The judges noted Kohn’s facile writing style and commended her for writing about more than just her personal experience. Kohn “takes the personal experience beyond herself and serves a dual purpose so rare among high school columnists: she covers news and provides commentary in one heartfelt package.”

Judges (all from the University of Kansas School of Journalism) noted the overall strength of the 10 entries, saying it was the best overall group of entries it had seen all year.

In addition to Kohn’s story, here are the top columns:

• “Rise and Demise” by David Catt of Shawnee Mission Northwest, Best Sports Column;
• “A Heart for Sports” by Brittany Neigenfind of Maize HS, Best Personal Snapshot Column;
• “Dealing with a disability” by Matt Gannon, Shawnee Mission East, Best Personal Experience Column;
• “you DON’T have to . . . ” by Alex Burnett, Shawnee Mission West, Best Social Commentary.

The next Story of the Month contest is for Newspaper or News Magazine Design and the postmark deadline for entries is March 31.

Shedor is the co-editor-in-chief of East’s award-winning newspaper, The Harbinger.

“I do journalism because I have not found a class that can teach me, reprimand me, and correct me as quickly as journalism can,” Shedor wrote in the essay that accompanied his voluminous JOY application.

Shedor has been on the Harbinger staff since his sophomore year, when he first caught adviser Dow Tate’s attention.

Over the last three years, Shedor has developed into “a strong focused leader of the 42-person (Harbinger) staff,” Tate wrote in his letter of recommendation.

Shedor will be recognized at the KSPA State Contest on May 1 in Lawrence, where he will be awarded a $1,000 check.

The second- and third-place winners will also be recognized at the State Contest.

Nikki Wentling from McPherson High School will accept the $500 prize that comes with second place, and Phoebe Unterman from Shawnee Mission East will accept the $250 that comes with third place.

Wentling is the editor-in-chief of the High Life, McPherson’s paper, which she joined three years ago as a freshman.

She has persevered through a difficult senior year during which the High Life made national news, and the paper changed advisers mid-year.

She summed up her year: “These three months have given me lasting bonds of friendship with those who stuck with me, a new outlook on journalism and life, and the three best months of my journalistic career so far. Receiving this award would be a tremendous honor, but those moments are more important to me than any award I could receive.”

McPherson Principal Bret McClendon said he will miss Wentling’s leadership next year.

“Nikki’s someone I can lean on, ask questions of and learn from,” McClendon said after learning of Wentling’s award. “I am very proud of her.”

East’s Unterman shares editor-in-chief duties with Shedor, and she has been on The Harbinger staff for three years.

In her essay, Unterman took pride in her role as a storyteller, and she wrote that she hopes to pursue a career in investigative journalism.

Unterman’s portfolio included numerous examples of her storytelling ability, but also featured her work as a multimedia journalist, particularly in helping build a strong Web presence for The Harbinger.

Adviser Tate noted Unterman’s creativity and leadership skills in his letter of support.

The KSPA High School Journalist of the Year selection committee consisted of faculty from the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Wichita State University.

Shedor’s portfolio will be forwarded to the national Journalism Education Association Journalist of the Year committee, and he will be eligible to win $5,000 as the national winner. Shawnee Mission East boasts two national winners in the last five years: Amanda Allison in 2007 and Libby Nelson in 2005.

Megan Reilly of Shawnee Mission North won KSPA’s February Photo of the Month contest for her beautifully stark and poignant photograph of a Naval Junior ROTC student undergoing inspection. The strong composition, the perfect cropping and the story being told by the photo’s contrast — the statue-still soldier and her animated inspector in the background — captured the attention of judges from the University of Kansas’ William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The winners in the February competition, which drew 15 entries:

• Best in Show: Megan Reilly, Shawnee Mission North
• Best Academics/News (tie): Caitlin Massy, Shawnee Mission Northwest
• Best Academics/News (tie) Emma Mosier, Blue Valley
• Best Feature: Tanner Treiber, Topeka High School
• Best Student Life: Jenna Anderson, Mill Valley
• Best Sports Photo: Stevi Bell, Maize High School

Congratulations to all the entrants, and especially to the winners.

Jack Hochman served as editor of the book, and Linda Barber is the adviser at South.

South’s digital yearbook is an addition to the regular yearbook, the Heritage, and featured new content that wasn’t part of the regular book.

“Jack really did a marvelous job,” Barber said. “He did it all in kind of a news broadcast style, only more interesting.”

The digital yearbook featured more live interviews, Barber said, and it was completely student-produced.

