More than 250 students and teachers from 15 area high schools attended the Jandoli School of Communication’s 2025 Communications Day at St. Bonaventure University Friday, April 4.

This year, students participated in workshops on writing, artificial intelligence, disinformation, photography, advertising, media effects, local news, social media, sports broadcasting, and innovation in broadcast news.

“This is one of my favorite days of the year,” said Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School. “I love seeing the excitement and passion of area high school students for the field of communication.”

CommDay, originally called Press Day, has a long history at St. Bonaventure dating back to 1936. Since 1987, it has been known as Communications Day.

Chris LaPlaca, ’79, the retired senior vice president o corporate communications at ESPN, delivered they keynote address. He retired from ESPN on Dec. 31, 2023, as the longest-tenured behind-the-scenes employee in ESPN’s history.

In addition to the workshops, the high school students had the opportunity to submit their best work for the CommDay competition in video, photography and writing categories.

Dean Chimbel announced the following winners, who will be granted scholarships if they attend St. Bonaventure. The scholarships will be continued each year up to four years for students who major in one of the Jandoli School undergrad programs.

Recipients are:

Best Photography
$500 Scholarship for students attending St. Bonaventure
Canisius High School
“Sports Montage”
• Ben Eppolito

Best Video
$500 Scholarship for students attending St. Bonaventure
Dubois Area High School
“Between the Lines”
• Sydney Aston

Best Writing
$500 Scholarship for students attending St. Bonaventure
Corry Area High School
“Deciphering the YouTube algorithm: The broken truth”
• Hailee Allen

Best in Show
$1,000 Scholarship for students attending St. Bonaventure
CA BOCES Career and Technical Education Center at Olean
“The Evolution of Technology/Speaking Through Wires”
• Zachary Greaves
• Jackson Bigley
• Blake Foster
• Nicolie Portlow
• Saylynn Bish
• David Brown
• Courtney Bargy
• Dagger Doxey
• Isabella Fogle
• Kymber Benjamin
• Marilyn Prince
• Sarah Easterly
• Zaiden Thach

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure is a community committed to transforming the lives of its students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a commitment to academic excellence and lifelong civic engagement. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).