Journalism students took a step out of the classroom on October 13, taking an interactive turn on their education.

43% of LZHS journalism students, along with others from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, attended the Kettle Moraine Press Association convention in Whitewater, Wisconsin. KEMPA is an interactive conference with sessions about different journalistic techniques. The topics lectured on ranged from writing, editing, design, filming, cartooning, photography, and more to assist with newspaper, yearbook, and broadcast journalism. Students chose to attend three out of a selection of over 60 sessions.

“What I love about KEMPA is just the diversity of speakers… what’s great about it, is that anything you want to learn about […] they have it. There’s a specificity to it that’s amazing […]. They go into depth about anything you want to learn about,” Emma Brumage-Kilcourse, LZHS Advanced Journalism junior, said.

The event marks the 54th year since KEMPA started. An award ceremony, which preceded the skill sessions, recognized Bear Facts as a first place online news magazine. Along with awarding schools and publications awards, KEMPA is meant to bring together student journalists and broaden the abilities of their programs.

“You get to […] collaborate with other publications as well as speak with other teachers from other schools who have other resources and ideas. […] It’s great because [our teachers] can help us so much at Lake Zurich but [you’re] able to hear what other schools are doing and take their ideas and adapt them […]” Meggie Furlong, LZHS Advanced Journalism senior, said.

KEMPA is not only beneficial to those who attend, but also to the Bear Facts (advanced journalism) team, according to Brumage-Kilcourse. Ideas learned from the sessions can be applied in class and taught to others. However, not all journalism students attended the event.

“A lot of people freak out about missing school. [… Also] because it’s homecoming’s tomorrow, and people had to be in the assembly […]. It wasn’t really [that they] didn’t want to go, it was that really they couldn’t go,” Furlong said.

Overall, KEMPA is a way to attain new ideas and concepts about journalism in a constructive environment.

“The best part of KEMPA is definitely just being around other student journalists. It’s great to be able to talk to people who are just as passionate about student media and student journalism as you are,” Brumage-Kilcourse said.