Messenger/ Ngoc Vo

Pike County High School Bulldog TV News and Pawprints yearbook was recognized for the second year at 2014 J-Day High School Journalism Workshop.

The news broadcast and yearbook teams won honorable mentions from the event.

“The Pawprints yearbook staff won second place last year,” Gentry Hassett, PCHS Library Media Specialist said. “There was a little more competition this year.”

J-Day is a statewide event hosted at Troy University. This year, more than 500 students from 20 schools attended, according to Katherine “Kate” Rowinsky, Troy University Hall School of Journalism and Communication secretary and J-Day coordinator.

The Pawprints’ honorable mention was for the yearbook theme and design category, Rowinsky said. The awards were given during the welcome section of J-Day.

“I’m absolutely thrilled (with the students’ recognition),” Hassett said. “They worked really hard and it’s credit to their hard word. I’m very proud of them.

“It was a team effort. They used every minute of our discovery blog to produce broadcast works. They are a joy to teach.”

Hassett said the competing entries PCHS students submitted prior to J-Day included the yearbook and the news broadcasts from their Discovery blog. The recognition was for the works from the 2013-2014 academic year.

PCHS had 40 students attending J-Day, including 17 from Bulldog TV News and 23 from the yearbook staff, according to Hassett.

The participating students are not from one school class or receiving academic credit, Hassett said. The blog and the yearbook are extra-curricular activities. The group meets twice a week for a 40-minute period.

“I have students from grade seventh to twelfth, anyone that shows interest,” Hassett said.

According to Hassett, PCHS students had the chance to go to Troy University’s studio, to work with the equipment, to be on camera and to write stories.

“The program offered various workshops to improve (the students’) skills to do different things,” Hassett said. At J-Day, each student can choose three 45-minute sections among several workshops on the subjects of photography, year book, reporting and news cast producing. It is an opportunity for students to spend the day meeting their peers who share their interest in journalism, Rowinsky said.