NSPA will announce Pacemaker winners at its convention in Portland, Saturday, April 17.

This is the second consecutive year South has earned Pacemaker finalist distinction, and Hochman and staff currently are working on the 2010 book, both in print and on DVD.

No stand-alone finalists

NSPA Contest Coordinator Kathy Huting said all eight national digital yearbooks finalists were distributed with traditional print yearbooks, although a category now exists for “stand-alone” DVDs.

A quick check of the forecast for regional contests, however, appears to give us all a break around Kansas, and clear sailing to your regional.

• Pittsburg: Clear Wednesday night, with a low of 22 on Thursday morning, and highs reaching 41 Thursday afternoon with 20 percent chance of precipitation for your ride home.
• Wichita: Clear Wednesday night, with a low of 26 on Thursday morning, and highs reaching 47 Thursday with 20 percent chance of precipitation for your ride home.
• Emporia: Clear Wednesday night, with a low of 19 on Thursday morning, and highs reaching 39 Thursday with 20 percent chance of precipitation for your ride home.
• Manhattan: Clear Wednesday night, with a low of 16 on Thursday morning, and highs reaching 37 Thursday with 20 percent chance of precipitation for your ride home.
• Hays: Clear Wednesday night, with a low of 20 on Thursday morning, and highs reaching 41 Thursday with 10 percent chance of precipitation for your ride home.
• Lawrence: Clear Thursday night, with a low of 24 on Thursday morning, and highs reaching 36 Friday with 30 percent chance of light snow for your ride home.

Sounds good, but keep abreast of any and all changes.

KSPA Regional and State snow policy: The decision to hold the contest during inclement weather is up to the discretion of the contest director at each site. It is then left to the discretion of each individual school’s district to determine whether it is sufficiently safe for the students to travel to the contest. The KSPA executive board has instituted a NO REFUND policy if the contest is held, but the individual school is unable to attend. It is necessary to do this because our costs are still incurred if the regional is held.

The person nominating an administrator must provide specific examples of how the nominee fits five different categories: Support for Freedom of Press, Finanical Support of Student Media, Journalism’s Place in Curriculum, Encouragement of Academic and Professional Growth, and Personal Support and Encouragement.

Nominations must be postmarked by March 12, 2010 and sent to:

Jeff Browne, Executive Director Kansas Scholastic Press Association

Stauffer-Flint Hall University of Kansas

1435 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence, KS 66045

To download the nomination form and view all details for nomination, you can click on the Awards page at the top of this site, or you can click on Administrator of the Year under Links.

Jeff Browne
Executive Director
Phone: 785-864-7625
jeffbrowne@ku.edu

The teacher must have at least 10 years experience in the field and be involved in KSPA in some way.

To nominate an educator, multiple one-page nomination letters must be sent by March 12, 2010 to:

Jeff Browne, KSPA Executive Director
Stauffer-Flint Hall
University of Kansas
1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 66045

To view the list of full criteria and past inductees into the Hall of Fame, visit the KSPA website.

Submission must include a CD with the design as a digital file (.jpg or .tif) and an explanation of what type of T-shirt fabric, color and two ink colors the designer prefers. The design must have journalistic themes and must say that it is for the 2010 KSPA State Journalism Contest and may not use copyrighted images. There is a limit of three submissions per school and designs do not have to have been created by a journalist, any high school student can submit designs.

Entries must be postmarked by March 12, 2o10 and sent to:

T-Shirt Design Contest
Kansas Scholastic Press Assn.
Stauffer-Flint Hall
1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 66045

To view the full list of requirements visit the KSPA website and click on State T-shirt Design Contest under Links.

More than 40 students from 15 schools converged on Topeka on a cold Kansas morning, and they spent the day in pursuit of a story about an issue facing the state legislature in its 2010 session, an issue specifically dealing with K-12 education. In the midst of the ongoing recession, all schools focused on K-12 funding.

Fourteen of the 15 schools submitted written stories, and four other schools turned in video news stories after the event. Judges from the University of Kansas School of Journalism honored the following schools:

Class 1A to 4A: Humboldt High School; story written by Alexis Hosack and Valerie Weilert.
Class 5A and 6A: Mill Valley High School; story written by Sarah Darby and Sarah Fulton.
Video Story (above): Blue Valley High School; story produced by Matt Hamblin and Josh Montague.

Each of the winning entries will split a $50 prize offered by the Kansas Families for Education Foundation, which also provided six KSPA member schools with travel stipends.