2011 NSPA Story of the Year Winners
co-sponsored by the American Society of News Editors
View NSPA press release
New this year: NSPA is honoring up to 10 entries in each category of the Individual Awards. The top five entries in each category have been announced as finalists, and will be announced as first through fifth place winners later at the fall JEA/NSPA convention in Minneapolis. Up to five honorable mentions have additionally been awarded in each category. The honorable mentions are not ranked.
News Story
First Place
Andrew Goble
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
The unknown face of cyberspace
http://smeharbinger.net/news/cyberbullying-is-school-problem
Second Place
Sam Heft-Luthy
The Garfield Messenger, Garfield HS, Seattle, Wash.
Army strong
View scanned PDF of story
Third Place
Gina O'Neill, Megan Maughan
Prospector, Prospect HS, Mount Prospect, Ill.
Suicide too serious for silence
View scanned PDF of story
Fourth Place
Jessica Lee, Aaron Hoerner
Hi-Herald, Bismarck HS, Bismarck, N.D.
Get some class and ditch the trash
View scanned PDF of story
Fifth Place
Carina Albizures
The Tam News, Tamalpais HS, Mill Valley, Calif.
Moving past depression
http://tamnews.org/2011/08/moving-past-depression/
Honorable Mention
Anaika Miller
The Foothill Dragon Press, Foothill Technology HS, Ventura, Calif.
Sex offender tries connecting with local high school
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Shaun Kleber
The Southerner, Henry W. Grady HS, Atlanta, Ga.
Pencil me out
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Spencer Heim
The ReMarker, St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas
Axed
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Selena Borjas, Veronica Lozano, Jennifer Benavides, Grecia Guardiola
The Magnet Tribune, Vidal M. Treviño School Of Communications And Fine Arts, Laredo, Texas
Coping with travel
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Kylie Gazzolo, Katelyn Spencer
Warrior's Word, Wausau West HS, Wausau, Wis.
Putting down the phone
View scanned PDF of story
Feature Story
First Place
Bryan Hess, Sarah Schaeffer
Penn Points, Penn Manor HS, Millersville, Pa.
“Life” has a different meaning for juveniles tried as adults
http://www.pennpoints.net/?p=33925
Second Place
Savannah Mozingo
Tribal Tribune, Wando HS, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Saving others by saving herself
View scanned PDF of story
Third Place
Staff
The Standard, American School in London, London, England
The next four years will define your life
View scanned PDF of story
Fourth Place
Mari Best
Redwood Bark, Redwood HS, Larkspur, Calif.
Hung up on hearing
View scanned PDF of story
Fifth Place
Maria Rose
The Newsstreak, Harrisonburg HS, Harrisonburg, Va.
After hours
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Nate Erez
The Boiling Point, Shalhevet HS, Los Angeles, Calif.
Snooze or lose: the problem with being sleepy
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Alistair Thompson
The Viking, Palo Alto HS, Palo Alto, Calif.
Pit bulls: reclaiming America’s dog
http://www.vikingsportsmag.com/features/2011/06/15/pit-bulls/
Honorable Mention
Ruth Talbot, Emma Stokes, Ben Herken, Shevawn Torr
Ink, Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Pieces of the puzzle
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Samantha Bilton, Alec Zisson
The Muse, Dreyfoos School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Fla.
The price of permanence
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Shivangi Singh
The Rock, Rock Bridge Sr. HS, Columbia, Mo.
Hope for a second chance
View scanned PDF of story
Sports Story
First Place
Omar Taranissi
The Rock, Rock Bridge Sr. HS, Columbia, Mo.
Athletes turn to steroids
View scanned PDF of story
Second Place
Kirk Bado, Brady Klein
The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
Speed limit
View scanned PDF of story
Third Place
Alek Haugen
Hi-Herald, Bismarck HS, Bismarck, N.D.
A lingering perception
View scanned PDF of story
Fourth Place
Hunter Woodall
H2N, Hayfield Secondary School, Alexandria, Va.
In high school athletics, dangers of concussions grow
View scanned PDF of story
Fifth Place
Emily Lehman
Redwood Bark, Redwood HS, Larkspur, Calif.
Year-round sports lead to injury epidemic among athletes
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Michael Toigo
The Kirkwood Call, Kirkwood HS, Kirkwood, Mo.
Welcome to the gun show
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Alli Thorson
Century Star, Century HS, Bismarck, N.D.
Brothers
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Devin Casey
Spark, Lakota East HS, Liberty Township, Ohio
“I just want to play the game”
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Josh Friemel
The Eagle Angle, Allen HS, Allen, Texas
More than a statistic
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Sara Linsley
Pirate Press, Crandall HS, Crandall, Texas
Living legacy
View scanned PDF of story
Editorial/Opinion
First Place
Kat Buchanan
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
Time wasted
http://smeharbinger.net/opinion/junior-reflects-on-underage-drinking-2
Second Place
Andrew Johnson
Paw Print, Millard West HS, Omaha, Neb.
We don’t fight with firearms
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Third Place
Lillian Carlyle Miller
Tribal Tribune, Wando HS, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Lines of love
View scanned PDF of story
Fourth Place
Kara David
The Spotlight, Blue Valley West HS, Overland Park, Kan.
