On April 5 – the day the earth shook in New York – the Bronx River News staff went to Baruch College for a journalism workshop and awards ceremony. The workshop consisted of journalism workshops taught by teachers and professionals in the journalism business. Many other NYC high school newspapers from Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn, attended the conference, which featured workshops taught by teachers and professionals in journalism. Topics included  “Opinion Writing,” “How to Write a Good Story,’’ and How to Be a Better Editor.’’

“I was excited about this trip as I wanted to learn more skills about journalism,’’ says  staff writer Fahima Akter. ”I got many ideas on how to improve and write better opinion piece writing and I was amused by the many ways a story can be written. I was also super excited about the award show as my teammates won first place in National/World News and First place in Opinion/Editorial.”

Cesar Jimenez, the school’s news editor, won first place for national and world news in the New Newspaper Category. He shared the award with Myess Hammouri and Jomayra Amparo, 10th graders who also contributed to the award-winning story on Artificial Intelligence. “I am proud of this award,’’ he said. “ Writing this story was fun because I worked on it with Myess and Jomayra and I am excited to see what they do and their future work.”

Mitila Purba, another staff writer, also attended the conference. “The experience during the Baruch College conference was great and I had fun joining the sessions of photojournalism and the research sessions.,’’ she said. “The spicy chicken wrap was so good and I felt very proud when we won two awards.”

Staff Anastasia Vidot, who won first place for her opinion piece in the New Newspaper Category, enjoyed the trip. “It was an amazing experience because I felt strongly connected to the piece I wrote and I felt proud to receive that award,’’ she said. “The overall experience gave me insight about other individuals who work to connect with their communities.”

At the end of the day, the Bronx River High School Newspaper Staff came home victorious and proud of their achievements… even after an earthquake!