NSPA announces winners
of spring Clips & Clicks contest

July 28, 2021

MINNEAPOLIS — Congratulations to the spring winners of the new NSPA Clips & Clicks contest — and to 10 schools earning Sweepstakes recognition.

The competition, open to all NSPA members, honors current work among student journalists, and the spring-semester winners encompass work produced from Jan. 1-May 15, 2021.

There were 649 submissions in the spring competition, an increase of approximately 110 entries from the fall competition. A total of 28 high schools and middle schools placed in the spring competition.

“The judges consistently said they were very impressed with the quality of the entries submitted,” associate director Gary Lundgren said. “The Clips & Clicks competition is new for NSPA, and we were very pleased with the participation during the inaugural year, and we’re looking forward to next year.”

Judges were collegiate professors, collegiate student media advisers and professional journalists.

Sweepstakes winners represent the top 10 schools based on the number of awards earned in the Clips & Clicks contest in both the fall and spring.

The numbers of winners in each category was determined by the judges based on the quantity and quality of the entries. When calculating Sweepstakes, the following point scale was used —

Awards page / awards at a glance

Clips & Clicks contest information

Clips & Clicks entry submission

Awards archive

Contest rules

Join NSPA

Christopher Columbus High School claims
2020-21 Sweepstakes award

Christopher Columbus High School, Miami, Florida, earned
the NSPA Clips & Clicks Sweepstakes award
for the 2020-21 academic year.

First
“Canceled vaccines leave high risk patients disappointed”
Juan Carlos Chaoui, Lucas Figueroa, Manuel Fraga, Jordan Perez
CCNN Live
Christopher Columbus High School
Miami, Florida

Honorable mentions

“Staff Adapts to New Lunch Procedures”
Will Bratton
MHSNews, Marquette High School, Chesterfield, Missouri

“Graduation Tickets”
Brennan Davis, Kristi Perez, Jackson Stanton
RNE-TV, Richland Northeast High School, Columbia, South Carolina

“Columbus holds annual walkathon”
Juan Carlos Chaoui, Lucas Figueroa, Neo Gaitan, Anthony Martinez, Jordan Perez
CCNN Live, Christopher Columbus High School, Miami, Florida

“The 266 Opens Pop-Up Shop at Moxi Junction”
Ty Brack, Kenna Ellis, Alex Jordan, Lanie Wolf
OneMa1ze Broadcasting, Maize Career Academy, Maize, Kansas

“New minimum wage brings mixed reviews”
Juan Carlos Chaoui, Lucas Delgado, Neo Gaitan, Joseph Gonzalez, Thomas Pozo
CCNN Live, Christopher Columbus High School, Miami, Florida

First
“RR Bbq”
Ebony Christie, Te’Veon Cooper, Alani Hamilton
RNE-TV
Richland Northeast High School
Columbia, South Carolina

Honorable mentions

“Locs”
Ebony Christie, Elijah Slater
RNE-TV, Richland Northeast High School, Columbia, South Carolina

“Colette Crutcher pieces together city art”
Kiana George
Scot Scoop, Carlmont High School, Belmont, California

“Stop the bleed”
Mia Reaugh, Chloe Smith
WSMS News, Willow Springs Middle School, Lucas, Texas

“Cybrarium modernizes local library”
Neo Gaitan, Emanuel Naccarato, Michael Novo
CCNN Live, Christopher Columbus High School, Miami, Florida

“Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” brought to Lowe stage”
Yasmin Stein
The Review Online, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas

First
“Underdog triumphs against undefeated team”
Lucas Delgado, Lucas Figueroa, Manuel Fraga, Jordan Perez, Alexis Vivanco
CCNN Live
Christopher Columbus High School
Miami, Miami

First
“The camera on crisis”
Staff
CCNN Live
Christopher Columbus High School
Miami, Florida

First
“Seen But Not Heard”
Celine Huang
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

First
“Time is of the Absence”
Charlie Acquisto, Hermione Xian, Ming Zhu
The Octagon
Sacramento Country Day School
Sacramento, California

First
“Consumption”
Dimitrios Mitsopoulos
Drops of Ink
Libertyville High School
Libertyville, Illinois

