Grand Central Market

This is a not-to-be-missed place. A 15-minute walk from the hotel, the market features a plethora of food options in a vibrant and diverse setting. Check out Tacos Tumbras a Thomas, Eggslut, Sarita’s Pupuseria and so much more. Go before you get too hungry, because lines get long; Yelp is helpful in charting busiest times.

Downtown Architecture

The Historic Downtown Walking Tour takes you through some beautiful buildings. A highlight is the Bradbury Building, featured in many films, including Blade Runner.

Museum of Contemporary Art

MOCA is a vital player in contemporary art, this is an important Los Angeles cultural institution.

Disney Hall

Designed by Frank Gehry, Disney Hall is an international cultural icon, both for its architecture and world famous acoustics of its performance space.

Music Center

Visitors might be interested in two productions: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Father Comes Home from the Wars. If interested get tickets early.

Discount codes:
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder: “INHERIT”
Father Comes Home From The Wars: “FREEDOM”

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List provided by Mitch Zigler, CJE, of Redondo Union High School.

The JEA/NSPA Spring 2016 National High School Journalism Convention in Los Angeles has announced two media professionals to deliver keynote speeches on Thursday and Friday of the convention.

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Jose Antonio Vargas

7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14

Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and filmmaker whose work centers on the changing American identity. He is the founder of Define American, a nonprofit media and culture organization that seeks to elevate the conversation around immigration and citizenship in America, and he is the founder and editor of #EmergingUS, a digital magazine focusing on race, immigration and identity in a multicultural America.

In 2011, the New York Times Magazine published a groundbreaking essay in which Vargas chronicled his life in America as an undocumented immigrant. A year later, he appeared on the cover of TIME magazine worldwide with fellow undocumented immigrants as part of a follow-up cover story he wrote. He then produced and directed “Documented,” a documentary feature film on his undocumented experience. In 2015, MTV aired, as part of its Look Different campaign, “White People,” a television special he produced and directed on what it means to be young and white in contemporary America. @joseiswriting

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Amara Aguilar

2 p.m. Friday, April 15

Amara Aguilar is an associate professor of professional practice in digital journalism at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

At USC, she developed and teaches journalism for mobile and emerging platforms, and interactive media design for publishing, among other courses. She also teaches digital journalism in the graduate program.

She collaborated with Annenberg Media faculty and students to develop JEDI (Journalism, Emerging, Digital, Innovation), which embraces innovation and experimentation on emerging platforms.

In 2015, Aguilar was named an Apple Distinguished Educator for her academic leadership focusing on application design, multimedia journalism and innovation in education.

The California Journalism Education Coalition named her its 2014 Journalism Educator of the Year in the two-year college division.