While other students enjoyed the last weeks of summer break, Dayvionna Randle (’25), Airinay Rodriguez (’25), and Morgan Merrick (’26) have been diving into their research to prepare to cover the historic Democratic National Convention taking place just blocks away at the United Center from August 19th through August 22nd. How they got there is a thrilling ride.
In June, CTK’s journalism adviser, Mrs. Loy, attended a summer institute training for journalism educators at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. It was there that she learned of this unique opportunity, and immediately reached out to the staff of both the yearbook, The Ignation, and the newspaper, The Shield (which had wrapped its inaugural year.) CTK’s principal, Ms. Olson, was immediately on board with the opportunity and offered every support. Within 48 hours, the full application was completed and submitted to the Illinois Journalism Educators Association (IJEA) and the wait was on. There were only 40 spots available: one student-journalist and one adviser per school making up these 40 slots. So, in reality – only 20 student-journalists would be chosen.
Weeks went by as the IJEA considered applications and even had to receive security clearance for all applicants from the Secret Service. Finally, on July 17th, the notification arrived. “We are thrilled to be able to offer each school 2 (two) daily credentials for students each day of the convention, ” Natalie Jarvis, Director of Communication for the Chicago 2024 Host Committee shared. Given the opportunity to rotate students through each day, CTK was able to offer spots to these three amazing students. In total, ten schools were chosen across Illinois.
The CTK team immediately leapt into action, meeting to plan, brainstorm, and learn as much about covering such a large event. Thankfully, the team found valuable support from Dr. Ellen Austin, journalism adjunct professor at Kent State University, who led her team of high school student-journalists to the DNC 2020 during her time as adviser at at a Rockford high school. Dr. Austin immediately shared extensive knowledge – from chasing down a delegate for an interview to proper footwear for marathon-coverage days.
Stay tuned for more articles, insights, video diaries, and reporting from the DNC in the coming weeks! We will bring them here for you, reporting from behind The Shield!
