Kansas Scholastic Press Association

All-Kansas Write Offs now available

clairem — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:30:45 +0000

The KSPA and Kansas Professional Communicators (KPC) present the All-Kansas Write Off contest. This contest is an opportunity for students journalists to submit published work from the last year for critique and the chance to be qualified as an All-Kansas winner. Some submissions will also be forwarded to the national write-off contest.

All entries must be postmarked on or before Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, and mailed to All-Kansas
Write-Off, c/o Gwen Larson, 2369 Road J5, Americus KS 66835.

Address questions to Gwen Larson at the address above, (620) 443-5052 (home) or (620) 341-
5454 (work) or e-mail to gazettegl@yahoo.com.

Below is the letter from Gwen Larson and details of the contest:

Adviser letter

Contest details

Nineteen All-Kansas Yearbook winners announced

clairem — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:33:30 +0000

Nineteen 2011 yearbooks earned All-Kansas distinction in the annual critique service and contest. Judges from around the country judged the books and are thrilled with the improvements on the books from last year to this year. The winners are listed below in order of class and click on the Google map to see the location of all the winning schools.

Middle School

Maize South Middle School

Chase County

St. Francis

Phillipsburg

Rock Creek

Sterling

Buhler

Chapman

Ottawa

Russell

Paola

Kapaun Mt. Carmel

Mill Valley High School

Newton High School

Shawnee Mission Northwest

Blue Valley Northwest

Shawnee Mission East

Shawnee Mission West

Shawnee Mission North

For a map of the distribution of winners across the state, click here.

New weather policy has best interests of student journalists in mind

Jeff Browne — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:00:45 +0000

By Jill Chittum, KSPA President

After years of kicking around the idea, and multiple meetings where member concerns dealing with the regional contest weather policy were addressed, the KSPA executive board passed a new inclement weather policy following its December meeting in Wichita.

The goal of the new policy (which you can find on the regional contest page of this site) is to make it possible for students to compete in regionals even if inclement weather forces cancellation of school or travel plans. While many schools may see this as great news (namely those who have been forced to sit out of regional and state contests because of this very issue), some of you will look at the policy and see the “bad news” in the fact that the policy will necessitate delayed judging of all regionals entries.

For years, we’ve all been fortunate enough (generally, at most contest sites) to have results in hand by late afternoon on the date of contest. In the past, the speed of results is what kept schools out of competition if they could not travel. There simply wasn’t the time or technology to easily get entries to the contest site to be judged all at once.

Taking into account the concerns of our membership, the board decided that trying a new policy that would allow all students to compete, even if we had to wait a little while for results would be worth it for the general membership.

The biggest question that we bounced around throughout the process is whether or not judging would be delayed even if there was no bad weather. Unfortunately, this is the case. It’s just not feasible or fair to ask the contest site coordinators to try to schedule judges for two different days, on a weather-contingent basis. Other than when the judging occurs, there will not be any other changes to the judging process. Board members felt it was important to continue our system of teams of judges looking at each entry and declaring winners and placers. We are committed to that.

Please take a few minutes to look over the new policy, and let the board know if you have questions or comments. We are here for you, and my goal, as president of the organization, is that we work for you.

November Design of the Month winners announced

clairem — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:20:39 +0000

Below are the winners in the November design of the month contest. The next monthly contest will take place in January.

Yearbook

1st Place: Callie Byrnes, Shawnee Mission North
2nd Place: Justine King, Anna Weaver, Tiffany Nguyen, Taylor Axtell, Maize High School
3rd Place: Justine King, Alex Morris, Sarah Yoder, Maize High School

Newsmagazine

1st Place: Caleb Amundson, Shawnee Mission Northwest
2nd Place: Bailey Kopp, Shawnee Mission Northwest
3rd Place: Sara Naatz, Blue Valley High School

November Photo of the Month winners announced

clairem — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:15:41 +0000

Below is the list of winners in the November photo of the month contest. The next monthly contest will take place in January.

