2019 Story of the Year

Announced at the Fall National High School Journalism Convention, Nov. 23, 2019, in Washington, D.C.

RELATED: Announced in spring 2019
2019 Online Pacemakers | 2018 Yearbook Pacemakers | 2018 Magazine Pacemakers

News Story

First
Alexandra Fernholz, Anna Mullins
The nico-teens: the newest teen epidemic has many parents, school officials and government health officials concerned
Spark
Lakota East High School
Liberty Township, Ohio

Second
Abby McCoy, Ryann Redinger
Smoke and mirrors: A look into the connection between teens and Juuls
Play
Maize High School
Maize, Kansas

Third
Maddie Poch
Partial shutdown: How government employees survived the longest shutdown in American history
The C&G
Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School
Atlanta, Georgia

Fourth
Anna Cowden
2018 graduate Camille Sturdivant files civil lawsuit against district, others
BVNW News
Blue Valley Northwest High School
Overland Park, Kansas

Fifth
Sarah Zimmerman
Still rising from ruins: Sophomore Andres Cancel’s family recovers from the devastating hurricane that swept over Puerto Rico
North Star
Francis Howell North High School
St. Charles, Missouri

Honorable mention
Laura Horta, Alondra Salgado
No child is left behind when it comes to housing insecurity
Grizzly Gazette
Godinez Fundamental High School
Santa Ana, California

Honorable mention
Ben Henschel, Will Tulp
The price to pay for acceptance
The Harbinger
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas

Honorable mention
Melissa Nie, Noah Raaum
Short-lived Twitter account raises questions about diversity
RubicOnline
St. Paul Academy and Summit School
St. Paul, Minnesota

Honorable mention
Jenna Barackman, Maleah Downton
Budding business: As more and more states legalize and decriminalize marijuana, the marijuana industry is becoming a staple of the United States economy
Le Journal
Notre Dame de Sion High School
Kansas City, Missouri

Honorable mention
Maleah Downton, Kamryn Rogers
The new drunk driving: Distracted driving is the newest epidemic as car accidents grow to be the number one killer of teens
Le Journal
Notre Dame de Sion High School
Kansas City, Missouri

Feature Story

First
Nicole Konopelko
Fostering a life: Price tells the story of his two years in the Kansas foster care system, where he spent time at a group home, psychiatric residential treatment facility, contracting office and more
The Booster Redux
Pittsburg High School
Pittsburg, Kansas

Second
Morgan Carpenter
A seven-year journey: After spending seven years in a refugee camp in Malawi, immigrant family finds new home in America
Tribal Tribune
Wando High School
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina

Third
Jackie Cameron
A true friendship
The Harbinger
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas

Fourth
Tiffany He
Devon chef cooks up a storm on ‘Chopped’
The Spoke
Conestoga High School
Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Fifth
Ariel Kokoricha
Sharing a part of herself: Junior siblings establish deeper bond through brother’s illness, sister’s gift
The Red Ledger
Lovejoy High School
Lucas, Texas

Honorable mention
Alexandra Fernholz
Lending a hand: Four senior engineering students have been building a prosthetic hand for a five-year-old Shawnee student as their capstone engineering project
Spark
Lakota East High School
Liberty Township, Ohio

Honorable mention
Sarah Zimmerman
Peace, prejudice and positivity: Facing challenges in your environment
North Star
Francis Howell North High School
St. Charles, Missouri

Honorable mention
Luke Piazza, Siddhartha Sinha, Eric Yoo
Turning the page to the next chapter
The ReMarker
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas

Honorable mention
Lily Hager
Faces of the Fair: Victor Ramirez
The Red Ledger
Lovejoy High School
Lucas, Texas

Honorable mention
Thomas Birmingham
The top priority
The Kirkwood Call
Kirkwood High School
Kirkwood, Missouri

Sports Story

First
Jacob LeGesse, Shane LaGesse, James Malone, Michael Melinger
Why do we still play football?
The Globe
Clayton High School
Clayton, Missouri