A major dilemma
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Fifth Place
Erin Leonhard
Orb, Hamilton Southeastern HS, Fishers, Ind.
Unnecessary Band-Aid
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Honorable Mention
Zack Peterson
The Red & Black, Hillsborough HS, Tampa, Fla.
The real tragedy
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Honorable Mention
Justine Clarke
Central Times, Aurora Central Catholic HS, Aurora, Ill.
Pushing it too far
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Adrienne Westenfeld
The Spartana, Homestead HS, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Setting the limit on gun control
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Lauren Coffey
Black & White, Johnston HS, Johnston, Iowa
Confusion over policy causes conflict
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Kelsey Reid
The Echo, St. Louis Park HS, St. Louis Park, Minn.
Clinic’s posters make light of serious issue
View scanned PDF of story
Diversity
First Place
Martha Greenburg
Redwood Bark, Redwood HS, Larkspur, Calif.
Finding home: Sometimes people need a little luck
http://redwoodbark.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2285&Itemid=50
Second Place
Victor Xu
The HiLite, Carmel HS, Carmel, Ind.
Trending toward tolerance
View scanned PDF of story
Third Place
Ben Gittelson, Sam Weinstock
The Southerner, Henry W. Grady HS, Atlanta, Ga.
Black & White
View scanned PDF of story
Fourth Place
Julia Kortberg
Communicator, Community HS, Ann Arbor, Mich.
An unpredictable outcome
View scanned PDF of story
Fifth Place
Reid Eggleston
The North Star, Blue Valley North HS, Overland Park, Kan.
Griffin fights through struggles, becomes stronger person
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Carina Albizures
The Tam News, Tamalpais HS, Mill Valley, Calif.
Falling through the cracks
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Eleanor Marshall
West Side Story, Iowa City West HS, Iowa City, Iowa
Behind the veil
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Rachel Ferencz
The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
8,424 miles
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Morgan Fletcher
Penn Points, Penn Manor HS, Millersville, Pa.
Should the N-Word be given a green pass in school?
View scanned PDF of story
Honorable Mention
Megan Patoskie
The Eagle Angle, Allen HS, Allen, Texas
The burden of the turban
View scanned PDF of story
Multimedia Package
First Place
Staff
Manual RedEye, duPont Manual HS, Louisville, Ky.
http://www.manualredeye.com/2011/02/11/breaking-news-egyptian-president-hosni-mubarak-resigns/
Judge's comments: A tour-de-force. This is how you localize a national or international story. Through video, articles and links, the journalists have shown why Mubarak's downfall was important and how it had an effect on students.
Second Place
Adrienne von Schulthess, Hannah Gorman, Emily Wen
The Urban Legend, The Urban School of San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.
http://www.urbanlegendnews.org/category/features/prop8/
Judge's comments: This is great multimedia reporting on the civil right of our time. What better perch to report on it than in San Francisco. An impressive display of journalism.
Third Place
Adrian Reyna, Matthew Castaneda, Jessica Castillo, Rebekah Rodriguez, Frank Trevino
The Magnet Tribune, Vidal M. Treviño School Of Communications And Fine Arts, Laredo, Texas
http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/editionid/29610/articleid/369878/Students_celebrate_anniversary_of_911.aspx
Judge's comments: Every school has events like this — they happen every day. But going all out to cover them is unusual. But that's just what was done here. And it was well done, too.
Fourth Place
Rachel Crane, Katie Elvin, Chrissy Springer, Lauren Parrino
The Foothill Dragon Press, Foothill Technology HS, Ventura, Calif.
http://www.foothilldragonpress.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=104&Itemid=240
Judge's comments: The "Every 15 Minutes" story has been done at many, many high schools around the country. Never have we seen it so well covered as here, however. Bravo to the staff for keeping this important topic lively and relevant to its audience.
Fifth Place
Anna Sturla, Ines Guinard
The Hub, Davis Sr. HS, Davis, Calif.
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qcOXUHN7zY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Judge's comments: When the university everyone goes to is in your back yard, it's hard to find the angle that no one's heard or seen before. But the journalists here have captured what the university has to offer high school athletes.
Honorable Mention
Staff
The Roundup, Brophy College Preparatory School, Phoenix, Ariz.
http://www.brophybroncos.org/roundup/index.php/multimedia-soul-of-brophy/
Honorable Mention
David Fletcher, Adam Ashkenazi, Ari Feuer, Ashley Mashian, Emilie Benyowitz
The Boiling Point, Shalhevet HS, Los Angeles, Calif.
http://www.shalhevetboilingpoint.com/video/2011/05/23/walkout-for-rabbi-richler/
Honorable Mention
Deonna Mims
Spartan News Network, Lakewood HS, St. Petersburg, Fla.
http://snntoday.snn.pcsb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=674:the-strongest-spartans&catid=39:features&Itemid=107
Honorable Mention
Jordann Stekervetz, Blake Wales
Penn Points, Penn Manor HS, Millersville, Pa.
http://www.pennpoints.net/?p=16736
Honorable Mention
Brittany Brammer, Anthony Suniga
Lone Star Dispatch, James Bowie HS, Austin, Texas
http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/schoolid/2044/articleid/446080/newspaperid/2030/Oak_Hill_fire_April_17_destroys_ten_homes_100_acres.aspx
