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CSPA is affiliated with the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in the City of New York.

More than 4,500 high school student journalists and their faculty advisers converged on Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus from March 15-17, 2006 to take part in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's (CSPA) 82nd annual Scholastic Convention.

CSPA registered 4,509 convention delegates from 567 schools in 41 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Canada who took part in the event. The convention featured more than 217 speakers presenting 350 sessions during the three-day conference. Hourly sessions covered reporting and writing, editing, content, photojournalism, page design and staff development. An advisory copy of the official convention program was available on the CSPA Web site up until the last day of the event.

Presenters included experienced faculty advisers from across the country as well as media professionals from New York City, including Carey Conover (The New York Times, Village Voice and the Washington Post), William Elsen (the Washington Post), David Herszenhorn (The New York Times), Michel Marriott (The New York Times), Bob Minzesheimer (USA Today), Claire Regan (the Staten Island Advance), Lisa Schwarzbaum (Entertainment Weekly), Sage Stossel (The Atlantic Monthly) and Michael Winerip (The New York Times), among others.

For many delegates, CSPA's annual Convention was the first experience they will have had with both Columbia University and New York City.

CSPA also announced its annual Gold and Silver Crown Awards, presented to the best newspapers, yearbooks and magazines published during the 2004-2005 academic year. Winners of CSPA Gold Circle Awards were also presented for the best individual entries in over 77 newspaper, yearbook, magazine and video categories.

CSPA also presented special awards for distinguished service by journalism educators on Friday, March 17, 2006 during the Advisers Luncheon in Low Memorial Library on the Columbia campus.

Six Gold Keys were presented to:

• Bonnie Blackman (Jostens, Inc., Tinton Falls, NJ);
• Dr. Gloria Schultz Eastman (Metropolitan State College, Denver, CO);
• Margaret "Peggy" Gregory (Greenway High School, Phoenix, AZ);
• Brenda Gorsuch (West Henderson High School, Hendersonville, NC);
• Robin Sawyer (First Flight High School, Kill Devil Hills, NC);
• Vicky Wolfe (Herff Jones, Inc., Centreville, VA).

The Gold Key is the highest honor bestowed upon an adviser by the CSPA.

The James Frederick Paschal Award for 2006 was presented to Margaret "Peggy" Gregory for her service with the Arizona Interscholastic Press Association. Gregory advises the Demon Dispatch newspaper and Demonian yearbook of Greenway High School in Phoenix, AZ.

The 2006 Charles R. O'Malley Award (for excellence in teaching) was awarded to Elizabeth "Beth" Dickey, executive director of the Southern Interscholastic Press Association at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC.

The 2006 Joseph M. Murphy Award (for service to the Association) was awarded to Charles R. O'Malley, former director of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association at Columbia University in the City of New York.