Dos Pueblos Media and Journalism Students Shine at National Level

There’s something special happening out at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta. Students of the DP Media programs — which include yearbook, video editing, photography, and the school’s daily broadcast DP News — have been enjoying the brand-new, 14,000-square-foot Virgil Elings Media Arts and Communications Center, and the high-level work these students have been churning out this spring semester has earned them recognition among the best young journalists in the nation.

The Dos Pueblos media teams traveled to Long Beach to compete with 3,000 other students at the Student Television Network convention in March, where the school came away with more awards than any year before. Then on April 6, the students topped that performance at the National Scholastic Press Association conference in Kansas City, where DP News earned the title of “Best Broadcast Show” and Dos Pueblos students won First Place Best in Show for both the “Feature Story” and “News Story” categories.

Dos Pueblos’s yearbook, The Image, was also awarded in Kansas City as an “Innovation Pacemaker” for inclusive coverage in its 2023 edition, along with a top-10 finish in the show’s “Best Design” category. The yearbook is edited by students Sierra Jewell and Violet Vance.

The first-place DP News team is led by advisors Doug Caines and John Dent, though the actual production of the student-run broadcast is headed by a group of juniors and seniors who have been growing with the program ever since it was located in an aging classroom on the other side of the school. 

The trio of senior Jules Steelsmith and juniors Sophia Pixley and Sophia Merritt took two individual awards, winning first place in “Broadcast News Story” for their video “Student Solidarity: A Walkout for Fair Teacher Pay,” which recounted a student-led protest in December; and taking first again for their feature story about an eco-friendly thrift store, Far Outfit, which the group produced during the Long Beach convention in March.

Steelsmith, who joined the DP News program as a sophomore, says she is grateful for the new media center, which, with its seven individual editing bays and top-of-the-line equipment, has given the students a chance to work in small groups and share their talents. “It’s a bunch of teamwork,” Steelsmith said.

She said she was “thrown into the leadership role” this year, but she has embraced the position, teaching what she has learned in the past few years and setting an example for the professional-grade media the program is creating.

Pixley, who is in her third year with DP News, said she is sad that Steelsmith will be leaving this year, but she is excited to step into the same leadership role as a senior next year.

“They taught us a lot,” Pixley said.

Another group of seniors, Aidan Myers and Aston Smith, took second place in Kansas City for their feature story video about a teenaged barber from Goleta. Myers says the difference between the old DP News studio and the new media center is “night and day.”

“There’s so much opportunity here,” said Smith, who is planning on pursuing a career in journalism and media. “You can be filming every day; you can have a full portfolio coming out of high school. You can take advantage and learn everything.”

Caines, who oversees the students but allows them to run the show, says it is all part of Dent’s grand plan for the program. Dent helped found DP News back in 2004 and was involved in the grant writing and design for the new building.

“That’s what John’s vision was when he designed this building: It’s that real-world application,” Caines said. “I think that this success we’ve had in the spring is a testament to us finally having a facility to foster some of that creativity — and we’re only scratching the surface.”