Hunterdon County Student Media Day a resounding success

Photo via Rick Epstein

The first annual Hunterdon County Student Media Day was a resounding success, hosting over 70 students and 13 guest speakers.

Sara Matthews, Multimedia Editor
March 15, 2023

The Delphi hosted the first ever Hunterdon County Student Press Freedom Day Convention on Feb. 23. The planning team put in hours of effort to make this special day happen, paying close attention to each detail. This included setting up a wall filled with the previous years’ printed newspaper as photo booth backdrop.  (Photo via Brian Smith)
The day started out with donuts that were donated by ShopRite. ShopRite kindly donated not only breakfast, but also lunch for the guest speakers. The business was happy to help after hearing about this great new event! The donuts were a hit, and were taken and eaten quickly.
(Avery Fitz)
Anther hit for the attendees was the table of goodies.  The table had things such as pins, pens, bags, cups, and even a notepad and pen that could be used throughout the day. Most to all of these items were gone by the end of the convention. (Photo via Juan Torres )
Before going off to different break out sessions, Juan Torres (right), superintendent of Hunterdon County schools, gave an introduction to the Keynote Panel. The panel included Garden State Student Press Association president Tom McHale (left), Fox Sports Radio host and Del Val alumnus Connor Mills (left-center) and Pulitzer Prize winner Ian Shearn (right-center). Throughout the day, students could choose which breakout room speakers they’d like to attend. Throughout the day, students could choose which keynote speaker session they’d like to attend.
(Photo via Rick Epstein)
There were options for everyone who attended. Every Hunterdon County public high school student who participates in yearbook, literary magazine, journalism and broadcast programs were invited to the event, and they could pick which room they had most interest in. Kara Sterner was a hit, improving ideas for students’ upcoming yearbooks and social media programs.  (Melina Karimi)
Since ‘The Delphi’ has begun growing its podcasting program this year, we were lucky enough to have Vinnie Civitillo (left) come in and have his own session. Both Hunterdon Central and Del Val students took back information to improve recording skills. 
(Melina Karimi)
There were even options for those who enjoy poetry. Literary magazine students, as well as Ms. Esposito’s creative writing class, especially enjoyed this session, as her class just finished up their poetry unit. All students were able to write their own poems and share their ideas with Cathrine Doty, a professional poet, whose appearance was co-sponsored by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. (Photo via Brian Smith)
‘The Delphi’ advisor Mr. Smith and the head editors were thrilled with the outcome of this first county-wide event. The team included Melina Karimi (left), Veronica Hart (left-center), Sara Matthews (right-center) and Avery Fitz (right). They arranged for complimentary gifts for each person to take home, with the help of many of the generous guest speakers, made sure there would be food for all while also gathering 12 incredible speakers from various professions.
(Mr. Epstein )
After cleaning up, Mr. Smith had shared his homemade vegan chili with the event team to thank them after a long, fun day. Del Val would like to thank everyone who could attend, and especially those who donated. ‘The Delphi’ hopes to keep this convention going and start a new tradition for all of Hunterdon County’s journalism students for years to come.
(Avery Fitz)