Academics

1st Place: Cassie Holt, Holton High School
2nd Place: Bailey Kopp, Shawnee Mission Northwest
2nd Place: Alex Scimecca, Blue Valley North

Photo Illustration

1st Place: Courtney Gage, Blue Valley Northwest
2nd Place: Lenna Younes, Blue Valley West

Sports

1st Place: Evelyn Davis, Blue Valley High School
2nd Place: Kate Jacobsen, Shawnee Mission Northwest
3rd Place: Kayla Heenan, Blue Valley Northwest

Student Life

1st Place: Diane Calderon, Shawnee Mission North
2nd Place: McKayla Crouss, Washington High School
3rd Place: Anna Varriano, Blue Valley High School

Profile/Portrait

1st Place: Brandon Smith, Pittsburg High School
2nd Place: Raymo’n Doriety, Washington High School
3rd Place: Brittany Collins, Maize High School

November Story of the Month winners announced

clairem — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:07:35 +0000

Below are the winners for the November monthly contests. The next monthly contest will be in January.

Feature Story

1st Place: Bethanne Elliott, Pittsburg High School
1st Place: Vanessa Daves, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place: Linley Sanders, Blue Valley Northwest
2nd Place: Paige Wiley, Blue Valley Northwest
3rd Place: Katherine Byrket, Blue Valley West

Yearbook Writing

1st Place: Mallory Bodker, Blue Valley North

Sports Writing

1st Place: Logan Coffman, Shawnee Mission Northwest
1st Place: Eric Zoellner, Shawnee Mission Northwest
2nd Place: Jacob Tanking, Holton High School
3rd Place: Olga Deckman, Blue Valley North

Opinion Writing

1st Place: Emily Kerr, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place: Michelle Brox, Blue Valley West
3rd Place: Lauren Pino, Blue Valley West

News Writing

1st Place: Jack Howland, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place: Maria Davison, Shawnee Mission Northwest
3rd Place: Gabby Gasser, Blue Valley Northwest
3rd Place: Hailey McEntee, Blue Valley High School
3rd Place: Meghan Ketchum, Blue Valley West

Video News

1st Place: Miranda Shyder, Mill Valley High School

Kansas reaps awards at JEA/NSPA convention

clairem — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:59:49 +0000

By Claire McInerny

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:

