2022 Story of the Year finalists

Oct. 19, 2022

National Scholastic Press Association announces the finalists in its 2022 Story of the Year competition.

Individual Award winners will be announced at the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention, at the 3:30 p.m. awards ceremony on Nov. 12. 

A gallery of winners will be posted after the Nov. 12 announcement.

Finalists below are listed by state.

Register for the convention.
Enter the convention’s Best of Show contest.

Pacemaker finalists
These Pacemaker finalists will be honored and winners announced at the Nov. 12 awards ceremony.

BroadcastNewspaper/NewsmagazineSpecialty Magazine

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

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


News Story

Jazzy Nguyen
Bear Witness, Branham High School, San Jose, California
Seeing red

Sari Goldberg, Chase Goldstein
Torch, Glenbrook North High School, Northbrook, California
Florida prevents LGBTQ discussion in schools

Gina Bernstein, Madeline Kahn, Kate Wagner
The Muse, Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida
Food Insecurity

Ava Smith, Stella Mackler, Anna Rafferty
The Southerner, Midtown High School, Atlanta, Georgia
Mary Lin parent civil rights complaint alleges discriminatory practices

Clara Martinez
The Standard, The American School in London, London, U.K.
Russian, Ukrainian students adapt to life amid war

Peter Pu
U-High Midway, University of Chicago Laboratory High School, Chicago, Illinois
Mistreated: Faculty of color speak out

Cuyler Dunn, Arien Roman-Rojas
Red & Black, Lawrence High School, Lawrence, Kansas
USD 497’s classified staff hope to be David against Goliath

Bella Ishanyan, Matan Josephy
The Lion’s Roar, Newton South High School, Massachusetts, Massachusetts
A Balancing Act

Dedeepya Guthikonda
Zephyrus, Edina High School, Edina, Minnesota
Racist video surfaces at Edina

Aarushi Bute
Messenger, Marquette High School, Chesterfield, Missouri
RSD encourages civil discourse at board meetings


Feature Story

Katelyn Chu
The Prospector, Cupertino High School, Cupertino, California
Wildflour Desserts

Michelle Chen, Anushka De, Jayanti Jha
El Estoque, Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California
The life and legacy of Yang Yang Liu

Henry Pratt
The Pitch, Archie Williams High School, San Anselmo, California
Every parent’s worst nightmare: Fentanyl epidemic overtakes teens

Julia Moser, Lucy Halverson
The Express, Blue Valley Northwest High School, Kansas, Kansas
Legacy of a Loved One

Owen Auston-Babcock
The Globe, Clayton High School, Clayton, Missouri
Unlivable Wages

Faith Beckmann
FHCtoday, Francis Howell Central High School, Missouri, Missouri
Finding Harmony

Marleigh Winterbottom
Spark, Lakota East High School, Liberty Township, Ohio
Falling into Place

Austin Williams, Peter Orsak, Jonathan Yin,
Toby Barrett, Keshav Krishna
The ReMarker, St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas
Call me Olive

Kathleen Ortiz
Kingwood Park Times, Kingwood Park High School, Kingwood, Texas
A friend unlike any other

Hanna Boughanem, Grace Gould
The Highlander, McLean High School, McLean, Virginia
Rejection is redirection? McLean seniors learn to embrace rejection from their dream schools


Sports Story

Elle Horst
Scot Scoop, Carlmont High School, Belmont, California
Pushing through the Pain

Ariana Goetting
Harker Aquila, The Harker School, San Jose, California
From kayak polo to archery, faculty and students get involved in niche sports

Nathan Han
The Mirror, Van Nuys High School, Van Nuys, California
Adrenaline junkies: Skateboarding is more popular than ever

Janie Ripps, Gretchen Hinger
Odyssey, Clarke Central High School, Athens, Georgia
Gaps between glads

Heidi Du, Krisha Kapoor, Lily Prochaska
West Side Story, Iowa City West High School, Iowa City, Iowa
Equal footing

Cuyler Dunn
Red & Black, Lawrence High School, Lawrence, Kansas
Student sit-in aims to save gymnastics program

William Ashford, Jon Eckert
Silver Chips, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland
Blazers making wagers

Andrew Mitchell
Tower, The Masters School, Dobbs Ferry, New York
Sports betting legalization causes uptick in underage participants

Blake Furnish
Spark, Lakota East High School, Liberty Township, Ohio
Taking Down Narcolepsy

Arleigh Doehring
Kingwood Park Times, Kingwood Park High School, Kingwood, Texas
Signs of Love


Editorial

Ani Tutunjyan
The Mirror, Van Nuys High School, Van Nuys, California
Mass murder is not normal; we’re tired of all the loss

Carly Philpott, Norah Rudnick
The Union St. Journal, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado
How Title IX Is Failing Sexual Assault Cases

Abby Marton
The Eagle Eye, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida
Let’s Think Critically

Staff
Odyssey, Clarke Central High School, Athens, Georgia
Issue 1: Our take

Marcus Johnson
The Southerner, Midtown High School, Atlanta, Georgia
More out-of-zone students should be allowed to attend Midtown

Staff
Central Times, Naperville Central High School, Naperville, Illinois
Editorial: Threats to Naperville schools must end, officials must respond more clearly

Staff
The Communicator, Community High School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
The Real Solution

Staff
The Kirkwood Call, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri
Call Ed: Mind over matter

Axel Icazbalceta
The ReMarker, St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas
Gov. Abbott, AG Paxton  — show decency for Texas trans kids

Staff
Talisman, Ballard High School, Seattle, Washington
Pandemic shows how our healthcare system fails disabled people


Opinion

Tvisha Gupta, Jisha Rajala
El Estoque, Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California
Discipline? Or abuse?

Julia Frankus
The Redwood Bark, Redwood High School, Larkspur, California
A dangerous health class assignment: The PE nutrition unit

Margo Blanco
The Campanile, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, California
Have you been to the farm?

Madison Seckman
The Union St. Journal, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado
Surviving After Assault

Aminah Syed
BVW News, Blue Valley West High School, Overland Park, Kansas
A Banner Doesn’t Stop Discrimination

Ellie Fischman
The Lion’s Tale, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Rockville, Maryland
Why I march

Megan Snyder
The La Salle Falconer, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory, Milwaukie, Oregon
Health Starts at the Source: Why We Must Support Local Farms

Andrew Clair
The La Salle Falconer, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory, Milwaukie, Oregon
The War on Education: Why Historical Literacy is Vital to Democracy

Muna Nnamani
The Marquee, Marcus High School, Flower Mound, Texas
The girl on the box

Lauren Baker
The Review, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas
Help a cancer patient: Get vaccinated