NSPA announces winners
of fall Clips & Clicks contest

Jan. 27, 2022

MINNEAPOLIS — Congratulations to the winners of the Clips & Clicks contest for the fall 2021 semester — and to the NSPA-member student media outlets competing for this year’s Sweepstakes.

The competition, open to all NSPA members, honors current work among student journalists, and the fall-semester winners feature work produced from Aug. 1-Dec. 17, 2021.

The 2022 spring-semester emcompasses work produced from Dec. 18, 2021-May 27, 2022. The BetterBNC submission site will open in February, with a contest deadline of May 27, 2022.

There were approximately 525 submissions in the fall competition. Judges were collegiate professors, student media advisers and professional journalists.

“The judges consistently said they were very impressed with the quality of the entries submitted,” associate director Gary Lundgren said. 

The number of winners in each category was determined by the judges based on the quantity and quality of the entries. When calculating Sweepstakes, the following points are assigned —

Awards page / awards at a glance

Awards archive

Contest rules

Join NSPA

Fall 2021 leaders

Here are the top 12 winners going into the spring competition. 

For 2021-22, rankings are by NSPA-member student media outlets, not by school.

When spring results are added in June, we’ll announce the winner of our Clips & Clicks Sweepstakes trophy.

First
“Safe Halloween Tradition”
Staff
CCNN Live
Christopher Columbus High School
Miami, Florida

First
“All in the Family: Oscar Fariñas”
Lucas Figueroa, Carlos Soto-Angulo,
Daniel Rossi-Montero, Alexis Vivanco, Adrian Morgade
CCNN Live
Christopher Columbus High School
Miami, Florida

Honorable mentions

“Halloween Horror Nights”
Bibi Eichenberg, Amelie Santini
RaiderVision, Gulliver Preparatory School, Pinecrest, Florida

“The Big Beautiful Purple Tree: MHS Custodian Illustrates Children’s Book”
Cassie Sun
MHSNews, Marquette High School, Chesterfield, Missouri

“The Gurdon Light”
Hanna Begay, Carly Campbell
Lakeside TV, Lakeside High School, Hot Springs, Arkansas

“Forever Falcons”
Ginny Felix, Kashvii Vaistra, Summer Steinert, Andrew Kim, Max Alexander
Falcon Vision, Torrey Pines High School, San Diego, California

“Celebrating Native American Heritage Month with Indigenous Enterprise”
Eduardo Fernandes Kingston, Amelie Santini, Julia Piquet, David Haisch
The Raider Voice News, Gulliver Preparatory School, Miami, Florida

First
“Faster, Higher, Stronger”
Juan Carlos Chaoui, Lucas Delgado, Jordan Perez, Lucas Figueroa, Emilio Boutros
CCNN Live
Christopher Columbus High School
Miami, Florida

First
“Are Teenagers too old to Trick or Treat?”
Staff
CCNN Live
Christopher Columbus High School
Miami, Florida  

First
“Untangling the Roots of Hair Identity”
Celine Huang
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

First
“The ‘pick me’ girl persists”
Evelyn Griffin
The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

First
“Cheating”
Grace Peng
The Messenger
Northview High School
Johns Creek, Georgia

First
“Add a little spice”
Sophia Liu
Panorama
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
St. Louis, Missouri

First
“Defying Gravity”
EllaRose Delgado
Raider
Gulliver Preparatory School
Miami, Florida

First
“A Sharp Soundtrack” (animated graphic)
Lucy Marco
The Shield Online
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

First
“Lion Spirit”
Nicole Sheltry
The Oviedian
Oviedo High School
Oviedo, Florida

Second
“Grand entrance”
Reagan Zuniga
The Dispatch
James Bowie High School
Austin, Texas

Third
“Homecoming”
Fatima Almousawi
The Oviedian
Oviedo High School
Oviedo, Florida

Fourth
“Standing up, walking out”
Emma Hagood
The Shield Online
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

Fifth
“3-leg race”
Reagan Zuniga
The Dispatch
James Bowie High School
Austin, Texas

Honorable mentions

“Overcoming Obstacles”
Dominic Abraham
Badger, Beebe High School, Beebe, Arkansas

“Candlelight Vigil”
Ben Hughes
Messenger, Marquette High School, Chesterfield, Missouri

“Hundreds of students join walkout to support sexual assault victims”
Lexi Ramos
The Shield Online, McCallum High School, Austin, Texas

“Cone Head Crazies”
Karlie Holland
Badger, Beebe High School, Beebe, Arkansas

First
“Band”
Sofia Valladares
Veteran
Vandegrift High School
Austin, Texas

Second
“Behind the Scenes: Alice in Wonderland”
Nika Zamani
El Estoque
Monta Vista High School
Cupertino, California