First
“Tampon Tax”
Rachel Everett, Melissa Liu, Megan Serfontein
The Messenger
Northview High School
Johns Creek, Georgia

First
“Masked Up”
Ella Hutnik
Horizon
Blue Valley Northwest High School
Overland Park, Kansas

Second
“Musical Spread”
Camille Dissel, Katheryn Nachtigal
The Hauberk
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas

Third
“Gingerbread Pickup Party”
Audrey Caravello
Indian
Shawnee Mission North High School
Overland Park, Kansas

Fourth
“Making the Best of It”
Maya Loy
Pawesehi
Parkway West High School
Ballwin, Missouri

Fifth
“100 things from 2020”
Becca O’Brien
Reflections
Blue Valley High School
Overland Park, Kansas

Honorable mentions

“Staff Perspective”
Audrey Caravello
Indian, Shawnee Mission North High School, Overland Park, Kansas

“November Division”
Alexandra Manning, Aislinn Sullivan
The Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas

“Reaching For the Bars”
Matthew Cunningham
Indian, Shawnee Mission North High School, Overland Park, Kansas

“Bonded by Distance”
Alexandra Manning, Meredith McGannon
The Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas

“That’s Seriously In Style”
Emma Kunitz
Rambler, Ladue Horton Watkins High School, Saint Louis, Missouri

First
“How to Picnic”
Clayton Coughlin, Marissa Mathieson, Joanne Sung
Panorama
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Saint Louis
Missouri

First
“Chanting for a Cause”
Julia Malley
The Hauberk
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas

First
“Pasta and paperwork”
Francesca Dietz
The Shield Online
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

Second
“Sameeth Sheshappa”
Anjali Baratham
Horizon
Blue Valley Northwest High School
Overland Park, Kansas

Third
“Hope for the best”
Ellen Fox
The Shield Online
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

Fourth
“Portrait”
Riley Sprockett
Tiger Cry
Dripping Springs High School
Dripping Springs, Texas

Fifth
“Snow Storm”
Savannah Karas
Tiger Cry
Dripping Springs High School
Dripping Springs, Texas

Honorable mention
“It was like my savior, in a way”
Tyler Yuen
Aquila, University Preparatory Academy, San Jose, California

First
“Go the Distance”
Ella Miller
The Hauberk
Shawnee Mission East High School
Prairie Village, Kansas

Second
“Swinging into Baseball Season”
Archer Liang
Na Pueo
Mid-Pacific Institute
Honolulu, Hawaii

Third
“Sliding Baseball”
Charlie Trent
The Tiger Print
Blue Valley High School
Overland Park, Kansas

Fourth
“Over Seven Years in the Making”
Ellen Fox
The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

Fifth
“On the Move”
Natalie Medina
Indian
Shawnee Mission North High School
Overland Park, Kansas

Honorable mentions

“Spring Sports Celebration”
Sarah Clark
The Review Online, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas

“Stumble and Fumble”
Kate Hardinger
The Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas

“Girls Lacrosse”
Max Levey
Tiger Cry, Dripping Springs High School, Dripping Springs, Texas

“Girls Basketball”
Max Levey
Tiger Cry, Dripping Springs High School, Dripping Springs, Texas

“Above the Rest”
Jennifer Xia
The Messenger, Northview High School, Johns Creek, Georgia

First
“Food pantry grapples with inequitable practices”
Ulaa Kuziez
Pathfinder
Parkway West High School
Ballwin, Missouri

Second
“Acquittal of Daniel Pearl’s murderer sparks outrage”
Delilah Brumer, Gabrielle Lashley
The Pearl Post
Daniel Pearl Magnet High School
Lake Balboa, California

Third
“Power grid failure leaves Houstonians on thin ice”
Ella Chen, Russell Li, Indrani Maitra, Afraaz Malick, Ella West
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

Fourth
“A bus to nowhere: Eliminating the VICC Program”
Elizabeth Franklin
Pathfinder
Parkway West High School
Ballwin, Missouri

Fifth
“The Rise in Asian Racism”
Anshi Vajpayee, Krystal Wu
The Messenger
Northview High School
Johns Creek, Georgia

