Last spring, Utica students went to Lansing and won the most awards out of anyone else attending MIPA that season. Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, or MIPA for short, has more than 20,000 middle and high school students and teachers attend their annual conferences at MSU in Spring and Fall, according to comartsci.msu.edu. It is a non-profit organization of journalism teachers and their students.

Top competing schools attended the competition from around the state, including Eisenhower, Henry Ford II, Stevenson, Troy, and others. Utica won the most awards out of anyone else attending that season, when totaled out.

There are spring and fall conferences, and during these meetings students have several opportunities to learn a lot. When attending the Fall conferences, students learn writing and leadership skills, as well as organizational assets in and out of class. During the Spring is the awards ceremony, where groups of students from several schools gather in one large room to receive their prizes.

“Last year I won third place for my opinion piece that I wrote about debates on transgender people in class,” senior Parker Hopkins said, “which I was really proud of.”

Likewise, senior Haley Grooms alone won three awards for her stories.

“The awards look really good on college apps,” Grooms said. “The awards are a great way to be noticed or chosen by a school; colleges looking for unique, impressive applications look for awards, group efforts, etc. according to teachers across the board.”

On top of looking great for the future, it’s an overall enjoyable event. Students who’ve been attending MIPA for years still look forward to the experience.

“I will be going this year,” Hopkins said, “and I am really looking forward to it.”

Last year Utica staff and students attending MIPA won an outstanding amount of awards, and each year when students attend they expect to learn to be exceptional.