Second
Sophie Stephens
Silent tradition: Head coach Garrett Hartwid instilled mandatory quiet time two years ago to provide time for the varsity football team to focus on game day
West Side Story
Iowa City West High School
Iowa City, Iowa

Third
Sameen Siddiqui
Sports or politics: Despite controversial Nike ad, CHS sports uniforms stay with Nike brand
HiLite
Carmel High School
Carmel, Indiana

Fourth
Grace Kelly
Concussed: Crash of the cerebrum
The C&G
Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School
Atlanta, Georgia

Fifth
William Aniol, Colin Campbell, Parker Davis, Luke Nayfa
Empty banners: Coming off of a year with no championships, Lions athletes and coaches combine positive lessons learned
The ReMarker
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas

Honorable Mention
Zakir Ahmad, Alex Feng
Gold glory giving back: How three Olympians are establishing a new culture for badminton
Verde
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto, California

Honorable Mention
Jules Popiel, Lilly Randolph
She shoots, she scores: Communications freshman Se’maj Griffin becomes the first girl to join the Dreyfoos basketball team
The Muse
A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts
West Palm Beach, Florida

Honorable Mention
Will Conrad, Deniz Ince
Why not women too?
West Side Story
Iowa City West High School
Iowa City, Iowa

Honorable Mention
Julie Heng
Olympic coach and daughter working with Huron divers
The Huron Emery
Huron High School
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Honorable Mention
Matthew Connelly, Andrew Herweck, Charlotte Witt
(Neer)ing success: Players talk about their victory over Vianney during Frozen Four Feb. 11
Pioneer
Kirkwood High School
Kirkwood, Missouri

Editorial

First
Staff
Arm teacher with books not bullets
The Eagle Eye
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Parkland, Florida

Second
Isabella Ank
Parking problems: Parents and students need to be conscious of how and where they are driving on campus
Pep O’ Plant
H.B. Plant High School
Tampa, Florida

Third
Staff
Consider limiting AP courses
The Spoke
Conestoga High School
Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Fourth
Audrey Matzke
Disciplinary hearings need student voice
U-High Midway
University of Chicago Laboratory High School
Chicago, Illinois

Fifth
Chloe-Amelie Aimkan
Making a mess: Privatizing janitorial services costs more than it saves
Pep O’ Plant
H.B. Plant High School
Tampa, Florida

Honorable Mention
Staff
BACR must stay
The Tam News
Tamalpais High School
Mill Valley, California

Honorable Mention
Staff
Discrimination lawsuit needs more attention, student input
Echo
St. Louis Park High School
St. Louis Park, Minnesota

Honorable Mention
Maddie Murphy
Send out schedule information earlier
The Rock
Rock Bridge High School
Columbia, Missouri

Honorable Mention
Lily Hager
Praising security changes
The Red Ledger
Lovejoy High School
Lucas, Texas

Honorable Mention
Staff
Things we care about, and you should too
The Apple Leaf
Wenatchee High School
Wenatchee, Washington

Opinion

First
Alya Mehrtash
Transgender military ban reflects Trump’s hateful message
Beverly Highlights
Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills, California

Second
Anna Biddle
The sleeping giant
Spark
Lakota East High School
Liberty Township, Ohio

Third
Noura Jabir
You’re not racist? Then stop using the N-word
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

Fourth
Emily Sweet
Destigmatizing society’s touchiest subject: female masturbation
The Redwood Bark
Redwood High School
Larkspur, California

Fifth
Logan Crews
We’re still here
The Kirkwood Call
Kirkwood High School
Kirkwood, Missouri

Honorable Mention
Mikey Bennett
Why he’s right
The C&G
Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School
Atlanta, Georgia

Honorable Mention
Victoria Sponar
Notre Dame outrage proves societal inequities
The Prowler
Starr’s Mill High School
Fayetteville , Georgia

Honorable Mention
Mystika Allison-Barnes
Black 365: How Black History Month can limit the black community and why we shouldn’t let it
The Mission
Shawnee Mission North High School
Overland Park, Kansas

Honorable Mention
Atiyah Lane
Teach my history, too
The Rock
Rock Bridge High School
Columbia, Missouri