NSPA names top newspapers, magazines

Pacemaker competition recognizes 38 finalists for excellence

Oct. 7, 2022

MINNEAPOLIS — Honoring the nation’s best, National Scholastic Press Association has named 38 scholastic student newspapers, newsmagazines and specialty magazines as finalists in its prestigious Pacemaker competition.

NSPA Pacemaker finalists will be recognized and the Pacemaker winners announced for the first time at the awards ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 12, as part of the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention, in St. Louis.

“The Pacemaker is the association’s preeminent award,” Executive Director Laura Widmer said. “NSPA is honored to recognize the best of the best.”

Pacemaker
finalists

Broadcast
Newspaper/Newsmagazine
Specialty Magazine

Pacemakers in Innovation, Literary Arts Magazine, Online and Yearbook will be presented in spring 2023.

The NSPA Pacemaker award has a rich tradition and the association started presenting the award to high school newspapers a few years after the organization was founded in 1921. Throughout the years, yearbooks, magazines, online sites and broadcast programs were added to the competition.

The 38 Pacemaker finalists represent 15 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the United Kingdom. California set the pace with 11 finalists, followed by Texas with nine.

Of the 38 newspapers, newsmagazines and specialty magazines recognized as finalists, 17 will earn Pacemakers.

Two teams of three judges worked remotely judging and studying every entry discussing its strengths and weaknesses.

The high school newspapers/newsmagazines competed in two categories based on school enrollment — fewer than 1,800 students and 1,800 or more students.

Insights and observations from the judges about the Pacemaker winning publications will be posted after the Pacemaker winners are announced along with the names and professional bios of the judges.

In addition to demonstrating excellence in key areas including coverage, writing, editing, design and photography, the winning newspapers took risks and served as a strong voice for its student audience.

“With the pandemic still impacting schools across the country, many of the papers and magazines submitted for the competition were produced with student journalists working under very challenging situations,” Lundgren said. “The high-quality journalism these publications provided, against all odds, is remarkable.”

In this competition, only the print news product was judged. A separate NSPA 2022 Online Pacemaker competition recognized 47 online news sites in April. Several schools earned Pacemaker honors for both their print and online products.

Finalists are alphabetical by state.

Individual Award finalists

Broadcast Story of the Year
Cartoon of the Year
Design of the Year
Digital Story of the Year
Photo of the Year
Story of the Year
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards
Local Climate Change Reporting
Portfolio of the Year
Best Use of Social Media
Junior High/Middle School

Pacemaker 100
To celebrate our 100th birthday, we’ll honor our top Pacemaker winners and recognize the Top 10 at the fall convention.

Newspaper/Newsmagazine

CS Press
Cactus Shadows High School, Cave Creek, Arizona
Editors: Claire Geare, Philip Tate
Advisers: Lori Hart, Robert Adamson

Berkeley High Jacket
Berkeley High School, Berkeley, California
Editor: Estella Zhou
Adviser: Peter Rodrigues

El Estoque
Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California
Editors: Michelle Chen, Anushka De, Jayanti Jha
Adviser: Julia Satterthwaite

The Campanile
Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, California
Editors: Gina Bae, Gianna Brogley, Jack Galetti,
Braden Leung, Austin Xiang
Adviser: Rod Satterthwaite

Verde
Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, California
Editors: Akhil Joondeph, Paisley Annes, Sebastian Bonnard, Emily Yao
Adviser: Paul Kandell

High Tide
Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach, California
Editors: Nadia Bidarian, Meghan Jacob, Chrissa Olson
Adviser: Kerri Eastham

Bear Witness
Branham High School, San Jose, California
Editors: Jazzy Nguyen, Nolan Zils
Adviser: Fitzgerald Vo

Winged Post
The Harker School, San Jose, California
Editors: Emily Tan, Michelle Liu
Adviser: Ellen Austin

The Nueva Current
The Nueva School, San Mateo, California
Editor: Anouschka Bechtolsheim
Adviser: LiAnn Yim

The Mirror
Van Nuys High School, Van Nuys, California
Editor: Ani Tutunjyan
Adviser: Ron Goins

The Eagle Eye
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida
Editors: Ivy Lam, Julia Landy, Travis Newbery, Lily Singer
Adviser: Melissa Falkowski

