On Saturday, April 10th, Okawville journalism students competed in the IHSA Journalism Sectionals.  However, this year things were a little bit different.  Instead of traveling to compete, students competed virtually from the school.  Competing virtually did cause some worries in students and advisors, but for the most part, everything went smoothly when turning in work online.

Students were placed into categories to compete by advisor Mrs. Donovan, such as Editorial Writing, Headline Writing, Sports Writing, Yearbook Theme, etc.  Okawville had students in every category.  Students competed to move onto the state level.  To move to the next level of competition individually, students had to place third or higher in their category.  Teams accumulated points for students placing in the top 6, with the top-scoring team being named Sectional Champion.  In this competition, there is no advancement for an entire team.

Rosie Snyder competed in Photography and placed 6th.  Megan Rennegarbe, Hannah Miller, and Briley Rhodes competed in Video News together and placed 4th.  Tricia Rennegarbe and Alyssa Gavin competed in Yearbook Theme, placing 3rd qualifying for state!  Nick Rulevish participated in both News Writing and Sports Writing, finishing 5th place in Sports Writing.  Jared Juenger competed in Headline Writing and Review Writing, placing 4th in Headline Writing and 5th in Review Writing.  Macie Staley participated in Newspaper Design and Yearbook Layout.  Staley placed 3rd in News Design qualifying for the state competition.  Cheyenne Ellerbusch competed in Yearbook Caption Writing and Feature Writing, placing 5th in Feature Writing.  Kylie Buehler competed in Copy Editing and Editorial Writing.  Buehler placed 6th in Copy Editing and 5th in Editorial Writing.

Okawville finished 5th as a team out of 11 schools.  Macon (Meridian) took 1st,  Edwardsville placed 2nd, Taylorville received 3rd place, 4th place went to Belleville West, and Okawville rounded out with 5th place.  Other schools included Carterville, Chester, Coulterville, Herrin, Urbana, and Williamsville.  

Every student brought home a medal as everyone placed in at least one category.  Mrs. Donovan is extremely proud of her students as it has been a very tough and challenging year for everyone.  After taking a year off from competition last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she is very impressed with their work and everyone bringing home some bling!

Although they don’t get to travel to the state competition, Tricia Rennegarbe, Alyssa Gavin, and Macie Staley did qualify individually and will be competing at the state level on April 24, virtually again of course.  Tricia Rennegarbe and Alyssa Gavin will compete in Yearbook Theme together again, and Macie Staley will take part in News Design.  Good luck girls and bring home a state title! Results will be announced on Thursday, April 29 via live stream to advisers and competitors.