Student journalists from around the Greater St. Louis area gathered at Webster University on March 7 to attend the 2011 SSP (Sponsors of School Publications) Spring Conference.

The 620 journalism students each chose two seminars from out of fifty break-out sessions ranging from how to build info-graphics to marketing yearbooks.

Clayton was one of the 29 schools that sent students. The Globe, GNN, and the Clamo (yearbook) were all represented. None of the Clayton teachers held their own classes, but there were plenty of others to chose from.

One class, “Tips to Promote Your Website to Get More Visitors”, taught by Aaron Manfull, showed students how to increase web traffic. Manfull, a high school journalism teacher at Francis Howell North, shared his own experiences in creating a multi-media classroom.

The convention invited several big names in journalism from St. Louis to give sessions. Bill McClellan, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist, talked to budding writers. The keynote speaker was Art Holiday, a KSDK Anchor. He told the story of his career in journalism and discussed the lessons he had learned.

At the end of the convention, everyone gathered in the Webster-U gym. Awards based on submitted entries were handed out to newspapers, yearbooks, and the students who worked on them. The Globe took home 14 awards, 12 of which were individuals, and 11 GNN students earned individual awards. They are listed below: