About SCSPA

More than 1,500 scholastic journalists and publication advisers annually attend SCSPA offerings. The annual fall conference continues to draw more than 600 participants; the spring conference draws nearly 500 each April. Hundreds of students and advisers also regularly attend other workshops that highlight design and journalistic writing and InDesign, Photoshop and Final Cut Pro software.

Two dozen advisers and elected student officers also attend two annual board meetings at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications each year. More than 60 staffs annually send their publications to the SCSPA office to be evaluated by knowledgeable publication advisers and professional journalists.

Each year, dozens of staffs send entries into SCSPA’s Excellence in Scholastic Newspaper Awards (ESNA) and magazine, online and yearbook individual competitions. Major honors, including Journalist of the Year, SCSPA scholarships, SCSPA/Jostens Yearbook scholarships, Bruce E. Konkle Rising Star Award, Reid H. Montgomery Adviser of the Year and the Albert T. Scroggins Jr. service award, continue to be a highlight of the spring awards ceremony.

History of SCSPA

“It all began as the journalist begins- with people, an idea, an empty page. Today, after more than half a century, the idea expands toward fulfillment as the pages are filled with a history. It is a story of people working toward excellence- people tending toward an ideal that promises to shine far, far into the future. It is a story of youth yearning toward an expression of truth. It is the story of the South Carolina Scholastic Press Association.”

Preface to SCSPA’s 50th anniversary booklet: The First 50 Years- A Brief History, 1936-1986.

SCSPA Firsts

• First Director- Fred C. Kendrick (1936-1943)
• First SCSPA Conference- 230 Participants (1936)
• First Newspaper Student President- David Chewning, Greenville HS (1936-1937)
• First SCSPA Director to Receive CSPA’s Gold Key- Fred C. Kendrick (1940)
• First Official SCSPA-sponsored Adviser Association (1958-1972)
• First Year for Yearbook Evaluation Service (1959)
• First Graduate Assistant- Caroline McGee (1966)
• First Journalist of the Year- Jane McFaddin, Manning HS (1969)
• First Co-Directors- Perry Ashley, Yearbook, and James McElveen, Newspaper (1969-1971)
• First Yearbook/Magazine Student President- Thom Nicoll, Parker HS (1969-1970)
• First Year for Literary Magazine Evaluation Service (1975)
• First Undergraduate Assistant- Jill Hancock (1980-1981)
• First Four-year Undergraduate Assistant- Andrew Bosman (1987-1991)
• First Year for Public Relations Materials Evaluation Service (1993)
• First Scholastic Press Manager- Andrew Bosman (1993-1997)
• First Year for Broadcast Membership (2003)