NSPA names top newspapers, 
specialty magazines

Pacemaker competition recognizes 42 finalists for excellence

Sept. 16, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS — Honoring the nation’s best, the National Scholastic Press Association has named 42 scholastic student newspapers, newsmagazines and specialty magazines published during the 2025-26 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. 21, at the NSPA Awards Ceremony during the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Orlando.

“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 42 Pacemaker finalists represent 14 states as well as the United Kingdom. California set the pace with 11 finalists, followed by Texas with eight.

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 1,600 students and 1,600 or more students. There are 32 high school newspaper/newsmagazine Pacemaker finalists and 13 of those will earn Pacemakers.

Junior high/middle school newspapers/newsmagazines as well as specialty magazines competed in separate categories. There are three junior high/middle school Pacemaker finalists and two of those will earn Pacemakers.

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 seven specialty magazine Pacemaker finalists and three of those will earn Pacemakers.

Literary arts magazines compete in a separate Pacemaker competition with a Nov. 24 entry deadline.

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.”

“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 2026 Online Pacemaker competition recognized 40 finalists and awarded 16 Pacemakers 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. 19-22, 2026, in Orlando.

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 Pacemaker winners. NSPA also offers a convention Best of Show competition that celebrates current student media work.

Highlander
Carlmont High School
Belmont, California
Editor-in-chief: Shiori Chen
Adviser: Justin Raisner

The Epitaph
Homestead High School
Cupertino, California
Editors-in-chief: Parth Dhaulakhandi, Alicia Liste
Adviser: Natalie Owsley

El Estoque
Monta Vista High School
Cupertino, California
Editors-in-chief: Sophia D’Sa, Jillian Ju, Isabelle Kok, Liz Liu, Stella Petzova, Benjamin Zhang
Advisers: Vennessa Nava, Julia Satterthwaite

The Oracle
Henry M. Gunn High School
Palo Alto, California
Editor-in-chief: Sylvie Nguyen
Adviser: Kristy Blackburn

C Magazine
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto, California
Editors-in-chief: Xuaner Duan, Zoe Ferring, Poppy Morrison, Maria Uribe Estrada
Adviser: Brian Wilson

The Campanile
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto, California
Editors-in-chief: Elise Andrade, Isabella Bian, Gavin Lin, Mereym Orazova, Luca Vostrejs
Adviser: Rod Satterthwaite

Verde
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto, California
Editors-in-chief: Chloe Huang, Kensie Pao
Adviser: Paul Kandell

Bear Witness
Branham High School
San Jose, California
Editor-in-chief: Yujin Cho
Adviser: Yale Wyatt

The Epic
Lynbrook High School
San Jose, California
Editors-in-chief: Olivia Yuan, Crystal Zhu
Adviser: Josh Miller

VNHS Mirror
Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys, California
Editors-in-chief: Joel Nam, Olamide Olumide
Adviser: Ron Goins

The Hoofprint
Walnut High School
Walnut, California
Editor-in-chief: George Wang
Adviser: So Hee Tan

The Mix
Monarch High School
Louisville, Colorado
Editors-in-chief: Julia Abair, Abbey Elalouf, and Ben Lehman
Adviser: Ben Reed

The Blueprint
Hagerty High School
Oviedo, Florida
Editor-in-chief: Lia Miller
Adviser: Brit Taylor

Blueprints
Cedar Shoals High School
Athens, Georgia
Editors-in-chief: Aislynn Chau, Lilly Cohen
Adviser: Marc Ginsberg

U-High Midway
University of Chicago Laboratory High School
Chicago, Illinois
Editors-in-chief: Light Dohrn, Kabir Joshi, Sohana Schneider
Adviser: Logan Aimone

The Harbinger
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas
Editors-in-chief: Sophia Brockmeier, Libby Marsh, Luciana Mendy, Lucy Stephens
Adviser: Dow Tate

JagWire
Mill Valley High School
Shawnee, Kansas
Editors-in-chief: Avery Clement, Maddie Martin, Quin Peters
Adviser: Kathy Habiger

Northwest Passage
Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Shawnee, Kansas
Editors-in-chief: Sofia Ball, Greta Grist
Adviser: Chris Heady

On The Record
duPont Manual High School
Louisville, Kentucky
Editor-in-chief: Luke Boggs
Adviser: Matthew Rhinehart

The Cougar Star
Clague Middle School
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Editors-in-chief: Aeda Baang, Medha Sangi
Advisers: Sara-Beth Badalamente, Annabella Mi, Satvika Ramanathan

The Communicator Magazine
Community High School
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Editors-in-chief: Piper Cooke, Gabe Deedler, Daniel Jacob, Janaki Nallamothu, Jessica Rothstein
Adviser: Tracy Anderson

The Crane
Cranbrook Kingswood Middle School for Boys
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Editors-in-chief: Ethan Anversa and Abhi Batra
Adviser: Christina Hammitt

The Rubicon
St. Paul Academy and Summit School
St. Paul, Minnesota
Editor-in-chief: Sonia Kharbanda
Adviser: Kathryn Campbell

The Messenger
Marquette High School
Chesterfield, Missouri
Editors-in-chief: Samantha Perz, Morgan Siegel
Adviser: Emily Jorgensen

Globe
Clayton High School
Clayton, Missouri
Editors-in-chief: Charlie Balestra, Dwight Erdmann, Sritha Rathikindi
Adviser: Debra Klevens

North Star
Francis Howell North High School
Saint Charles, Missouri
Editors-in-chief: Naomi VanDyne, Peyton Thies
Adviser: Aaron Manfull

Identity
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
St. Louis, Missouri
Editors-in-chief: Marie Demkovitch, Maya Mathew, Annabelle Reagan
Advisers: Abigail Eisenberg, Sarah Kirksey

Panorama
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
St. Louis, Missouri
Editors-in-chief: Josh Devine, Celina Zhou
Advisers: Abigail Eisenberg, Sarah Kirksey

Spark
Lakota East High School
Liberty Township, Ohio
Editors-in-chief: Ashley Skinner, Joselyn Duff
Adviser: Amy Mahaffey

Tribal Tribune
Wando High School
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Editors-in-chief: Noah Iverson, Bella Shipek
Adviser: Phillip Caston

The Dispatch
James Bowie High School
Austin, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Liberty Pittman, Elizabeth Yowell
Adviser: Michael Reeves

The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Beatrix Lozach, Mira Patel, Priya Thoppil
Adviser: Evan Solís

Eagle Edition
Episcopal School of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Emmy Moss and Reese Rawson
Adviser: Ana Rosenthal

Focus
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Andrew Ye, Kayden Zhong
Adviser: Jenny Creech

ReMarker
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas
Editor-in-chief: Christian Warner
Adviser: Jenny Creech

The Scientific Marksman
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Shiv Bhandari, Michael Chang, Christopher Huang, Benjamin Standefer, Richard Wang
Adviser: Daniel Lipin

Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Eshna Das, Lee Monistere, Dalia Sandberg
Adviser: David Nathan

The Edge
Pleasant Grove High School
Texarkana, Texas
Editors-in-chief: Katherine Ayers, Addison Kinney
Adviser: Charla Harris

The Highlander
McLean High School
McLean, Virginia
Editors-in-chief: Ryan Kang, Alex Li, Olivia Wood
Adviser: Lindsay Benedict

Ampersand
The American School in London
London, England
Editors-in-chief: Ruby Rogers, Rina Kobayashi
Adviser: Louisa Avery

The Standard
The American School in London
London, England
Editors-in-chief: Ruby Rogers, Rina Kobayashi
Adviser: Louisa Avery

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