Expanding their knowledge of journalism and winning 6 awards, EC students participated in the 55th Journalism Association of Community Colleges state convention the weekend of spring break, Lori Medigovich, instructor of Journalism, said.

Held in Downtown Los Angeles in the Wilshire Grand hotel, over 620 students from 45 community colleges in California and Rhode Island were present.

Twenty of EC’s own students represented the college in 13 on the spot competitions and many more mail in competitions.

The El Camino Union newspaper won a general excellence award at the convention.

“Winning general excellence, competing against 60 different schools, and being one of the top 12 to win an award really shows the quality of the Union,” Medigovich said.

Four members of the Union newspaper staff also won individual awards during the on the spot and mail in competitions.

Alex Curran, 20, editor in chief of the Union, won honorable mention for the editorial cartoon during the on the spot competition.

“It was a great learning experience on how to write with a tight deadline,” Curran said.

Winning another honorable mention for the Union, Nelson Amaya, 20, sports editor, competed in the on the spot sports writing.

“I didn’t think I had a chance or that I wrote anything well,” Amaya said. “But it was so awesome to hear my name. It really caught me by surprise.”

Toney Fernandez, 22, photography editor, competed in the on the spot sports photography competition, and Lucy Guanuna,, 23, journalism major, in the mail in feature story competition. Both brought back an honorable mention for El Camino.

Competing is only one of the many activities that were offered at the JACC state convention. There were also over 70 workshops offered in a variety of aspects in journalism.

A workshop was offered called “Rock ‘n’ Roll Reporting,” talking about what it is like to write about music, Curran said.

“There was a lot of insight and pointers from the speaker,” Curran said. “Writing about music is what I want to get into so that workshop was really cool.”

Another unique workshop that the convention offered was a tour of the CBS studio, Jorge Camarillo, 22, journalism major, said.

“We saw a live broadcast of the news and got a tour of the actual studio and even the newsroom where everything begins,” Camarillo said.

Between the competing, and many workshops, JACC was also holding an election for JACC State President, Southern California president, and Northern California president. Haipha Simon, 32, managing editor, ran for JACC state president and won.

“It is really awesome that Haipha ran for state president,” Medigovich said. “I know Haipha will work long and hard for the students, and she is certainly deserving of the position.”

JACC’s convention is an event to look forward to and incorporating activities to help student interaction among different colleges is a change she’d like to implement, Simon said,

“EC has an amazing journalism program, ” Simon said. “It is because of advisors like Lori Medigovich and Kate McLaughlin that provide us with the tool necessary to succeed with our ultimate goal as a journalist.”