The KSPA regional journalism competition, originally scheduled for Thursday Feb. 21 in Emporia, Kan. was forced to reschedule due to the large amount of snow received early Thursday morning.
This brought many changes to the competition’s format, including the carry-in process and the location of the event.
Instead of traveling to Emporia to compete, newspaper and yearbook staff members competed Monday Feb. 25 in room 450 during 4th and 5th hours.
Yearbook Co-Editor in Chief senior Karlee Cassidy said that while both locations have their appeal, she prefers traveling to compete.
“I personally like traveling because you get to see everyone else competing and it seems more professional,” she said. “Also, you’re out of school for the entire day, so you don’t have to worry about homework and you can just focus on the competition.”
Cassidy competed last year in Yearbook Copy Writing and placed first at regionals and second at the state competition. She competed in the same event this year, along with two carry-ins for Yearbook Layout and Theme Development.
Due to the change in the competition, carry-ins had to be mailed in to the judges. Normally, they are turned in and judged. After the competition, the competitors receive a rubric with a score and comments from the judges.
Cassidy said competing at school may provide a slight advantage for  students that have not competed before, but may hurt them in future competitions.
“There is an advantage in the sense that they will be more comfortable in a familiar environment. You don’t have to worry about knowing where to go or what to do before and after you compete,” she said. “But it won’t be an advantage for those competing next year because they won’t know what to expect because they won’t have the experience.”