The National Scholastic Press Association and the Journalism Educators Association hosted their annual fall convention in Minneapolis this weekend. Kansas high school journalists accounted for many of the winners in both the NSPA carry-in contests and the JEA on-site competitions.

Andrew Goble and Kat Buchanan of Shawnee Mission East, won first place in the NSPA’s Story of the Year contest, for News Story and Editorial/Opinion, respectively. Aaron Groene, from Lawrence Free State, won first place in the NSPA Photo of the Year News Picture contest and Caitlin Daily of Shawnee Mission North took first in Sports Action Photo. Shawnee Mission East High School also won NSPA’s Pacemaker award for its news publication, The Harbinger. The Pacemaker is consider the

The two recipients of NSPA’s Best of Show award went to The Harbinger website from Shawnee Mission East and Shawnee Mission North’s yearbook, The Indian.

Nearly 10 percent of all JEA awards went to Kansas students — 66 of the 669 award winners in the carry-in contest come from 16 different Kansas schools.  Those

The rest of the NSPA carry in winners are listed below:

2011 NSPA Story of the Year Winners

News Story
First Place
Andrew Goble
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
The unknown face of cyberspace
http://smeharbinger.net/news/cyberbullying-is-school-problem

Sports Story
Second Place
Kirk Bado, Brady Klein
The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
Speed limit
View scanned PDF of story

Editorial/Opinion
First Place
Kat Buchanan
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
Time wasted
http://smeharbinger.net/opinion/junior-reflects-on-underage-drinking-2

Fourth Place
Kara David
The Spotlight, Blue Valley West HS, Overland Park, Kan.
A major dilemma
View scanned PDF of story

Diversity
Fifth Place
Reid Eggleston
The North Star, Blue Valley North HS, Overland Park, Kan.
Griffin fights through struggles, becomes stronger person
View scanned PDF of story

Honorable Mention
Rachel Ferencz
The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
8,424 miles
View scanned PDF of story

2011 NSPA Picture of the Year Winners

News Picture
First Place
Aaron Groene
The Talon, Free State HS, Lawrence, Kan.

Third Place
Lindsey Hartnett
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.

Fourth Place
Alyssa Johnson
Cub, Sterling HS, Sterling, Kan.

Feature Picture
Second Place
Danielle Norton
Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.

Sports Action
First Place
Caitlin Dailey
Indian, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Environmental Portrait
Fifth Place
Jake Riesberg
The Express, Blue Valley Northwest HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Honorable Mention
Andrea Zecy
Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.

Honorable Mention
Grant Heinlein
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.

2011 NSPA Design of the Year Winners

Yearbook Page/Spread
Honorable Mention
Kristin Enyart
Indian, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Magazine Page/Spread
Honorable Mention
Lisa Shofstall
Indian Lore, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Infographic
Second Place
Toni Aguiar
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.

Third Place
Brandon Morrison
The Mission, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Fourth Place
Mary McDermott
Play, Maize HS, Maize, Kan.

Honorable Mention
Tucker Love
Indian, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Illustration
Honorable Mention
Andrew Goble
The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.

2011 NSPA Broadcast Story of the Year Winners

Broadcast News
Fourth Place
Kersee Currier
Blueprints/Blue Valley Today, Blue Valley USD 229, Overland Park, Kan.
http://contests.schooltube.com/contests/showentry/794683

Broadcast Feature
Fourth Place
Kelsey Wolf, Kate Westberg
Husky Headlines, Blue Valley Northwest HS, Overland Park, Kan.
http://contests.schooltube.com/contests/showentry/785278

Honorable Mention
Grace McGrath, Sabirah Rayford
Blueprints/Blue Valley Today, Blue Valley USD 229, Overland Park, Kan.
http://contests.schooltube.com/contests/showentry/794674

Broadcast Sports
Honorable Mention
Kelsey Glowik, Connor O’Reilly
Husky Headlines, Blue Valley Northwest HS, Overland Park, Kan.
http://contests.schooltube.com/contests/showentry/785276

NSPA Best of Show Winners

Newspaper 8 or Fewer Pages

Pirates’ Log, Piper HS, Kansas City, Kan.
Brooke Grable, Halie Horn, editors
Cindy Horchem, adviser

The Booster Redux, Pittsburg HS, Pittsburg, Kan.
Zach Baden, Taylor Quick, editors
Emily Smith, adviser

Newspaper Special Edition

The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
Katherine Buchanan, Toni Aguiar, editors
C. Dow Tate, adviser

The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
Maria Davison, Stephanie Spicer, editors
Susan Massy, adviser

Newsmagazine

The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
Katherine Buchanan, Toni Aguiar, editors
C. Dow Tate, adviser

The Northwest Passage, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
Maria Davison, David Freyermuth, editors
Susan Massy, adviser