Honorable mentions

“Students discuss appeals and challenges of Middle College”
Christina Chang
Saratoga Falcon, Saratoga High School, Saratoga, California

“Making Waves”
Disha Kumar, Grace Peng
The Messenger, Northview High School, Johns Creek, Georgia

“A Dimmer Future”
Andrew Bachrach, Emma Kim
The Trinity Voice, Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park, Florida

“X marks the spot for xenophobia in New York”
Marrisa Chow, Sophie Gurdus
Scot Scoop, Carlmont High School, Belmont, California

“Calling the Shots”
Cameron Chappell, Rachel Everett, Melissa Liu
The Messenger, Northview High School, Johns Creek, Georgia

First
“Michael Sumerton’s Heartwarming Journey:
Doing it Right”
Allison Mi
The Huron Emery
Ann Arbor Huron High School
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Second
“A Decade of Wildfires”
Enzo Carvalho, Oliver Fichte
Scot Scoop
Carlmont High School
Belmont, California

Third
“The Path to Reclaiming Pride in Our Indian Culture”
Sania Choudhary, Prithi Srinivasan
The Perennial
Pinewood School
Los Altos Hills, California

Fourth
“Seen but not heard”
Noura Jabir, Ella West
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

Fifth
“Sandhu Survives”
Rhea Patney
Panorama
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Saint Louis, MIssouri

Honorable mentions

“Invisible’ communities poisoned by rampant industrial pollution”
Indrani Maitra
The Review, St. John’s School, Houston, Texas

“In-Depth: Barriers to Mental Health Care in Black Communities”
Lauren Pickett
Messenger, Marquette High School, Chesterfield, Missouri

“Lessons from pizza”
Allison Mi
The Huron Emery, Ann Arbor Huron High School, Ann Arbor, Michigan

“Identification Infiltration”
Sydney Newton
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas

“Options out of reach”
Brendan Burke
The Prospector, Prospect High School, Mount Prospect, Illinois

First
“Another Week, Another Record:
Junior distance runner Emmanuel Sgouros keeps getting better”
Thomas Center, Dawson Chang, Penelope Macpherson
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

Second
“I Love You, Man”
Domenic Fenoglio
Panorama
Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Saint Louis, Missouri

Third
“Seventh grader kicks off her first football season”
Ella Piper Claffy
The Review
St. John’s School
Houston, Texas

Fourth
“Positivity, pars and putts guide freshman Kylie Secrest”
Katie Wallace
Pathfinder
Parkway West High School
Ballwin, Missouri

Fifth
“Vandament enjoys home-run season”
Grace Nugent
The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

Honorable mentions

“Hobbs Makes History”
Dan Gutenberg
The Communicator Online, Community High School, Ann Arbor, Michigan

“Senior Jack Meert goes from cut to college committed”
Griffin Snyder
Pathfinder, Parkway West High School, Ballwin, Missouri

“Senior Ajdin Turnadzic prepares to play professional soccer in Dubai”
Tanvi Kulkarni
Pathfinder, Parkway West High School, Ballwin, Missouri

First
“Evening the Playing Field”
Jack Ververis
The Trinity Voice
Trinity Preparatory School
Winter Park, Florida

Second
“We stand with free speech”
Brendan Burke
The Prospector
Prospect High School
Mount Prospect, Illinois

Third
“Retiring Hart High’s Race-Based Mascot:
What Culture Will We Allow?”
Ava Paulsen
The Daily Howl
Castaic High School
Valencia, California 

Fourth
“An unreliable reflection”
Alysa Spiro
The Shield
McCallum High School
Austin, Texas

Fifth
“Eureka High School Uniform Decision”
Connor Del Carmen, Waha Siddiqui
Messenger
Marquette High School
Chesterfield, Missouri

Honorable mentions
“The truth about Acting School applications”
Arden Dickson
Pathfinder, Parkway West High School, Ballwin, Missouri

First
“A national tragedy:
Students and teachers reflect on recent riots”
Kathryn McAuliffe
Pathfinder
Parkway West High School
Ballwin, Missouri