Falconer and Accipiter Students Venture to Annual Spring Media Day

Eli Batcheller, Emmett Strackany, and Kieran Crist-Kenworthy

February 25, 2026

Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Emmett Strackany
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Emmett Strackany
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Emmett Strackany
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller
Attending students were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wished to attend. Popular examples for students included Journalism 101, Solutions Journalism, and Why Journalism Still Matters.

Eli Batcheller

29 La Salle journalism and yearbook students ventured to the University of Oregon’s Northeast Portland campus to attend sessions at the annual Oregon Spring Media Day on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Lasting from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., it featured nearly 30 unique sessions broken up into four time slots.

Speakers presented on topics from photojournalism and magazine layout to how journalism can serve as a way to connect and engage communities.

Several awards were presented by the Oregon Journalism Education Association, which hosts the event. Senior Harper Coleman was named as a runner up for Oregon Journalist of the Year.

After the last session, students piled back onto the bus and arrived back at La Salle just after the last bell.

About the Contributors

Eli Batcheller, Assistant Editor

Eli Batcheller is currently a senior. Eli lived in Oregon City for around 16 years, until moving to Oak Grove in the summer after his Freshman year. His favorite part of all of his classes are his friends around him that he has been able to make. One of the most important things he finds is the community at La Salle in all aspects. He originally chose to go to La Salle because of his older sister, and because of the quality of education compared to public school. When he got to La Salle, he found more than he expected, finding great friends and a good community that he could immerse himself in. Eli loves listening to music and talking and spending time with his friends — some of his favorite activities being going to the river or getting clothes, especially with friends. His favorite artist is Frank Ocean, someone he has always loved.

Emmett Strackany, Assistant Editor

Emmett Strackany, junior, is a proper Portlander. Born and raised on the same three blocks all his life. He loves all seasons here, but his favorite is probably fall. After previously attending Franciscan Montessori Earth School (FMES) for middle school, Emmett came to La Salle with many others from his class. He adored FMES and it had a profound and continuous impact on his life outlook. At La Salle he greatly enjoys Journalism and it is by far his favorite class. In addition to general writing, Emmett enjoys reading and consuming news articles or listening to the morning news on the radio. Emmett plans to spend a full eight semesters in Journalism, and will be one of the first to do so if he is successful. Emmett’s hobbies include playing the piano, rock climbing, and of course, writing. For his college life, he plans to major in Journalism and minor in Theology, then hopefully join the Portland Police Bureau with his sights set on Detective.

Kieran Crist-Kenworthy, Editor

Senior Kieran Crist-Kenworthy was born in Portland, Oregon and has lived there his entire life. He deeply values its rainy environment, even if recent summers have brought absurd heat. He was brought to La Salle by its strong sense of continuity with his middle school, Franciscan Montessori Earth School, in both values and shared community. Kieran possesses an interest and passion for writing and world affairs, born from an over-avid — and, given its quantity, categorically dangerous — consumption of history at a too-young age, which first carried him into the speech and debate team before a somewhat-overdue ferrying into the clutching embrace of Journalism. He also has a love-hate relationship with running, and a neglectful but fully loving one with biking, both stemming from the 25,000 miles he rode to and from school in his K-8 years. Outside of school, Kieran loves hiking and backpacking, but, like most people who claim love for those activities, he does them somewhat less than might be implied by the density of their reference. Perhaps because of a full life, or their utility as entirely uncontroversial out of school interests.

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Chris Babinec • Feb 27, 2026 at 2:12 pm

Excellence in journalism is one of the highest callings a person can commit to. Good journalism is vital to healthy societies. The Falconer staff demonstrate excellence with every paper they produce. I am glad they are able to engage in these state wide events to network and learn from their peers and other professionals.


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Falconer and Accipiter Students Venture to Annual Spring Media Day

The La Salle Falconer