Aug. 24, 2023
National Scholastic Press Association announces the finalists in its 2023 Story of the Year competition.
Individual Award winners will be announced at the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention, in Boston, at the 3:30 p.m. awards ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 4.
The winners of the Story of the Year compete for NSPA’s Brasler Prize.
A gallery of winners will be posted after the Nov. 4 announcement.
Finalists below are listed by state.
3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, awards ceremony
Winners announced —
Individual Awards
Broadcast Pacemaker
Newspaper/Newsmagazine Pacemaker
Specialty Magazine Pacemaker
Best of Show
Best of Show
Schools and students attending the convention are eligible. Categories, rules and entry deadlines will be announced on the convention site.
Spring Pacemakers
Pacemakers in Innovation, Literary Arts Magazine, Online and Yearbook will be presented at the Kansas City, Missouri, convention, April 4-6, 2024.
Celine Chien, Katie Doran
M-A Chronicle, Menlo-Atherton High School, Atherton, California
Breaking News: Student Pinned Down by Police Officers, Community Confused and Angry
Clementine Cunningham, Sienna Reinders, Lucille Sanders
Scot Scoop, Carlmont High School, Belmont, California
The chaos after the storm
Arianna Zhu
Scot Scoop, Carlmont High School, Belmont, California
Ozempic shortage unearths American obesity issue
Benjamin Gamson
The Boiling Point, Shalhevet High School, Los Angeles, California
CIF semifinal game marred by ethnic taunts from both Shalhevet’s and visitor’s fans
Eesha Dhawan, Samhita Kumar
The Octagon, Sacramento Country Day School, Sacramento, California
A.I allows for intellectual exploration, academic dishonesty
Bridget Baker, Jessica Sehgal, Milo Slevin,
Kupu Sumi, Marin Ubersox
The Evanstonian, Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Illinois
A historical tug of war
Nathan Yuan
Central Times, Naperville Central High School, Naperville, Illinois
The hidden homeless
Caroline Steidley
Call, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri
Former KHS student set to be executed
Arti Jain, Rory Lustberg
Panorama, Ladue Horton Watkins High School, St. Louis, Missouri
Under Fire
Jordan Millar
The Polygon, Poly Prep Country Day School, Brooklyn, New York
So You Want to Talk About Racial Literacy?
Lily Coash-Johnson
The Epic, Shawnee Mission West High School, Overland Park, Kansas
One in six
Alex Cowdrey, Saraphina Wambi
The Express, Blue Valley Northwest High School, Overland Park, Kansas
Unnoticed. Unaddressed. Uncovered.
Katie Murphy
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas
American Dreaming
Grace Logan
The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, Shawnee, Kansas
No Excuses
Staff
The Communicator, Community High School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Pantone Postcards
Allen You
Panorama, Ladue Horton Watkins High School, St. Louis, Missouri
Torn from Home
Eleanor Yarbrough
Tribal Tribune, Wando High School, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Breaking out of the domestic abuse cycle
Linyang Lee, Dawson Yao
The ReMarker, St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas
A toast to Hollywood
Tina Luo
The Legend, Flower Mound High School, Flower Mound, Texas
Finding Home: A student’s Hurricane Maria survival story
Annie Jones
The Review, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas
The only thing I could control’
Melody Cui, Kathryn Foo
El Estoque, Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California
The virtual glass ceiling
Ajin Jeong, Asha Kulkarni
Verde, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, California
Trailblazer
Shay Bowman, Aran Sonnad-Joshi, Archer Streelman
The Southerner, Midtown High School, Atlanta, Georgia
Sports provides greater opportunities
Jilian Denlow
The Evanstonian, Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Illinois
‘More than just a basketball league’
Kurt Hausman
The Communicator, Community High School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Title IX: History of Fighting and Hopes for the Future
Willem Hummel, Jacob Robinson
Messenger, Marquette High School, Chesterfield, Missouri
Benched By the Brain
Sonya Sud
The Lancer Feed, Lafayette High School, Wildwood, Missouri
Kicking the Competition
Jordan DeMario
Tribal Tribune, Wando High School, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Unhindered performance
Olivia Craine
Legend, Wando High School, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Living His Legacy
Hyunsung Na
The Marquee, Marcus High School, Flower Mound, Texas
Senior recounts journey as kicker
Staff
The Campanile, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, California
PAUSD should adapt to ChatGPT
Andrew Mikhail, Anna Shesol, Ethan Wolin
The Augur Bit, Georgetown Day School, Washington, District of Columbia
An Action Plan, an Audit and Still Scant Public Data
Clare O’Connor
U-High Midway, University of Chicago Laboratory High School, Chicago, Illinois
Administrators: Denounce and address hateful actions
Nina Ivancevic
Lion, Lyons Township High School, La Grange, Illinois
Importance of inclusion
Katie Murphy
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas
Teachers With Tacticals?
Staff
The Lancer Feed, Lafayette High School, Wildwood, Missouri
Board members need consequences, too
Southwest Shadow Editorial Board
Southwest Shadow, Southwest Career and Technical Academy, Las Vegas, Nevada
Bus drivers need to be treated like people too
Caroline Owen, Alice Scott
The Shield, McCallum High School, Austin, Texas
Outdated Mac should be included in bond proposals
Shreyan Daulat
The ReMarker, St. Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Texas
LEED-ing to ensure a better tomorrow
Wingspan Staff
Wingspan, Liberty High School, Frisco, Texas
Taking focus off educational needs
April Wang
El Estoque, Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California
White supremacy is pitting minorities against each other
Gabriel Hawkins
The Nueva Current, The Nueva School, San Mateo, California
Traumazine is Megan Thee Stallion’s renaissance
Amy Ren
U-High Midway, University of Chicago Laboratory High School, Chicago, Illinois
U-High must shine a light on Asian American struggles
Gage Chapman
The Mission, Shawnee Mission North High School, Overland Park, Kansas
Running With It
Larkin Brundige
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas
Beyond Pink
Katie Murphy
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas
Typical Asian
Sofia Ball
The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, Shawnee, Kansas
No Matter What
Raksha Jayakumar
The Marquee, Marcus High School, Flower Mound, Texas
Happy daughter’s day
Lily Feather
The Review, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas
Instead of encouraging learning, Reading Logs turn a passion into a chore
Grace Hamilton
The Standard, The American School in London, London, United Kingdom
Wage gap epitomizes stagnation in gender equality efforts