Literary Magazine

Red Feather, Maize HS, Maize, Kan.
Chelsea Ast, editor
Sherry Pfeifer, adviser

Yearbook 224 or Fewer Pages

Crusader, Kapaun Mount Carmel HS, Wichita, Kan.
Michael Huff, editor
Ashley Perkins, adviser

Echoes, Wichita HS East, Wichita, Kan.
Tyler Malter, Hannah Smith, editors
Sharon Martin, adviser

Yearbook 225-274 Pages

The JAG, Mill Valley HS, Shawnee, Kan.
Aleksandra Milewski, Miranda Wagner, editors
Kathy Hill Habiger, adviser

Chevalier, Topeka West HS, Topeka, Kan.
Spencer Gustin, Shelbi Markham, editors
Kristy Dekat, adviser

Publication Website

The Harbinger, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
http://www.smeharbinger.net
Duncan Maclachlan, Jeff Cole, Becca Brownlee, editors
C. Dow Tate, adviser

Yearbook 325 or More Pages

Indian, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan.
Alexis Reid, Annie Basham, editors
Becky Tate, adviser

Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan.
Hannah Walter, editor
Dow Tate, adviser

Lair, Shawnee Mission Northwest HS, Shawnee, Kan.
Lauren Minick, editor
Susan Massy, adviser

JEA On-Site Contest winners

Kansas student journalists also won a lot of the awards in the on-site contests at the conference. Out of the 669 entries in the various contests, Kansas students won narly 10 percent of all the awards and about 8 percent of the Superior rankings. (Superior is the top prize, followed by Excellent and Honorable Mention.) The winners are also from 16 different high schools ranging from 2A to 6A. The complete list of winners is below:

Amy DeVault and Derius Mammen are both honored in the Friends of Scholastic Journalism category. DeVault is an instructor of digital media in the Elliott School of Journalism at Wichita State University. Mammen is a former representative for Jostens Publishing in Salina as well as a member of the KSPA Hall of Fame.

NSPA received 325 entries in the Pacemaker contest. Newspapers were judged on the following criteria: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, layout and design and photography, art and graphics.

The Guidon of Hays High School is a finalist in the 9-16 pages category.

Shawnee Mission East‘s Harbinger is a finalist in the 17 or more pages category.

Andover High School‘s Trojan Bluestreak is a finalist in the newsmagazine category.

6 Kansas journalists are finalists or won honorable mentions in the Story of the Year competition.

Andrew Goble, a graduate of Shawnee Mission East, is one of the top five finalists in the news category because of his piece titled The unknown face of cyberspace. Kat Buchanan, also of Shawnee Mission East, is a finalist in Editorial/Opinion for her piece titled Time Wasted.

Kirk Bado and Brady Klein of Shawnee Mission Northwest are finalists in the Sports Story category. Rachel Ferencz from Shawnee Mission Northwest won an honorable mention in the Diversity category.

Kara David of Blue Valley West is a finalist in the Editorial and Opionion category for a column she wrote titled A Major Dilemma.

Reid Eggleston from Blue Valley North is honored as a finalist in the Diversity category.

4 projects from Kansas journalists received awards in the Broadcast of the Year competition.

BVTV is a finalist in the broadcast news category, and an honorable mention in the broadcast feature category. Blue Valley Northwest’s broadcast program, Husky Headlines, is a finalist in the broadcast feature category and honorable mention in broadcast sports.

7 design entries from high school journalists in Kansas received awards in the Design of the Year competition.

Kristin Enyart of Shawnee Mission North is an honorable mention for Yearbook Page/Spread. Lisa Shofstall, also of SMN is an honorable mention in Magazine Page/Spread.

Four 0f the 10 awards for the infographic category are from KSPA member schools.  Mary McDermott from Maize High School, Toni Aguiar from Shawnee Mission East and Brandon Morrison of Shawnee Mission North are 3 of the 5 finalists for infographics. Tucker Love of Shawnee Mission North received honorable mention.

Andrew Goble of Shawnee Mission East won honorable mention in the category of Illustration.

In the Picture of the Year contest, 7 winning entries are the work of Kansas journalists.

Aaron Groene of Free State High School, Lindsey Hartnett of Shawnee Mission East and Alyssa Johnson of Sterling High School are finalists in the news photo category.

Danielle Norton of Shawnee Mission East is a finalist in the feature picture category.

Caitlin Dailey of Shawnee Mission North is a finalist for sports action photo

Jake Riesberg of Blue Valley Northwest is a finalist in environmental portrait and Grant Heinlein and Andrea Zecy of Shawnee Mission East are honorable mentions.

NSPA received 817 entries across all 6 categories (News, Feature, Editorial, Sports, Diversity and Multimedia Package). The five finalists in each category will be ranked first through fifth place at the JEA/NSPA convention in Minneapolis Nov. 19.