Third
“Vision”
Allie Smith
Veteran
Vandegrift High School
Austin, Texas

Fourth
“State of mind”
Sophie Kessler
The Shield Online
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

Fifth
“Woman in the Mirror”
Annelise Ridder
The Oviedian
Oviedo High School
Oviedo, Florida

Honorable mentions

“Battle of the Bands”
Meredith Grotevant
The Shield Online, McCallum High School, Austin, Texas

“Freshman Give Back”
Rachel Bingham
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas

“Artist”
Yoshita Dhawal
Veteran, Vandegrift High School, Austin, Texas

“The Vine Tunnel”
Kevin He
Traditions, Del Norte High School, San Diego, California

“Hyped Up”
Elise Madden
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas

First
“Back to Pass”
Marissa Kolly
Nexus
Inland Lakes High School
Indian River, Michigan

Second
“Missed Opportunity”
Rachel Bingham
The Harbinger
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas

Third
“JV Golf”
Kaya Kinsey
Veteran
Vandegrift High School
Austin, Texas

Fourth
“Jump shot”
Kayelyn Tate
Spur
Parkway Central High School
Chesterfield, Missouri

Fifth
“Mavs hang on for first EHS win in 10 years”
Lexi Guo
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

Honorable mentions

“Let’s Get Peppy”
Macy Crosser
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas

“Fresh and Focused”
Dominic Abraham
Badger, Beebe High School, Beebe, Arkansas

“Here for the Cheer”
Julian Concepcion
Raider, Gulliver Preparatory School, Miami, Florida

“Defense wins championships”
Mia Gomez
The Shield Online, McCallum High School, Austin, Texas

“Varsity Field Hockey Celebrates Senior Night”
Jacob Robinson
Messenger, Marquette High School, Chesterfield, Missouri

First
“Beyond misbehavior“
Olivia Kim
The Prospector
Prospect High School
Mount Prospect, Illinois

Honorable mentions

“Addressing the Sexual Assault at the CoHo Dance“
Ava Paulsen
The Daily Howl, Castaic High School, Valencia, California

“Campus amid Covid: How student life has changed after a chaotic year“
Annie Jones, Lillian Poag
The Review, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas

“Burnout“
Mac Huffman, Oviya Srihari, Annie Zhao, Olivia Hu, Joanne Sung
Panorama, Ladue Horton Watkins High School, St. Louis, Missouri

“16 years after Katrina, Hurricane Ida wreaks havoc, displaces alums from New Orleans to N.J.“
Wilson Bailey, Ella Chen
The Review, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas

“Vandalism wave beleaguers custodians, erodes trust“
Francie Wilhelm, Morgan Eye
The Shield Online, McCallum High School, Austin, Texas

First
“Untangling the Roots of Hair Identity“
Annie Jones, Lydia Gafford
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

Honorable mentions

“Forward March“
Taylor Chronert
Voice, Vandegrift High School, Austin, Texas

“Spiritual Energy“
Kate Denning
Voice, Vandegrift High School, Austin, Texas

“Click, not kick“
Julia Bychowski
Voice, Vandegrift High School, Austin, Texas

“Muslim students pray daily during passing period“
Lajja Patel
Messenger, Marquette High School, Chesterfield, Missouri

“Building from the ground up: Entrepreneurial obstacles for minorities“
Grace Wu
Scot Scoop, Carlmont High School, Belmont, California

First
“Triple Threat“
Lucy Lochmoeller
Panorama
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
St. Louis, Missouri

Honorable mentions

“Knights next-man-up to topple Trojans in Taco Shack Bowl, 14-13“
Grace Nugent
The Shield Online, McCallum High School, Austin, Texas

“Junior slams down a win“
Kate Davis
The Dispatch, James Bowie High School, Austin, Texas

“Mavs hang on for first EHS win in 10 years“
Wilson Bailey
The Review, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas

First
“It’s high time to respect Jewish Holidays“
Alysa Spiro
The Shield Online
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

First
“Dune Review: Only the Beginning“
Declan Bradley
The City Voice
City High Middle School
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Honorable mentions

“Beautiful blue eyes“
Alice Scott
The Shield Online, McCallum High School, Austin, Texas

“It’s time to write off annotation“
Lanie Sepehri
The Shield Online, McCallum High School, Austin, Texas

“Gossip and drama: a royal curse“
Kevin Lynch
The Prospector, Prospect High School, Mount Prospect, Illinois

“Columbus Day: a celebration of genocide and colonial pride“
Veronika Maynard
The Lion’s Tale, Oviedo High School, Oviedo, Florida

“Not Your Punchline“
Katie Murphy
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas