All About Publications

A younger set of students than usual occupied the classrooms and labs of Fisher Hall, PUC’s hub of visual arts action, on September 6 and 7. The 16th annual Publication Workshop brought nearly 200 Pacific Union Conference academy students and their sponsors a solid stretch of classes and workshops providing practical, hands-on training in the specific media of yearbooks, newspapers, video yearbooks, and this year’s new unit on radio podcasts.

This year’s theme was “Making Your Own History.” Elegant signs reclining on easels in the halls directed participants to the gauntlet of classes, which were divided into “learning pods” in order for the students to focus on their specific roles as writers, editors, designers, photographers, video editors, podcasters or sponsors.

This year’s increased enrollment meant that some classes had to be offered several times or presented in large-capacity lecture halls. The Mac lab, video editing lab, and PUC Radio studio provided real-life working locations for many workshops, and a lineup of 21 talented and experienced presenters brought their personal experience to the classrooms for the 40-plus sessions on vital publication skills.

Leticia Russell, coordinator of the workshop and a member of PUC’s Student Success Center team, has been working with the workshop for 11 years. She sees it as a chance for student staffs to bond as a team, to share experiences with students from other schools, and to collect an abundance of good ideas. “It puts them in a very rich creative environment,” she explains. “And it also stretches them, because we haven’t watered down the program—they get to experience a professional-level workshop.”

Milbert Mariano, chair of the PUC visual arts department and director of the workshop, sums up the mission of the program: “It is our hope that this Publication Workshop will provide these students with spiritual insight, leadership skills and the knowledge they need to enhance their school publications.”

The students, who came from academies as far as Hawaii and Arizona for the workshop, were able to look at each other’s publications during an evening showcase session, building a sense of community as well as pride in their work. The workshop closed on Thursday with an awards presentation, at which the overall yearbook and video yearbook of the year awards went to San Gabriel Academy and the overall newspaper award to Hawaiian Mission Academy. A variety of other awards for photos, layout and design, and writing were presented as well.