Broadcast journalism is the most recent form of journalism I’ve explored. Last winter, my fellow SkillsUSA officer and close friend, Scott, asked me to fill in as an anchor at our regional competition. I never would have guessed in that moment that our underdog, ragtag team would go on to win State and compete on the national stage. But we did—and in the process, it opened a door for me to tell stories in a whole new way.
Skillsusa state 2024
Above, our technical director Scott, floor director Mikey, co-anchor Gage, and I hug outside our school after bringing home the gold from SkillsUSA State.
Those competitions showed me the power of hard work and adaptability. I had never written a script or delivered a broadcast before, but I knew how to write, speak confidently, and rally my team to perform at their best. Instead of letting the more experienced teams intimidate me, I focused on what we could control and it paid off. After our production, the judges told us we had “killed it.” That experience proved to me that I can take on any new challenge and thrive.
At SkillsUSA Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia, we made some mistakes and did not medal. However, we implemented our lessons learned into our preparation for regionals.
SkillSUSA regionals 2025
A mock broadcast from a practice before regionals
Some changes we have made since Nationals include: adding a rundown at the beginning of the broadcast, breaking up one of our stories between both anchors, and keeping our stories shorter and to the point.
Regional Competition Script
Above is our competition script from SkillsUSA Regionals 2025. We took our feedback from past competitions and mentors and wrote a script that received glowing reviews. We placed first in SkillsUSA Arizona Region 5, and we are ecstatic to be moving on to compete at the state level again in April.
My team’s strongest abilities in news production are script writing, communication, timing, and anchor chemistry. Throughout every round of judging we have experienced, that positive feedback has been unwavering. We are so proud to be a part of a team that works so well together. Though we have been successful from the beginning, we have all grown in our roles. I have seen our growth in script writing especially.
A few things we are continuing to work on, based on the judges’ feedback at regionals, include speaking with our hands, speaking from the diaphragm rather than the throat, and slowing down our speech.
I am eager to see where my newfound love for anchoring takes me in my journalism journey. I never expected to branch out into video news, and I hope I get the chance to dive deeper into anchoring and script writing when I attend the ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in the fall.