Prom and IHSA State Competition Collide
photo by Sheila Moore
The desk of Victoria Muller who competed in two drawing categories.
After placing first in the IHSA Journalism Sectionals, the Meridian Publications team was eager to compete at state. When competitors found out prom was the same day as the state competition, they had to figure out how to juggle getting to the school early in the morning for competition and then back home to get ready for pictures, dinner, and the dance.
“Having sectionals before prom was definitely one of the most stressful things I have done this past month,” senior, Victoria Muller said. “You have to be perfectly prepared for both events which is not easy for sure.”
Many girls used their break time in between events to do hair and make-up because they wouldn’t have time to do it all when they got home.
“I think it was a little stressful rushing to get my hair done after state was over, but I made it work,” senior, Amber Miller said.
The girls had anywhere from one hour to three hours to get their hair, makeup, and nails done before pictures and dinner.
“By the end of the day, I think everyone did a great job for journalism and could have fun at prom too, so I guess it went pretty well,” Muller said.
The stress didn’t get to everyone and at the end of the day, they were all able to finish their competitions then go to prom to have a good time.
“I’m really passionate about journalism and I’m really excited to see if we won,” senior, Karrigan True said. “At the end of the day, journalism means a lot more to me than going to a dance.”
On Thursday, April 29th the team will attend a virtual awards ceremony to find out if anyone placed in their competitions and if the team placed in the top 10 in the state.
This year’s Journalism Competitors were:
Amber Miller – Video News – 1st*
Gabby Bingaman – Video News – 1st*
Karrigan True – Video News – 1st*
Breanna Evans – Infographics – 1st*, Sports Writing – 3rd*
Hallie Gates – Yearbook Caption Writing – 1st*, Yearbook Copy Writing – 2nd*
Madison Sapp – Photo Story Telling – 1st*
Victoria Muller – Editorial Cartooning – 1st*, Advertising – 2nd*
Zoey Hayes – Review Writing – 1st*, Editorial Writing – 4th
Robert Le Cates – Newspaper Design 2nd*, Yearbook Layout Double Page Spread- 4th
Emery Johnson – Broadcast News – 3rd*
Ellie Fitzpatrick – Feature Writing – 1st*, Copy Editing – 5th
Haley Grimes – News Writing – 5th, Headline Writing – 6th
Trinity Hott – Yearbook Theme Development
Sara Carroll – Yearbook Theme Development
*advanced to state
