Hillcrest Hawk Eye staff attend the 10/25/24 SSC Publication Conference.

On Friday the 25th, the Yearbook and the HawkEye Newspaper clubs went to the annual SSC Conference hosted by Eisenhower high school. Our keynote speaker was Pat Disabato who has written for many of our local newspapers in the sports column. He was an athlete and played professional sports until an injury took him out. He parlayed his knowledge into sports writing and studied communications and journalism in college.

We also learned from other professionals such as Mr. Keith who is president of the Illinois journalism education association.  Some interesting facts about him are that he interviewed Rupal at the age of 18 in the back of a bookstore and he has a favorite quote he wanted to share, “ Every human being has their own profile.”  Mr. Keith is all for the youth and what we want to write. SPLC.com is a free speech platform  to protect you if you get in trouble writing something someone didn’t want you to write about. 

Katerina Bailey teaches at Richards high school and she says the theme of the yearbook should be used at all times. She thinks yearbooks should use a brand kit for the theme with text size. You should keep the spread  the same size in a yearbook and have it color coded so if you go to a certain color you will find everything from that color. 

The last  session was about Top Tips and Tricks for Cell Phone Photography by Varsity Yearbook Co. Your phone is the best camera that will not cost you money.  Three tips given were;  don’t use the zoom, change your angle, and  be mindful of your light. Other helpful notes were; don’t text photos because it will shrink, and take photos in order to find  your best photo in the perfect position. If you’re looking for a perfect picture do a 360 but…NO BUTT SHOTS. Also,  invest in a tripod, steady your camera, and always clean your camera.

The opening speaker was a bit too long but the sessions that followed held my attention. My favorite session was the photographer’s . I learned a lot from them and they gave me a tripod.  The rest of the professionals were very aspiring and I got to talk to all of them after they got done when everyone left. They are all nice and very dedicated to what they do. Mr. Keith was so into the life of the people you’re writing about.  Ms. Bailey is a yearbook teacher and she uses canva as a main source in helping with her students.  The Varsity yearbook was very good for you to find a perfect picture for yourself and take pictures of others around you. She gave helpful tips about how you should take photos and what to do after you took the photo.