JEA/NSPA Awards Ceremony brings out passion, heart in the future of journalism

LOS ANGELES– On Saturday, student journalists from all over the country filed into the California Ballroom at the Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles, their hearts filled with passion and their eyes on the prize.

For dozens of schools, the culmination of months of hard work came to a head at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention awards ceremony, where Pacemakers, Pulitzer prizes of high school journalism, were awarded in the categories of yearbook, online and magazine.

Coppell Student Media was a finalist for an Online Pacemaker and The Sidekick took eighth place in the Best of Show Category Newspaper, Tabloid 17 or More Pages.

“I see [the staff] working so hard everyday,” The Sidekick Editor-In-Chief Rachel Buigas-Lopez said. “Even though we didn’t win a Pacemaker, being a finalist is an incredible honor. I think the entire staff recognizes that and we are all very grateful to be recognized for the hard work that we put in every single day.”

Although The Sidekick took a loss on Saturday, the staff is looking towards a promising future with improvements in several areas.

“I think we have really mastered the content,” Buigas-Lopez said. “I think we should focus in a little bit smaller scale on the details. I think that’s how we improve for the future, building a stronger foundation for our writing and making sure there’s consistency.”

NSPA executive director Diana Mitsu Klos opened the ceremony and served as the announcer for the finalists and awards.

“This is just part of the human experience,” Klos said about student journalism. “If you can draw from that and share in the joy of those who receive awards will say a lot about the person you are.”

She began by announcing the NSPA Hall of Fame Inductees: Syracusan Yearbook from Syracuse High School (Syracuse, N.Y.), The Crag Yearbook from Turner Ashby High School (Bridgewater, Va.) and (announced later) The Broadview Newspaper from Convent of the Sacred Heart High School (San Francisco, Calif.).

The Broadview, which has won Pacemakers for its print edition in the past, also won second place in the Best of Show for a Small School Website category, first place in Newspaper Tabloid with 16 or Fewer pages, the First Amendment Press Freedom Award. In addition, they were a 2016 Online Pacemaker Finalist.

“We were sitting on the edge of our seats,” Broadview online editor Lisabelle Panossian said. “I updated [the website] everyday; I had my staff update from school. We just really put all our effort into this and we knew that we went into this with all that we got. We really love what we do.”  

Panossian and her adviser, Tracy Cena, say they owe the paper’s success to her staff and are ready to move forward on a better foot.

Mitsu Klos announced the Pacemaker finalists for in each category before introducing Frank LeMonte, the founder or the Student Press Law Center, which fights for the rights of student journalists. A bucket was passed around to the members of the audience and a total of over $1,000 was collected in donations.

Mitsu Klos then awarded the Pacemakers to the winners of each category.

Out of the 50 winners from the yearbook category, eight were from Texas. They are listed as follows:

The Lion, McKinney High School (McKinney)

The Vespa, Kealing Middle School (Austin)

Marksmen, St. Mark’s School of Texas (Dallas)

The Hawk, Pleasant Grove High School (Texarkana)

Hoofbeats, Burges High School (El Paso)

Touchstone, Stony Point High School (Round Rock)

The Lonestar, Vista Ridge High School (Cedar Park)

The Tribute, Heritage High School (Frisco)

The six magazine Pacemaker winners are as follows:

Inkblot, Kealing Middle School (Austin)

Vibrato, Hockaday School (Dallas)

Connotations, Fayetteville High Schools (Fayetteville, Ark.)

The Mark, Menlo Atherton High School (Atherton, Calif.)

The Talon, Woodberry Forest School (Woodberry Forest, Va.)

Out of the 30 Online Pacemaker winners, two were from Texas:

The Rider Online, Legacy High School (Mansfield, Texas)

Wingspan, Liberty High School (Frisco, Texas)

The ceremony came to a close with the winners for Best of Show announced for newspaper, magazine, online, broadcast and yearbook. The first place winners and subcategories for each of these are listed below:

Newspaper:

Junior High Newspaper- The Spectrum, Harvard-Westlake Middle School (Los Angeles)

Newspaper Special Edition- Featherduster, Westlake High School (Austin)

Newspaper Broadsheet 17 or More Pages- The Pinnacle, Summit High School (Bend, Ore.)

Newspaper Broadsheet 16 or Fewer Pages- The Hub, Davis Senior High School (Davis, Calif.)

Newspaper Tabloid 17 or More Pages- The Talisman, Ballard High School (Seattle)

Magazine:

Literary Magazine- The Rambler, Sierra Canyon School (Chatsworth, Calif.)
Newsmagazine- The Roar, Whitney High School (Rocklin, Calif.)

Broadcast:

Broadcast Program- Mustang Morning News- Mira Costa High School (Manhattan Beach, Calif.)

Online:

Website Large School- Bearing News, Rock Bridge Sr. High School (Columbia, Mo.)

Website Small School- The Echo, St. Louis Park High School (St. Louis Park, Minn.)

Yearbook:

Yearbook 232 or Fewer Pages- Rampages, Casa Roble High School (Orangevale, Calif.)

Yearbook 233-288 Pages- Details, Whitney High School (Rocklin, Calif.)

Yearbook 289-336 Pages- The Arena, Legacy High School (Mansfield, Texas)

Yearbook 337 or More Pages- Legend, Coronado High School (El Paso, Texas)