Muse
A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida
Editors: Alissa Gary, Sophia Roud
Adviser: Carly Gates

Odyssey
Clarke Central High School, Athens, Georgia
Editor: Audrey Enghauser
Adviser: David Ragsdale

U-High Midway
University of Chicago Laboratory High School, Chicago, Illinois
Editors: Lucia Kouri, Berk Oto, Peter Pu
Adviser: Logan Aimone

HiLite
Carmel High School, Carmel, Indiana
Editors: Cady Armstrong, Chloe Sun
Adviser: Jim Streisel

The Harbinger
Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas
Editors: Celia Condon, Sydney Newton
Adviser: Dow Tate

The Northwest Passage
Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, Shawnee, Kansas
Editors: Grace Logan, Veronica Meiss
Adviser: Susan Massy

The Communicator Magazine
Community High School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Editors: Noah Bernstein, Mia Goldstein,
Ria Lowenschuss, Ella Rosewarne, Grace Wang
Adviser: Tracy Anderson

Echo
St. Louis Park High School, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Editors: Andrea Melear, Molly Schochet
Adviser: Lori Keekley

Globe
Clayton High School, Clayton, Missouri
Editors: Ella Cuneo, Shane LaGesse, Ivy Reed
Adviser: Erin Sucher-O’Grady

The Kirkwood Call
Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri
Editors: Hayden Davidson, Megan Glasgow, Kate Schreiber
Adviser: Mitch Eden

Spark
Lakota East High School, Liberty Township, Ohio
Editors: Riley Higgins, Mia Hilkowitz
Adviser: Dean Hume

The Dispatch
James Bowie High School, Austin, Texas
Editors: Anna Holme, Corinne Piorkowski, Arushi Sharma
Adviser: Michael Reeves

The Shield
McCallum High School, Austin, Texas
Editors: Alysa Bijl-Spiro, Madelynn Niles, Grace Nugent, Samantha Powers
Adviser: Dave Winter

Eagle Edition
Episcopal School of Dallas, Dallas, Texas
Editors: Emily Lichty, Gina Montagna
Adviser: Ana Rosenthal

The Fourcast
The Hockaday School, Dallas, Texas
Editors: Anna Gum, Madeline Stout
Adviser: Julia Copeland

The ReMarker
St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas
Editor: Austin Williams
Adviser: Ray Westbrook

Kingwood Park Times
Kingwood Park High School, Kingwood, Texas
Editor: Kathleen Ortiz
Adviser: Megan Ortiz

The Edge
Pleasant Grove High School, Texarkana, Texas
Editors: Emma Boehmke, Sarah Hale, Nistha Neupane
Adviser: Charla Harris

Tiger Times
Texas High School, Texarkana, Texas
Editors: Stephanie Jumper, Doug Kyles, Phoebe Neff
Advisers: Rebecca Potter, Clint Smith

The Highlander
McLean High School, McLean, Virginia
Editors: Maya Amman, Josh Bass, Aleena Gul
Adviser: Lindsay Benedict

The Standard
The American School in London (High School), London, United Kingdom
Editors: Cameron Spurr, Isabel Link, Maddy Whitman
Adviser: Louisa Avery

The Scroll
The American School in London (Middle School), London, United Kingdom
Editor: Staff
Adviser: Colin Bridgewater

Specialty Magazine

C Magazine
Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, California
Editors: Sophia Baginskis, Evie Coulson, Emma Joing,
Julia Ragno, McKenna Rausch, Milena Rodriguez,
Jasmine Tabrizi, Marilyn Yin
Adviser: Brian WIlson

Viking Magazine
Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, California
Editors: Hailey Callan, David Gormley, Greg Laursen, Madhu Ramkumar
Adviser: Brian Wilson

Gxrls in STEM
Georgetown Day School, Washington, District of Columbia
Editors: Abigail Vanasse, Iman Lloyd, Lucie Johnson
Advisers: Elaina Berres, Suzy Hamon, Julia Penn, Darby Thompson

Backcountry Review
Springfield High School, Springfield, Oregon
Editors: Jay Bramhall, Iris Ramirez Alvarez, Addison Sattler
Adviser: Ivan Miller

Focus Magazine
St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas
Editor: Austin Williams
Adviser: Ray Westbrook