J-Day brings record number of students

Emma Daniel High school students statewide received a special chance to delve into student media and learn about opportunities at Troy during Journalism Day on Sept. 27.

“We had around 550 students attend J-Day 2018 from schools all over the state of Alabama,” said Morgan Drinkard, a lecturer of public relations and advertising. “One of the main goals of J-Day is to increase the skillset of the students who attend, so they can take those skills back to the media they have at their schools.” Participating students attended workshops in multimedia and broadcast journalism and yearbook production. The event was partially funded by the Alabama Press Association Journalism Foundation. While J-Day is mainly about teaching high schoolers “to equip them for informing their peers at school,” the workshop shows off Troy student media, Drinkard said. “We hope they also recognize the opportunities and advantages we have here for student media at Troy,” Drinkard said. “They have a great opportunity to communicate stories and history with their fellow peers.” Aaron Taylor, the TrojanVision television production coordinator, said he saw a lot of interest and excitement from the students who came, especially after seeing how much hands-on experience a Troy student gets. “It was kind of cemented when they sat in there, did the mock newscast, sat in front of the camera and read (the teleprompter) and saw all the technology available,” Taylor said. “Once you see what we have to offer, if you are interested in a career in broadcasting, Troy is the place to go.” While the event was for high schoolers, Taylor pushed the idea that current students should also make use of student media to get job experience and become more attractive potential employees. “You have to have experience,” Taylor said. “When you’re here, take advantage of the opportunities in front of you; if you want to write for the Trop, if you’re interested in yearbook, you need to do that, you need to do TV. “Get as much experience (as you can). The hands-on experience you have is going to get your job.”