NSPA honors top scholastic reporting & feature writing

Story of the Year

News Story • Feature Story
Sports Story • Editorial • Opinion

Nov. 9, 2024

National Scholastic Press Association salutes the winners of its 2024 Story of the Year competition.

NSPA’s Individual Awards are among the top prizes in scholastic media, and the awards are a showcase of journalistic excellence.

Winners were announced during the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Media Convention, on Nov. 9, in Philadelphia.

2024 Fall Convention Awards

Fall 2024 Pacemakers
Broadcast
Newspaper/Newsmagazine/ Specialty Magazine

2024 Individual Awards
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
Fred Ross Systemic Change Student Journalism Competition
Local Climate Change Reporting
Portfolio of the Year
Best Use of Social Media

Philadelphia Best of Show
Individual Recognition
Staff Recognition

First Place
Alice Scott
The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas
Book rating law blocked

Second Place
Katie Murphy
The Harbinger
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas
A Turning Point

Third Place
Morgan Cook
Tribal Tribune
Wando High School
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Disarray Downtown

Fourth Place
Chase Pray
FHNtoday
Francis Howell North High School
Saint Charles, Missouri
Board of Education Faces Backlash After Removing Black-Focused Electives

Fifth Place
Jay Deegan
Central Times
Naperville Central High School
Naperville, Illinois
Chronically Absent: How nearly a quarter of D203 high schoolers missed more than 10% of school last year

Honorable Mention

Matthias Jaylen, Alexa Murphy
Tower
The Masters School
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Migrants bussed across country find safe landing in local Rivertown

Milly Miao, Sydney Mulford, Kevin Xiang
The Messenger
Northview High School
Johns Creek, Georgia
Fire alarms send students into freezing downpour

Jack Baker, Sybil Curran, Josh McNeil
The Tiger
Little Rock Central High School
Little Rock, Arkansas
Blindsided

Fallon Head
Kingwood Park Times
Kingwood Park High School
Kingwood, Texas
Transfer Trend

Satvika Ramanathan
The Huron
Emery Huron High School
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Through teachers’ eyes: How the $25 million budget cut is affecting AAPS staff

First Place
Aisha Rashid
Veteran
Vandegrift High School
Austin, Texas
Losing home, finding hope

Second Place
Krista Fleming
The Hawk Eye
Hebron High School
Carrollton, Texas
The next destination

Third Place
Sofia Ball
The Northwest Passage
Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Shawnee, Kansas
All At Once

Fourth Place
Josh McNeil
The Tiger
Little Rock Central High School
Little Rock, Arkansas
Pages from the past

Fifth Place
Olivia Evans
The Hawk Eye
Hebron High School
Carrollton, Texas
Moving forward

Honorable Mention

Adrianna Bean
The Mirror
Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys, California
The untold story of a real-life storyteller

Ingrid Smith
The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas
Conservation photographer captures world to change it

Sean Campbell, Harald Tollerup
The Breakdown
Davis Senior High School
Davis, California
Curley’s life changes in a heartbeat

Lynn-Clara Tun
Zephyrus
Edina High School
Edina, Minnesota
Behind the scenes with “Barry” editor Ali Greer

Bella Yi
The Horizon
Westwood High School
Austin, Texas
King for a Day: Self-Taught Senior Performs with Green Day

First Place
Wyatt Meyer
Odyssey Media Group
Clarke Central High School
Athens, Georgia
The impossible dream

Second Place
Tanner Coerr
The Highlander
McLean High School
McLean, Virginia
Defying disability

Third Place
Hailey Neuner
The Marquette Messenger
Marquette High School
Chesterfield, Missouri
No Plan in Place for Aging Locker Rooms

Fourth Place
Adeline Dodd
The Talon
Minnehaha Academy Upper School
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Diving deep

Fifth Place
Alec Bonnard
Campanile
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto, California
Student athletes forced into tradeoff between school, club sports

Honorable Mentions

Ben Shapiro
The Communicator Magazine
Community High School
Ann Arbor, Michigan
PIAA puts Conestoga on probation

Hannah Halterman
FHCtoday
Francis Howell Central High School
Cottleville, Missouri
A Hunger to Compeat

Maya Ortiz
The Pride
Kingwood Park High School
Kingwood, Texas
Staying Relentless

Ben Tillisch
The Dispatch
James Bowie High School
Austin, Texas
New beginnings: Mallett’s story

Blake Furnish
Spark
Lakota East High School
Liberty Township, Ohio
Brotherhood Beyond Borders

First Place
Zoey Perrine
The Mix
Monarch High School
Louisville, Colorado
Change the message

Second Place
Katie Murphy
The Harbinger
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas
Under the Rug

Third Place
Tai Caputo
The Little Hawk
Iowa City High School
Iowa City, Iowa
Book Bans Infringe Upon Students’ Rights

Fourth Place
Lexi Jones
The Express
Blue Valley Northwest High School
Overland Park, Kansas
A Plea for Safety

Fifth Place
Staff
Campanile
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto, California
Breaking Down the Walls program crosses a line

Honorable Mention

Noah Braun
The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas
Live and let go

Staff
Anthro!
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto, California
Standing by: Assembling against apathy

Lexi Jones
The Express
Blue Valley Northwest High School
Overland Park, Kansas
Faith in Humanity

Jesus Lara Rivera
The Northwest Passage
Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Shawnee, Kansas
One Language, Two Tongues

Mars Smith
The Mix
Monarch High School
Louisville, Colorado
We trolled you

First Place
Eliza Lampert
The Forum
Latin School of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
The Crisis in the Middle East Is Complex; Terrorism Is Not

Second Place
Juliana Cruz
Eagle Nation Online
Prosper High School
Prosper, Texas
Column: Senior reflects on perspective regarding firearms

Third Place
Clare McRoberts
U-High Midway
University of Chicago Laboratory High School
Chicago, Illinois
It’s time to end legacy admissions

Fourth Place
Kayah Cieslak
The La Salle Falconer
La Salle Catholic College Preparatory
Milwaukie, Oregon
Pity, Alienation, and The Urge To Be the Same: The Never Ending Plight of a Physical Disability

Fifth Place
Abigail Kim
The Mirror
Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys, California
Unfollowing social media will be the best decision of your life

Honorable Mention

Joyce Lee, Noah Kang, Shaona Das
The Prospector
Cupertino High School
Cupertino, California
Anti-Homeless Architecture Should be Abolished

Grace Kweon
Panorama
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
St. Louis, Missouri
A Distorted Democracy

Marley Helfer
Talisman
Ballard High School
Seattle, Washington
They is not working the way it should

Sydney Barnett
The Express
Blue Valley Northwest High School
Overland Park, Kansas
A Moral Condemnation

Matthias Jaylen
Sandoval Tower
The Masters School
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Salaam, shalom, serenity: Finding peace in freedom from oppression