Web Editor Steve Hill and Photo Editor Stephanie Smith, staff members of the San Jose City College Times, brought home photography awards from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges conference in Burbank, Calif., on March 24.

Hill won second place for a bring-in photo contest and third place for both the feature photo and on-the-spot sports photo competition.

Smith won second place for an on-the-spot news photo competition.

“Being recognized by the JACC is not only a great honor for me, but a great honor for San Jose City College,” Hill said. “In a practical sense, these awards are an important part of my portfolio and give me an edge in applying for internships or jobs.”

This conference was Smith’s third time attending and her second time winning an on-the-spot award.

“It’s great to meet and compete against people in the same educational field from different locations around California,” Smith said. “I would attend another conference in a heartbeat.”

According to their website, JACC is a nonprofit educational corporation located in California and dedicated to community college journalism. An elected board of directors who represent both students and faculty runs it.

There were 45 schools present at the conference and approximately 550 participants from as far north as Santa Rosa, as far south as Chula Vista on the U.S./Mexican border and as far east as Rhode Island.

This year’s conference had a venue that was new for JACC, and it was to help students increase their knowledge in the usage and familiarity of Twitter as a source of media.

The organization’s competitions not only recognize the outstanding work done by journalism students throughout the school year on their own publications, but they put students to the test under deadline pressure, which is very important in the industry.

“I think the conference is a good opportunity for journalism students to meet and network with their peers, faculty from four-year programs and media professionals,” said Mary Mazzocco, Diablo Valley College instructor and JACC president.

By attending the competition,  and competing against the different community colleges from around California, City College Times had the opportunity to learn from students just like them.

“Through the connections and competition at JACC, we have formed a strong collective with community colleges throughout the state and nation,” City College Times Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Marinaro said. “This helps the program and the students within it become better professionals and journalists.”

Recently, Hill was also announced as a winner for the California Newspaper Publishers Association for Campus Excellence in Journalism contest.