Education Features

High school students visit St. Bonaventure’s Jandoli School of Communication for CommDay 2025

Western New York Catholic April 8, 2025

ST. BONAVENTURE — 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.

Dean Aaron Chimbel presents the Best Video award to Sydney Aston at St. Bonaventure University’s annual Communications Day on April 4. (Photo courtesy of st. Bonaventure University)

“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.

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.

Chris LaPlaca, ’79, the retired senior vice president of corporate communications at ESPN, delivered the 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.

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.