Campus journ aces bag prizes in presscon tilts
In an unprecedented showing, The Leaf editors clinched awards in multiple categories at the Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC) of Region IV-A CALABARZON, held last March 14 -18, 2022.
Among the winners were Roald Enzo S. Torres from the grade school department, who placed 12th in Copyreading and Headline Writing Filipino. Additionally, Ikea Rose L. Mercado and Airalane Nicole D. Bautista from the high school department both placed 11th in News Writing English and Copyreading and Headline Writing English, respectively. Meanwhile, The Leaf’s Editor-in-Chief, Jerome Ricardo M. Ceralde, placed 5th in Editorial Writing English. Since the District and Division Press Conference were not held for the Schools Division Office of Batangas, the School Division Office (SDO) evaluated the campus journalists who are qualified to represent their division based on the school’s performance in campus journalism two years ago.
THE LEAF NEWS TEAM DepEd
The competition acknowledged the top 15 winners in each category, but only the top three were qualified to compete at the next level — the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC). However, several technical difficulties were raised throughout the contest period. Beforehand, the zoom link and contest details were sent to the contestants’ email addresses, but many of them did not receive the email, causing delays in their participation. Some were unable to enter the contest portal, while others were able to access the portal but were unable to pass their output. In the official Facebook group for RSPC, journalists and School Paper Adviserrs (SPAs), many shared the problems they encountered such as disconnection and power interruptions during the contest. Some weren’t able to return after missing the time limit, as per the rules under the memorandum, resulting in disqualification.
The process of determining the winners went through intensive stages in which the outputs were extensively scrutinized in accordance with all the regulations in the memorandum. The competition was held virtually, with Autoproctor and Zoom serving as the primary platforms. While the main gadget was monitored through Autoproctor, journalists were asked to open their second camera to check their environment. Weeks before the competition, the contestants were trained by their school publication coaches, while the Schools Division of Batangas Province organized an online workshop for campus journalism on February 21-24 to prepare the journalists. Due to the current setup, the contest was limited to the categories for both elementary and secondary contestants. Group categories, such as radio broadcasting and tv broadcasting, were cut.
