Joining 5,312 students and advisers from 46 states and 8 countries, Marian yearbook and newspaper leaders took advantage of the opportunities at the fall National High School Journalism Convention Nov 13 – 16 in Nashville, Tenn. Keynote speakers included Pulitzer Prize winners and featured speakers in more than 200 sessions came from across the country.

The convention itself took place at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center, a sprawling resort campus located next to the legendary Grand Ole Opry House. According to visitmusiccity.com, this “iconic hotel is known for its nine acres of indoor atriums featuring lush plants, winding pathways, and waterfalls. There is even a Delta River with flatboats rides inside the hotel. Amenities include indoor and outdoor swimming pools, an upscale indoor/outdoor resort water attraction, a full-service spa, an award-winning golf course, and more. Its convention center includes more than 750,000 square feet of meeting space, making it the perfect event destination.”

The eight Marian students and adviser, Mrs. Marsha Kalkowski, joined a charter bus with students and advisers from Gretna, Omaha Central and Waverly high schools to attend the convention, compete in the National Student Media Contests and bond in a joint effort to become better storytellers.

Students represented the school newspaper, The Network, the Crusader yearbook and Burn, the literary arts magazine. In the awards sponsored by the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), a co-sponsor of the Convention, Marian earned two Design of the Year awards for Burn and two special designations in the Top Ten of the Best of Show Competition. To be eligible for Best of Show, the publication had to have member in attendance at the Convention and submit their most recent publication. The Network earned 9th place for schools with less than 1,800 students for their October paper or and Burn earned 10th place for literary magazines for their Spring 2025 issue. For full results, visit: https://studentpress.org/nspa/fall-2025-awards/

Each student chose a national contest, sponsored by the Journalism Education Associaton (JEA) to compete in while in Nashville. Three of them earned national recognition for their entries: Senior Lauren Hicks, the Network co-copy editor, won an Honorable Mention for Feature Writing; Senior Sarah Egan, the Crusader co-copy editor, won an Excellent for Yearbook Copy/Caption Sports Writing; and junior Syra Qureshi, the Network co-entertainment page editor, won an Excellent in Review Writing. For full results of these contests, visit: https://jea.org/news/fall-2025-nsmc-results/

Over the last 30 years, Marian journalists and the adviser have attended 25 of these conventions in places such as Indianapolis, Orlando, San Antonio, Chicago, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Phoenix, Anaheim, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, three times in Kansas City and one earlier time in Nashville back in 2006. Approximately 400 Marian journalism students have participated in these conventions co-sponsored by JEA and NSPA and competed at the national level over the years.

View hundreds of photos from the convention by Chris Waugaman who captured the conference from all different angles in this Flickr GALLERY
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