Journalism Day returned in person Saturday, Sept. 27. The last in-person JDay was fall 2019. The event was held virtually in fall 2020 but four more years passed before all the pieces fell together for another Journalism Day. Civil Beat hosted Journalism Day 2025 in their Kaimuki newsroom. The planning committee included Civil Beat staff, university and high school journalism advisers, and high school journalists. The day started with icebreakers organized by Swan Kim (Punahou), Jacky Oasay (McKinley) and Keira Wheeler (Sacred Hearts).
The approximately thirty journalists from nine Hawaii high schools then moved into pre-assigned pods and rotated through five sessions with professional journalists.
Student groups created posters to represent key takeaways from the day.
In a follow-up survey, students shared elements of the day they most enjoyed.
Farrington High School
- I enjoyed the different types of topics regarding the types of journalism that was taught on the day.
- I really enjoyed how organized the event was because everything went along smoothly. Every station was unique and the journalists shared amazing information about their focus. For my first time attending here at Civil Beat, the experience was great getting to hear from students from different schools with a similar passion like me. As a senior in high school, I think JDay helped me consider a specific direction to go down in the journalism industry once I graduate.
- The entire event was very well-coordinated. It was such a fun time getting to know and be with likeminded individuals.
Kamehameha Schools Maui
- I enjoyed the variety of journalism styles and learning about what my future as a journalist might look like.
McKinley High School
- All the journalists were informative. (I enjoyed the) opportunity to mingle with students across the islands.
- I liked being able to talk and connect with other student journalist during the convention.
- I liked how we were placed in groups, and I thought the groups were a good size. The event was well paced, and I learned a lot at each station.
- I liked how a different environment (other than school) was provided as a place for us to deepen our knowledge regarding journalism; and different types of it too! Types that we normally wouldn’t know much about in school as we focus on print. The other student journalists were very friendly and it was really nice talking to each other about what we learned from each speaker.
Mid-Pacific Institute
- I liked the rotations because they allowed me to learn about different sections of journalism. I also appreciated being able to ask questions to the speakers to gain a better understanding of the material and what I can do better as a journalist.
Moanalua High School
- I appreciated being able to collaborate with other student from different schools. It’s nice to see the various ways that each high school has a routine when it comes to publishing articles.
- I also enjoyed the sessions. I felt that I’ve learned the different aspects of journalism and what makes it special.
Punahou School
- I loved meeting new people, especially the students from Maui. I liked that every speaker covered a section of journalism that we normally wouldn’t hear about, like audio journalism and magazine journalism.
- I deeply appreciated the speakers that came and the environment that was structured around J-Day. It was lovely getting to know people, and I hope to come again!
