Journalism students from the Jones County High School attended the SkillsUSA competition in video news production and won first place in regionals and will now be competing again in June at nationals.
Adam Gillhouse, broadcast journalism teacher, said he is very proud of his students. He said they have improved their skills throughout their time at JCHS.
“The students went to a video news production contest because they made it to state. They went to Atlanta, where they had two and a half hours to write and record a three-minute news program,” he said. “It has to be exactly three minutes, or points are taken away. This requires a lot of teamwork to make this happen.”
He said it was important for his journalism students to compete in the contest, because it helps them see where they stand with other students around the state. He said the contest is also fun for them. They spend a lot of time recording the news, so he said it’s nice to see his students showcase their skills.
Kennon Paulk, a senior who competed, said the most challenging part of the contest was keeping up the production and having the skills to be able to compete. He said they didn’t want to let the time restraint get them. They will be competing in nationals with SkillsUSA in June with 49 other teams.
“We got right on three minutes with our take, so we were pretty confident we did well. When we went to the awards, we won first place. We knew we could do it, so I’m glad we got to prove to everyone that we could make it this far. These are memories we will have forever from this experience,” the student said.
Gillhouse said he can see a few of his students going on to do video news production. He said no matter what they decide to do with their futures, they still have learned a lot from the competition. He said his favorite thing about watching these students compete was seeing all their hard work pay off and how much they have progressed.
“With SkillsUSA and all the competitions these students compete in, they are more than ready to enter the workforce,” the teacher said. “We have students competing in several areas with SkillsUSA here at the high school, not just video news production. We like to see these students showcase what they have learned.”
Jackson McKenzie, another senior who competed, said being a part of the SkillsUSA competition in video news production has helped him with his speaking skills. He said he has looked forward to the competition each year, and he’s glad to be graduating knowing the team won first place in regionals his senior year.
“This was a very tight competition. Last year we got second place, and we were disappointed, but I still had one of the best experiences of my life there. It was exciting to win first this year. Being able to say you won first place in a statewide contest at a job interview is definitely something worth talking about,” McKenzie said.
Another senior who attended the competition, Alyssa Waters, said winning first place was the best way to end her senior year. She said the national competition in June will be bittersweet because it will be the last time they will be competing with each other, but she’s happy they get the chance.
“The memories will be with me forever from this competition,” she said. “I plan to become a teacher, but the skills from competing in this will always be there and will help me in the teaching field. The best part of the competition are the memories we have made, because we have a lot of fun.”