To read all the stories and see the complete list of winners, visit the NSPA site.

KSPA members who wish to help out but can’t play may volunteer to help out with registration, selling “Mulligans” or any number of chores around the course. KSPA members may also forward the registration and sponsorship forms to local business owners (particularly media company owners) who could sponsor teams.

All players, sponsors and volunteers are invited to the awards dinner at the Alvamar Clubhouse after the tournament. If you are interested in sponsoring a team or golfing in the tournament, download the registration form and return it to KSPA by June 30, 2011 JULY 6 AT 5 PM, along with your tax-deductible donation. Potential volunteers may call Jeff Browne at 785-864-7625 or email jeffbrowne@ku.edu.

Here are some other features of the tournament:

• 12:30 p.m. registration
• 1:30 p.m. shotgun start
• $90 per individual/$320 per foursome
• Awards dinner at Alvamar County Club Clubhouse

The Kansas Scholastic Press Association in 2004 joined with the Douglas County Community Foundation to create the Jackie Engel Endowment Fund, which will be used for student and teacher scholarships, and continued teacher training. It was named in honor of Jackie Engel, the long-time KSPA Executive Secretary. Jackie died in 2005.

The Endowment is used to cover KSPA’s two awards that honor top advisers in the state, the Ad Astra Award and the Sunflower Award. In 2012, the Endowment will also be used to cover the awards for the High School Journalist of the Year competition. The state winner will be awarded $1,250 and two runners-up will earn $750 each.

News Publications

1A

• The Western Plains Cat Tracks from Western Plains High School

2A

• The Eagle Insider of Canton-Galva High School

3A

• The Oracle of Hillsboro High School

4A

• The Pow Wow of Bonner Springs High School
• The Reporter of Paola High School
• The Pirates’ Log of Piper High School
• The Comet of Chanute High School
• The Dickinsonian of Chapman High School

5A

• The Flyer of Bishop Carroll High School
• The Tiger Print of Blue Valley High School
• The Newtonian of Newton High School
• The Trojan Bluestreak of Andover High School
• The JagWire of Mill Valley High School

6A

• The Harbinger of Shawnee Mission East High School
• The Express of Blue Valley Northwest High School
• The Northwest Passage of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Video News

5A

• MVTV of Mill Valley High School

Website

6A

• Shawnee Mission East High School (smeharbinger.net)

Morgan is this year’s recipient of Jackie Engel Award, sponsored by the Kansas Associated Collegiate Press and named in honor of Jackie Engel, a former journalism teacher at McPherson High School.  Engel devoted more than two decades to teaching journalism.  She and her students brought national recognition to Kansas high-school journalism.

The award was created to honor the best high school journalism teacher in Kansas.

Morgan has advised the student news magazine, The Epic, and the school’s yearbook, Saga, for the last 13 years.  She also co-advises the website. She was chosen because of her staunch defense of the First Amendment and the commitment she has made to her students and to several journalism organizations, including the Journalism Educators of Metro Kansas City and the Kansas Scholastic Press Association.

Morgan was the co-chairperson of the National Scholastic Press Association fall conference held in Kansas City last fall, and she was named a Journalism Education Association Master Journalism Educator in 2006.

The contest judge wrote of Morgan, “The letters of recommendation for students and colleagues alike reflect a wide variety of experiences with Ms. Morgan, but all bear a common thread: she is a talented, knowledgeable and effective teacher who inspires a passion for journalism in others.”

Morgan will be honored at two ceremonies. The first was at the KACP spring conference April 18 in Hutchinson. The second will be at the KSPA’s state conference May 7 in Lawrence.

Engel was the first recipient of the award in 1990. The complete list of winners includes:

• 1990 – Jackie Engel, McPherson High School
• 1991 – Shirley Gabrielson, Wichita South High School
• 1992 – Gaye Coburn, Wichita North High School
• 1993 – Mary Ann (Siefkes) McCloud, Newton High School
• 1994 – Carol Dreiling, McPherson High School
• 1995 – Celia McDuff, Wichita Northwest High School
• 1996 – Cindy Moore, Dodge City High School
• 1997 – Susan Massy, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
• 1998 – Phyllis Wipf, Maize High School
• 1999 – Linda Drake, Chase County
• 2000 – June DeWeese, Chapman
• 2001 – Becky Lucas, Shawnee Mission North High School
• 2002 – Debra Feil, Lucas Luray
• 2003 – Dot Stegman, Kapaun Mt. Carmel
• 2004 – Barbara Padget, Topeka High School
• 2005 – Allen Wilhite, Humboldt High School
• 2006 – Cheryl Nelsen, Lawrence Free State High School
• 2007 – C. Dow Tate, Shawnee Mission East High School
• 2008 – Kollen Long, Bishop Carroll Catholic High School
• 2009 – Sharon Martin, Wichita High School East
• 2010 – Kathy Hill Habiger, Mill Valley High School
• 2011 – Amy Morgan, Shawnee Mission West High School

Maxwell has been editor in chief of The Lion’s Roar newspaper for the past two years, during which time the paper has received both a national Best in Show at the spring 2010 NSPA convention and a 2010 Pacemaker award at the fall 2010 NSPA convention. The Pacemaker is considered the Pulitzer Prize of high school journalism. Further, Maxwell has won awards at both the state and national level for his reporting, his illustrations and his broadcast work.

