New Lifers Place at Division Schools Press Conference
Three Lifenews staffers placed among the top five in their categories at the Division Schools Press Conference (DSPC) Secondary Level for the Taguig City and Pateros division at Fort Bonifacio High School on January 24 to 25, 2025.
Faith Caitlin Ng of batch Olive was awarded 3rd place in the News Writing category in English and will advance to the Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC). Meanwhile, fellow Olive students Nadine Julianna Mateo and Francesca Venice Tan took home 4th and 5th places in the Pagsulat ng Lathalain category in Filipino and the Sports Writing category in English, respectively.
The top five winners in each category of the journalism competition were recognized at the awarding ceremony held on January 31. However, only the top three awardees will proceed to the RSPC, the next stage of the competition, to be held on February 26, 2025, at St. Andrews School Inc. in Parañaque City.
“This was my first face-to-face [journalism] competition ever, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t expect to place either,” shared Mateo. “Overall, I’m happy that I was able to have the experience of joining.”
Alongside Ng, Mateo, and Tan, other Lifenews representatives who participated in the DSPC included Grade 12 students Annika Kaitlynn Chong and Maegan Lorraine Sih; Grade 11 students Bianca Iyesha Sy, Sofia Caylen Cordova, Caitlin Nicole Yu, and Joshua Aiden Lim; and Grade 10 students Harrod Trevor Sze, Hannah Isabelle Chiu, Pristine J Tsai, and Yejoon Cho.
The other categories that Lifenews joined were Editorial Writing, Column Writing, Feature Writing, Science and Technology Writing, Pagsulat ng Balita, Pagsulat ng Editoryal, Photojournalism, Mobile Journalism, Copyreading and Headline Writing, and Editorial Cartooning.
The DSPC is the first stage of the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC), a prestigious journalism competition organized annually by the Department of Education. The top three contestants per category proceed to the RSPC, joining fellow top placers in other divisions, and compete to make it to the NSPC, which will be held in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, sometime in May.
