La Voz editors and staff went to San Francisco on Oct. 26 for the Journalism Association of Community Colleges NorCal conference held at San Francisco State University.

The conference gave aspiring journalists an opportunity to attend seminars on topics relating to media as well as photography. Attendees also competed in tests and challenges relating to copy-editing, writing, social media and photography.

The conference invited Candice Nguyen, an NBC Bay Area investigative reporter, to be the keynote speaker.

She spoke about her experience becoming a journalist, the work she had done in the Bay Area and the impact it had on her community.

La Voz received 27 awards in total for work done throughout 2023 and 2024. Two of the awards were received for staff’s success in the competitions done during the conference, where they had less than three hours to complete their assignment.

JACC Awards:

• Brooklyn Coyle – First place for informational graphic
• Frank Mayers – First place for photo story essay
• Frank Mayers – First place for online photo story essay
• Nello Puelles – First place for podcast/audio news
• La Voz Editorial Board – First place for editorial
• La Voz News – General excellence for print edition
• La Voz News – General excellence for online edition
• Anna Bhogra – Second place for sports game story
• Anthony Politi and Alex Stoev – Second place for podcast/audio news
• Pierre Whitsey – Second place for sports action photo
• Xitlaly Martinez – Third place for opinion story
• Ann Penalosa – Third place for informational graphic
• Ann Penalosa – Third place for photo story essay
• Katrina Bui – Fourth place for illustration
• Mackenzie Jardine – Second place for profile feature story
• Eric Kindred – Fourth place for sports game story
• Yumeno Matsuo, Katrina Bui, Nello Puelles – Fourth place for news story
• Marcela Leticia Borges Silva – Meritorious award for multimedia journalism package
• Nello Puelles – Meritorious award for webcast/broadcast news show
• Nello Puelles – Meritorious award for video hard news reporting
• Katrina Bui – Honorable mention for editorial cartoon
• Katrina Bui – Honorable mention for opinion story
• Amit Cohen – Honorable mention for column writing
• Ingrid Lu – Honorable mention for critical review
• Ann Penalosa – Honorable mention for critical review

On-the-spot JACC Awards:

• Frank Mayers – Honorable mention for feature photo – on-the-spot competition
• Carolyn Zhao – Honorable mention for news writing – on-the-spot competition

Gallery | 4 Photos

Sarah Atito

(From left) Brooklyn Coyle, La Voz graphics editor, Ann Penalosa, La Voz sports editor, Kim Komenich, journalism faculty advisor, attend a photo feedback meeting during the JACC NorCal fall conference at San Francisco State University on Oct. 26.