Forty-four members of The Campanile traveled to New York City from March 15 to March 19 to receive awards given out by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) to Paly’s newspaper and newsmagazine.

According to the CSPA website, CSPA is a voluntary organization that offers contests for the student media. The CSPA recognized the top publications of the nation during the conference. Verde received the "High School Gold Crown Newspapers" award while The Campanile got silver. As well as the Crown Awards, several individual awards were handed out to members of Verde. Junior Ruth Vinson, senior Polina Minkin and Paly Class of 2005 graduate Katie Morton received awards for various categories.

While the main reason for their trip was to attend the conference, most of their time was spent exploring the city. According to The Campanile advisor and organizer of the trip, Esther Wojcicki, The Campanile staff members toured New York City on foot and visited the Statue of Liberty. They also went on a tour of CBS news, and met editors and writers of Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated and People Magazine.

"I organized it so we could speak to the publications and know what was going on in the [reporting] world," Wojcicki said.

According to Wojcicki, they went to The Knitting Factory, a place similar to a club. The Campanile also saw two Broadway shows, Avenue Q and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

"They liked the plays, and I liked the fact that they had free time," Wojcicki said.

According to Wojcicki, each day was organized into sections. The students had three hours of activities, followed by three hours of free time. Because of this schedule, the students did not have charter buses; instead, Wojcicki bought each student a seven-day subway pass.

The students also attended the St. Patrick’s Day parade, one of the biggest parades in New York City every year, according to Wojcicki. The St. Patricks Day parade consisted of a parade of bands from the United States and other countries. The staff members even saw police and firemen from the departments that aided in the September 11th catastrophe.

"It was impressive to see the connections that have been maintained since the September 11th tragedy," Wojcicki said.

According to Wojcicki, The Campanile has been going on this New York City trip for eight years. Every year, they have visited the same city, but explored different sites.

"On the last trip, we went to the New York Times, met with Hilary Clinton and went ice skating at 10 p.m. in Central Park," Wojcicki said.

For their next trip, Wojcicki plans to make some changes; she is considering organizing the trip in Europe or Central America instead.