NSPA honors
top scholastic reporting &
feature writing

Nov. 12, 2022

National Scholastic Press Association salutes the winners of its 2022 Story of the Year competition.

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

Winners were announced during the Fall National High School Journalism Convention, Nov. 10-13, in St. Louis.

NSPA awards archive

NSPA awards info

First Place
Dedeepya Guthikonda
Zephyrus
Edina High School
Edina, Minnesota
Racist video surfaces at Edina

Second Place
Aarushi Bute
Messenger
Marquette High School
Chesterfield, Missouri
RSD encourages civil discourse at board meetings

Third Place
Peter Pu
U-High Midway
University of Chicago Laboratory High School
Chicago, Illinois
Mistreated: Faculty of color speak out

Fourth Place
Jazzy Nguyen
Bear Witness
Branham High School
San Jose, California
Seeing red

Fifth Place
Sari Goldberg, Chase Goldstein
Torch
Glenbrook North High School
Northbrook, California
Florida prevents LGBTQ discussion in schools

Honorable mentions

Bella Ishanyan, Matan Josephy
The Lion’s Roar, Newton South High School, Newton, Massachusetts
A Balancing Act

Gina Bernstein, Madeline Kahn, Kate Wagner
The Muse, Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida
Food Insecurity

Clara Martinez
The Standard, The American School in London, London, United Kingdom
Russian, Ukrainian students adapt to life amid war

Cuyler Dunn, Arien Roman-Rojas
Red & Black, Lawrence High School, Lawrence, Kansas
USD 497’s classified staff hope to be David against Goliath

Ava Smith, Stella Mackler, Anna Rafferty
The Southerner, Midtown High School, Atlanta, Georgia
Mary Lin parent civil rights complaint alleges discriminatory practices

First Place
Henry Pratt
The Pitch
Archie Williams High School
San Anselmo, California
Every parent’s worst nightmare: Fentanyl epidemic overtakes teens

Second Place
Owen Auston-Babcock
The Globe
Clayton High School
Clayton, Missouri
Unlivable Wages

Third Place
Julia Moser, Lucy Halverson
The Express
Blue Valley Northwest High School
Overland Park, Kansas
Legacy of a Loved One

Fourth Place
Austin Williams, Peter Orsak, Jonathan Yin,
Toby Barrett, Keshav Krishna
The ReMarker
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas
Call me Olive

Fifth Place
Kathleen Ortiz
Kingwood Park Times
Kingwood Park High School
Kingwood, Texas
A friend unlike any other

Honorable mentions

Katelyn Chu
The Prospector, Cupertino High School, Cupertino, California
Wildflour Desserts

Marleigh Winterbottom
Spark, Lakota East High School, Liberty Township, Ohio
Falling into Place

Hanna Boughanem, Grace Gould
The Highlander, McLean High School, McLean, Virginia
Rejection is redirection? McLean seniors learn to embrace rejection from their dream schools

Faith Beckmann
FHCtoday, Francis Howell Central High School, Missouri, Missouri
Finding Harmony

Michelle Chen, Anushka De, Jayanti Jha
El Estoque, Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California
The life and legacy of Yang Yang Liu

First Place
Cuyler Dunn
Red & Black
Lawrence High School
Lawrence, Kansas
Student sit-in aims to save gymnastics program

Second Place
Blake Furnish
Spark
Lakota East High School
Liberty Township, Ohio
Taking Down Narcolepsy

Third Place
Janie Ripps, Gretchen Hinger
Odyssey
Clarke Central High School
Athens, Georgia
Gaps between glads

Fourth Place
William Ashford, Jon Eckert
Silver Chips
Montgomery Blair High School
Silver Spring, Maryland
Blazers making wagers

Fifth Place
Andrew Mitchell
Tower
The Masters School
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Sports betting legalization causes uptick in underage participants

Honorable mentions

Heidi Du, Krisha Kapoor, Lily Prochaska
West Side Story, Iowa City West High School, Iowa City, Iowa
Equal footing

Ariana Goetting
Harker Aquila, The Harker School, San Jose, California
From kayak polo to archery, faculty and students get involved in niche sports

Elle Horst
Scot Scoop, Carlmont High School, Belmont, California
Pushing through the Pain

Nathan Han
The Mirror, Van Nuys High School, Van Nuys, California
Adrenaline junkies: Skateboarding is more popular than ever

Arleigh Doehring
Kingwood Park Times, Kingwood Park High School, Kingwood, Texas
Signs of Love

First Place
Staff
The Kirkwood Call
Kirkwood High School
Kirkwood, Missouri
Call Ed: Mind over matter

Second Place
Staff
The Communicator
Community High School
Ann Arbor, Michigan
The Real Solution

Third Place
Staff
Odyssey
Clarke Central High School
Athens, Georgia
Issue 1 Our take

Fourth Place
Axel Icazbalceta
The ReMarker
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Dallas, Texas
Gov. Abbott, AG Paxton  — show decency for Texas trans kids

Fifth Place
Abby Marton
The Eagle Eye
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Parkland, Florida
Let’s Think Critically

Honorable mentions

Staff
Central Times, Naperville Central High School, Naperville, Illinois
Editorial: Threats to Naperville schools must end, officials must respond more clearly

Carly Philpott, Norah Rudnick
The Union St. Journal, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado
How Title IX Is Failing Sexual Assault Cases

Staff
Talisman, Ballard High School, Seattle, Washington
Pandemic shows how our healthcare system fails disabled people

Marcus Johnson
The Southerner, Midtown High School, Atlanta, Georgia
More out-of-zone students should be allowed to attend Midtown

Ani Tutunjyan
The Mirror, Van Nuys High School, Van Nuys, California
Mass murder is not normal; we’re tired of all the loss

First Place
Tvisha Gupta, Jisha Rajala
El Estoque
Monta Vista High School
Cupertino, California
Discipline? Or abuse?

Second Place
Julia Frankus
The Redwood Bark
Redwood High School
Larkspur, California
A dangerous health class assignment: The PE nutrition unit

Third Place
Muna Nnamani
The Marquee
Marcus High School
Flower Mound, Texas
The girl on the box

Fourth Place
Margo Blanco
The Campanile
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto, California
Have you been to the farm?

Fifth Place
Madison Seckman
The Union St. Journal
Cherry Creek High School
Greenwood Village, Colorado
Surviving After Assault

Honorable mentions

Megan Snyder
The La Salle Falconer, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory, Milwaukie, Oregon
Health Starts at the Source: Why We Must Support Local Farms

Andrew Clair
The La Salle Falconer, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory, Milwaukie, Oregon
The War on Education: Why Historical Literacy is Vital to Democracy

Ellie Fischman
The Lion’s Tale, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Rockville, Maryland
Why I march

Lauren Baker
The Review, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas
Help a cancer patient: Get vaccinated

Aminah Syed
BVW News, Blue Valley West High School, Overland Park, Kansas
A Banner Doesn’t Stop Discrimination