Recognition

Best of School Newspapers Online:

School Newspapers Online (also known as SNO) is the platform that the McHenry Messenger uses to publish its online newspaper. They acknowledge the best stories being published on the SNO Sites network by labelling it as “Best of SNO” and republishing it on their website. The following articles have earned such designation this year:

“She’s not your perfect Mexican daughter” by Vanessa Moreno

“Cut it out” by Grace Hunt

“At the center of ‘the drug triangle'” by Vanessa Moreno

“The fight for survival” by Eli Frommes

“A child’s wish” by Rayaan Ahmed, Kyra Henry, and Apryl Hanneman

Illinois Women’s Press Associations’s 2023 High School Communications Contest

Started in 1885, the IWPA is an organization of communications professionals whose objective is to maintain and improve the professional standards of members in mass communications in Illinois, to promote their interest, and to provide for the sharing of ideas and information. First place winners of their annual contest go on to compete in the National Federation of Press Women’s High School Communications Contest.

“At the center of ‘the drug triangle'” by Vanessa Moreno (first place, Feature Story)

“Fact or fiction?” by Alayna Majkrzak (third place in Feature Story)

“The fight for survival” by Eli Frommes (honorable mention, Feature Story)

“An honor” by Nikki Sisson (honorable mention, Feature Story)

“Opinion: The United States needs stricter gun control laws” by Nikki Sisson (honorable mention, Opinion Story)

“Game time” from “Gallery: First football game of the season” by Mackenzie Sroka (second place, Sports Photo)

“SUPERINTENDENT MCTAGUE TAKES ON SOUR | Sour with Cooper Ten Bruin” by Cooper Ten Bruin (third place, Radio / Television Interview or Talk Show)

“Riding the Momentum” by Madison Harvey (second place, Video Sports Story)

“WSM Travels to Washington DC with Honor Flight” by Cooper Ten Bruin and Rayaan Ahmed (third place, Video Feature Story)

“Day in the Life of a Preschool Lab Teacher” by Madison Harvey (honorable mention, Video Feature Story)

NSPA Clips & Clicks

Open to all National Scholastic Press Association members, Clips & Clicks offers multiple categories for student achievement in broadcast, design, photojournalism and writing. With a name that merges historic clips contests for print publications with current digital clicks, the competition is offered per semester. The following articles have earned such designation this year:

“Fact or fiction?” by Alayna Majkrzak (honorable mention in Feature Story)

IJEA Fall Journalism Conference Write-Off Competition

Each year, the Illinois Journalism Education Association hosts a write-off competition during their Fall Journalism Conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This year, students focused their writing on Chicago Sun-Times columnist and Roosevelt University Professor John Fountain, the conference’s keynote speaker. Students were allowed to compete in one of three categories: News Writing, Feature Writing or Editorial Writing. The following students placed in the competition:

Vanessa Moreno (first in News Writing)

Kennedy Tetour (first in Feature Writing)

Freedom Tomasello (first in Editorial Writing)

DePaul’s Blue Book: Best American High School Writing

DePaul’s Blue Book: Best American High School Writing is an annual anthology featuring the best writing from high school students from across the United States. The collection is both a digital and print anthology edited by professors from DePaul University alongside graduate student editors in DePaul’s English, Journalism, and Writing, Rhetoric & Discourse departments. This year, the following students received honors from this publication:

“At the center of ‘the drug triangle’” by Vanessa Moreno

“This is fine” by Vanessa Moreno (finalist)

“Opinion: Choose safety over comfort” by Lydia Lawrence (finalist)