Contest Category	Rating	Full Name	School Name	State
Newswriting	Superior	Sarah Darby	Mill Valley High School	KS
Newswriting	Honorable Mention	Katherine Hartley	Andover High School	KS
Newswriting	Honorable Mention	Michaela Wagner	Pittsburg High School	KS
Newswriting	Honorable Mention	Erin Feller	Shawnee Mission West High School	KS
Editorial Writing	Honorable Mention	Chad Hamman	Andover High School	KS
Feature Writing	Superior	Alyssa Scott	Kapaun Mt Carmel High School	KS
Feature Writing	Superior	Jill Applegate	Mill Valley High School	KS
Feature Writing	Excellent	Reid Eggleston	Blue Valley North High School	KS
Feature Writing	Honorable Mention	Brooke Grable	Piper High School	KS
Feature Writing	Honorable Mention	Haris Vrahliotis	Wichita East High School	KS
Feature Writing	Honorable Mention	Ellie Stewart	Blue Valley Southwest High School	KS
Sports Writing	Honorable Mention	Chris Jones	Andover High School	KS
Sports Writing	Honorable Mention	Tess Hart	Olathe South High School	KS
Sports Writing	Honorable Mention	Alana Flinn	Mill Valley High School	KS
Sports Writing	Honorable Mention	Aryn McKee	Wichita East High School	KS
Review Writing	Honorable Mention	Henry Hook	Andover High School	KS
Review Writing	Honorable Mention	Royan Black	Blue Valley Southwest High School	KS
Editorial Cartooning	Honorable Mention	Samuel Lee	Andover High School	KS
Commentary Writing	Superior	Trina Bhattarai	Andover High School	KS
Commentary Writing	Excellent	Tom Lynch	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
Commentary Writing	Honorable Mention	Hayden Parks	Pittsburg High School	KS
Commentary Writing	Honorable Mention	Chelsea Butler	Olathe South High School	KS
Commentary Writing	Honorable Mention	Katie Linsey	Mill Valley High School	KS
News Editing / Headline	Honorable Mention	Hallie Wilson	Wichita East High School	KS
Newspaper: Layout	Honorable Mention	Alexandra English	Piper High School	KS
Newsmagazine: Layout	Superior	Toni Aguiar	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
Newsmagazine: Layout	Excellent	Mary McDermott	Maize High School	KS
Newsmagazine: Layout	Excellent	Maegan Kabel	Blue Valley High School	KS
Advertising	Excellent	Sara Naatz	Blue Valley High School	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Sports	Excellent	Darby Grace	Derby High School	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Sports	Honorable Mention	Infinity Butcher	Pittsburg High School	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Sports	Honorable Mention	Lupe Fraire	Wichita East High School	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Sports	Honorable Mention	Caleb Hendricks	Sterling High School	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Academics	Superior	Helena Buchmann	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Academics	Excellent	Katherine Beck	Mill Valley High School	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Academics	Honorable Mention	Emily Commons	Pittsburg High School	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Clubs	Excellent	Raelee Wright	Shawnee Mission Northwest HS	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Student Life	Excellent	Katie Marolf	Shawnee Mission Northwest HS	KS
YB Copy/Caption: Student Life	Excellent	Maggie Dugan	Kapaun Mt Carmel High School	KS
YB Layout: Inside Pages	Superior	Rachel Mills	Mill Valley High School	KS
YB Cover/Endsheets	Excellent	Kristen Enyart	Shawnee Mission North High School	KS
Computer Design: Infographics	Honorable Mention	Austin Gillespie	Mill Valley High School	KS
Computer Design: Advertising	Excellent	Marisa Wilbert	Derby High School	KS
Computer Design: Art Ill.	Honorable Mention	Caitlin Armstrong	Piper High School	KS
Yearbook Sports Photography	Excellent	Austin Becker	Mill Valley High School	KS
Yearbook Sports Photography	Honorable Mention	Kristen Mahood	Blue Valley North High School	KS
Newspaper Sports Photography	Superior	Jake Crandall	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
Newspaper Sports Photography	Honorable Mention	Hannah Overman	Blue Valley North High School	KS
YB Student Life Photography	Honorable Mention	Natalie Pasley	Shawnee Mission North High School	KS
NP News/Feature Photography	Honorable Mention	brendan Dulohery	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
NP News/Feature Photography	Honorable Mention	Molly Kruse	Blue Valley North High School	KS
NP News/Feature Photography	Honorable Mention	Kristina Milewski	Mill Valley High School	KS
Photo Story	Superior	Alaina Gustafson	Derby High School	KS
Photo Story	Excellent	Carly Granato	Mill Valley High School	KS
Photo Story	Honorable Mention	Alex Morris	Maize High School	KS
Photography Portfolio	Honorable Mention	Brandon Smith	Pittsburg High School	KS
Photo Portrait	Superior	Kendall Cloninger	Derby High School	KS
Photo Portrait	Excellent	Grant Kendall	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
Photo Portrait	Excellent	Lexie Park	Blue Valley North High School	KS
On-Air Reporter	Honorable Mention	Evan Watson	Blue Valley North High School	KS
Podcast	Honorable Mention	Emily Donovan	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
Online News Package	Excellent	Duncan Machlachlan	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
Online News Package	Excellent	Andrew Beasley	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
Online News Package	Excellent	Becca Brownlee	Shawnee Mission East High School	KS
Online News Package	Honorable Mention	Logan Rink	Pittsburg High School	KS
Online News Package	Honorable Mention	Mariah Laman	Pittsburg High School	KS

Kansas reaps awards at JEA/NSPA convention

clairem — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:57:53 +0000