorious award for General Excellence for the print edition.
The conference kicked off with a keynote speaker Candice Nguyen, a Peabody Award-winning investigative journalist from NBC Bay Area, and her presentation served as material for several on-the-spot contests.
A variety of workshops were offered for students to learn more about journalism, from internships, to tips on how to write articles and how to tell compelling stories.
Current and previous Experience staff members won awards spanning numerous categories at the end of the conference at the award ceremony.
Editor-in-Chief Gabbie Munoz won first place in Environmental Portrait, with her photo of professor Caitlin Mitchell sitting in a patio chair in front of her office.
Online Editor Lesly Fisiiahi won second place in Environmental Portrait with a photo of professor Eric Sanchez standing next to the Rivertown barn mural his students painted.
A two-person entry by Fisiiahi and current staff writer Sarah Capperauld received an honorable mention for their feature story about tattoos.
Experience Sports Writer Juan Cebreiros took home two awards: third place in Sports Feature Photo, and second with former staff member Ray Kopf for a Photo Story Essay of a series of baseball photos.
Managing Editor Angella Dorado won second place for her feature photo of students watching the solar eclipse.
Former Editor-in-Chief Aliyah Ramirez won five awards: first place for Enterprise News Story/Stories for her story “A Tough Climb” with former staff writer Ray Kopf and first place in Front Page Layout, second place for her feature story for “Women Make History in the Contra Costa Community College District,” third place in Inside Layout for a page design on women in district leadership, honorable mention for Profile Feature Story for a story on student Reese Clayton.
Former Graphics Editor Alexis Ramirez won second place and honorable mention for her two entries in Photo Illustration, and fourth place in Informational Graphics for an illustration about homelessness, and fourth place in Editorial Cartoon.
Former Staff Writer Mohammad Najimi won first place in Inside Page Layout for a two-page spread on the Israel and Palestine conflict, and fourth place for an editorial on the selection of a permanent chancellor.
Former Staff writers Micah Simms and Drew Booth won fourth place for Podcast/Audio News for Exposition #15 Featuring Professor Star Louis Steers.
Staff Writer Finn Atkin participated in an on-the-spot competition during the conference and won fourth place in Opinion writing for a commentary on Nguyen’s keynote speech.
“I felt really good about it, I was really surprised that I would even place for the on-the-spot competition,” Atkin said. “However, I think the most exciting thing was seeing my peers win for their incredible work in the Experience.”
