With anticipation and excitement, 12 MECA students boarded the school van and headed to Studio City on Saturday, March 15. Journalism and yearbook students participated in the 2026 Southern California (JEA) State Competition to showcase their skills in news, feature, editorial, and sports writing and photography.
MECA students came at 7:15 a.m. to start driving to the competition, which was from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Those who placed in the previous ELAJEA regional writing competition for news, feature, sports, and opinion held at Cal Poly Pomona were able to compete further in their ranking category and in other categories offered.
In the photography section, Marisol Barragan (10) placed fifth in Feature Photography, and William Liu (10) placed sixth. For Sports Photography, Raeka Wang placed sixth, and Jared Jimerez (12) placed seventh.
This is Jared Jimerez’s first time competing. “It was definitely like a new experience. I haven’t done anything like that,” said Jimerez.
In the competition, they learned about photography tips for sports photos, such as anticipating the right moment, capturing emotions, and fixing any technical issues like lighting.
In yearbook design, both Leyna Tran (10) and Rena Wang (10) placed sixth.
“It was very nerve-wracking.. It’s only like the second competition, like I’ve actually done, and I felt like I had a lot to live up to,” said Autumn Pagan, who placed sixth for News Writing. She describes this competition as a bit more challenging because it was longer, about two hours, and they weren’t able to ask follow-up questions. In that time, they wrote based on a sheet of information.
As a reward for their hard work and courage for participating in the state-wide SoCal JEA competition, they made their way to Shake Shack. The journalism and yearbook adviser, Courtney Bell, paid for everyone’s order, and students were able to enjoy both a meal and a time full of laughter through the games of Jenga and Clash Royale.
Jocelyn Lee, who participated in both the SoCal JEA competition, shared that her favorite part of the competition was going to Shake Shack.
“I ordered a tiramisu shake and a hamburger, which was also my first time trying Shake Shack, so that was really exciting,” said Lee