Judges noted not only Maxwell’s excellence in reporting and design, but also his courage in reporting controversial stories that stirred the Goddard community to act.

Maxwell will receive a $1,250 award from the Kansas Scholastic Press Association for this honor, and his JOY portfolio has been forwarded to the Journalism Education Association, where it will be entered in the national JEA High School Journalist of the Year competition. Maxwell is eligible for up to $5,000 at the national level. The national winner and runners-up will be announced at the annual JEA/NSPA convention in Anaheim, April 14-17.

Kansas runners-up Logan Heley and Andrew Goble, both of Shawnee Mission East, were cited by judges as strong journalists with impressive portfolios.

Riley Mortensen of Bonner Springs High School earned the Class 3A/4A Journalist of the Year award. In addition to serving as the editor of the Pow Wow, Bonner Springs’ High School newspaper, Mortensen has contributed photographs to the Wyandotte Daily News and written stories for a professional website, The Birdhouse Project. Mortensen will receive $750 from KSPA as her award.

Halee Thompson of Phillipsburg High School earned runner-up honors in Class 3A/4A.

There were no entries from students at 1A/2A schools.

KSPA members who wish to help out but can’t play may volunteer to help out with registration, selling “Mulligans” or any number of chores around the course. KSPA members may also forward the registration and sponsorship forms to local business owners (particularly media company owners) who could sponsor teams.

All players, sponsors and volunteers are invited to the awards dinner at the Alvamar Clubhouse after the tournament. If you are interested in sponsoring a team or golfing in the tournament, download the registration form and return it to KSPA by May 14, 2011, along with your tax-deductible donation. Potential volunteers may call Jeff Browne at 785-864-7625.

Here are some other features of the tournament:

• Noon registration
• 1 p.m. shotgun start
• $90 per individual/$320 per foursome
• Awards dinner at Alvamar County Club Clubhouse

The Kansas Scholastic Press Association in 2004 joined with the Douglas County Community Foundation to create the Jackie Engel Endowment Fund, which will be used for student and teacher scholarships, and continued teacher training. It was named in honor of Jackie Engel, the long-time KSPA Executive Secretary. Jackie died in 2005.

In 2012, the Endowment for the first time will be used to cover the awards for the High School Journalist of the Year competition. The state winner will be awarded $1,250 and two runners-up will earn $750 each. The Endowment also hopes to raise enough money to cover continuing education opportunities for beginning and mid-career advisers who want to improve their teaching and journalism skills.

They’ll be eligible to win up to $1,250 at the state level and up to $5,000 in the national competition sponsored by the Journalism Education Association.

The deadline is Feb. 15, 2011, and schools are limited to no more than two student applications.

To download the application forms (there’s one for KSPA and one for JEA) and view requirements for the portfolio, go to the proper page on this site.

The competition begins at the state level, where the KSPA Journalist of the Year Committee (comprised of journalism educators from Wichita State University, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas) selects state winners by classification and then chooses the state’s overall winner. That person’s portfolio is forwarded to the national competition.

This year’s scholarship prize money will be awarded thusly:

• $750 for Class 1A/2A Journalist of the Year
• $750 for Class 3A/4A Journalist of the Year
• $750 for Class 5A/6A Journalist of the Year
• An additional $500 for overall winner, the Kansas High School Journalist of the Year

Last year’s Kansas JOY, Tim Shedor from Shawnee Mission East High School, earned runner-up honors from the JEA, and won an additional $2,000 in that competition.

The national winner of the $5,000 scholarship, Ina Herlihy of San Francisco, Calif., has posted excerpts from her portfolio online for entrants to peruse and to use as a model for their own portfolios.

To qualify for the scholarships, the student must be a high school senior, have at least a 3.0 GPA, have been involved in high school journalism for at least two years, been a state winner, submitted a portfolio and be a student of a JEA member adviser.

Keep in mind that the selection committees not only appreciate great journalism, they look for an organized portfolio, one that clearly highlights the student journalist’s top work.

Completed portfolios should be sent by Feb. 15, 2011, to KSPA headquarters:

• Journalist of the Year
• c/o Jeff Browne, KSPA
• 1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
• University of Kansas
• Lawrence, Kansas 66045

If you  have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Susan Massy, JEA state director at susanmassy@smsd.org.