NSPA names top newspapers, magazines

Pacemaker competition recognizes 45 finalists for excellence

Sept. 23, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS — Honoring the nation’s best, the National Scholastic Press Association has named 45 scholastic student newspapers, newsmagazines and specialty magazines published during the 2023-24 school year as finalists in its prestigious Pacemaker competition.

NSPA Pacemaker finalists will be recognized and the Pacemaker winners announced for the first time on Nov. 9, at the NSPA Awards Ceremony during the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Philadelphia.

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

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 45 Pacemaker finalists represent 15 states as well as the United Kingdom. California set the pace with 13 finalists, followed by Texas with nine.

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 — less than 1,800 students and 1,800 or more students. There are 34 high school newspaper/newsmagazine Pacemaker finalists.

Junior high/middle school newspapers/newsmagazines as well as specialty magazines competed in separate categories. There are three junior high/middle school Pacemaker finalists.

Specialty magazines provide in-depth, long-form stories focused on timely topics/issues relevant to a student audience. The content of a specialty magazine frequently focuses on a single topic/issue. A specialty magazine has its own identity and name and it is not a special edition of a newspaper/newsmagazine. Topical magazines such as sports, science, business or entertainment also compete in this category.

There are eight specialty magazine Pacemaker finalists.

Literary arts magazines compete in a separate Pacemaker competition with an entry deadline of Nov. 15.

Gary Lundgren, associate director and coordinator of the Pacemaker competition, observed that specialty magazines are growing in popularity in high schools across the country.

“With most news being delivered online, student journalists have been redefining their print newspaper,” Lundgren said. “More and more that means transitioning from a traditional newspaper format to a specialty magazine with in-depth reporting.”

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/newspapers took risks and served as a strong voice for its student audience,” Lundgren said. 

In this competition, only the print news product was judged. A separate NSPA 2024 Online Pacemaker competition recognized 24 online news sites in April. Several schools earned Pacemaker honors for both their print and online products.

Please join us at the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention Nov. 7-10, 2024, at the Philadelphia Marriott.

The convention offers hundreds of instructional sessions, keynote speakers from national newsmakers, dozens of media critiques, JEA’s popular on-site media contests and the announcement of NSPA national winners for Pacemaker Awards and Individual Awards. NSPA also offers a convention Best of Show competition that celebrates current student media work.

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Fall Pacemaker finalists

Broadcast
Newspaper/Newsmagazine + Specialty magazine

The Marquette Messenger
Marquette High School
Chesterfield, Missouri
Editor-in-chief: Annabelle Miller
Adviser: Emily Jorgensen

North Star
Francis Howell North High School
Saint Charles, Missouri
Editors-in-chief: McKenna Hudson, Chase Pray
Advisers: Aaron Manfull, Jordyn Kiel

ID Magazine
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
St. Louis, Missouri
Editors-in-chief: Mac Huffman, Rory Lustberg, Annie Zhao
Advisers: Abigail Eisenberg, Sarah Kirksey

Panorama
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
St. Louis, Missouri
Editors-in-chief: Tarek Al Husseini, Riles Coates, Mimi Zhou
Advisers: Abigail Eisenberg, Sarah Kirksey

Science Greeley
Horace Greeley High School
Chappaqua, New York
Editors-in-chief: Andrew Pang, Sophia Kong
Adviser: Alex Lichorat

Spark
Lakota East High School
Liberty Township, Ohio
Editors-in-chief: Ava Huening, Colin Kunz
Adviser: Dean Hume

Backcountry Review
Springfield High School
Springfield, Oregon
Editors-in-chief: Amanda Arch, Courtney Brown, Ember Holman
Adviser: Ivan Miller

The Dispatch
James Bowie High School
Austin, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Kate Davis, Mazzy Warren
Adviser: Michael Reeves

The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Alice Scott, Lanie Sepehri, Ingrid Smith, Francie Wilhelm
Adviser: Dave Winter

The Sidekick
Coppell High School
Coppell, Texas
Editor-in-chief: Sri Achanta
Adviser: Chase Wofford

Eagle Edition
Episcopal School of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Abby Baughman, Easterly Yeaman
Adviser: Ana Rosenthal

Focus
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Dawson Yao, Linyang Lee
Adviser: Jenny Dial Creech

ReMarker
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas
Editor-in-chief: Zack Goforth
Adviser: Jenny Dial Creech

The Scientific Marksman
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Alex Pan, Joseph Sun
Adviser: Daniel Lipin

The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Ella Piper Claffy, Annie Jones
Advisers: Sam Abramson, David Nathan, Shelley Stein

Kingwood Park Times
Kingwood Park High School
Kingwood, Texas
Editor-in-chief: Maya Ortiz
Adviser: Megan Ortiz

Newsstreak
Harrisonburg High School
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Editor-in-chief: Clare Kirwan
Adviser: Valerie Kibler

The Highlander
McLean High School
McLean, Virginia
Editors-in-chief: Tanner Coerr, Dania Reza, Philip Rotondo, Madeleine Stigall, Natalie Vu
Adviser: Lindsay Benedict

The Scroll
The American School in London Middle School
London, England
Editor-in-chief: Staff
Adviser: Colin Bridgewater

The Standard
The American School in London
London, England
Editors-in-chief: Eden Leavey, Clara Martinez
Adviser: Louisa Avery