An independent day school serving grades K-12 | St. Paul, MN

SPA student-journalists and publications win national awards, including a Pacemaker Award for Iris: Art + Lit

SPA student-journalists and publications win national awards, including a Pacemaker Award for Iris: Art + Lit

This year’s National High School Journalism Spring Convention, sponsored by the Journalism Educators of American and the National Student Press Association, is now underway virtually. In addition to breakout sessions for student-journalists across a wide range of channels (newspaper, online, magazine, broadcast, and yearbook) the JEA/NSPA Convention also features a slate of national awards for whole publications and individual student journalists. This past weekend, SPA students and publications were recipients of the following JEA/NSPA national awards:

  • Iris: Art + Lit, SPA’s arts magazine, won a NSPA Pacemaker Award, one of only eight art and literature magazines nationally to be so honored. This is the second year Iris has won a Pacemaker Award, which is known as “the Pulitzer Prize” of student journalism. Iris was also the recipient of two “Best in Show” Awards: a first-place award in Magazine Design for Maya Coates Cush ‘23 (photography), Bev O'Malley ‘23 (poetry) and Maren Ostrem ‘21 (page design); and a second-place overall Best in Show award in the Literary Arts Magazine category.
  • Photojournalist and political commentator Nikolas Liepins ’21 was awarded a Superior Award in the Photo category for his photo story on the Twin Cities in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd and the current Derek Chauvin trial. Liepins’ award was part of the National Student Media Contest program, in which students from across the country and internationally compete individually for awards in categories including photo, broadcast, graphic design, literary magazine, design, and writing. Liepins was one of only 38 students honored with the “Superior” ranking, the highest award, out of 438 entries. 
  • Ibid Associate Editor in Chief Leona Barocas ’23 earned an Honorable Mention Award in the National Student Media Contest program in the Yearbook Copy/Caption: Student Life category.
  • RubicOnline was awarded a third-place overall Best in Show award in the Small School Website category.

SPA faculty member Kathryn Campbell, who directs the Upper School’s student publication program, notes that the virtual format has allowed more students to participate in the JEA/NSPA event.  “It’s rare to have an entire staff travel to a national convention, so the virtual convention has been such a good opportunity for Ibid and The Rubicon print/online staff members to watch sessions together in class and discuss their take-aways on reporting, editorial leadership, and journalism ethics,” says Campbell, who also notes that the Ibid staff participated in a “Break with a Pro” session, which “gave them insight into new ways to cover spring sports, which we missed out on last year,” because of the pandemic, she says. 
 
“I’m thrilled with how our student journalists embraced the virtual experience and placed in contests,” Campbell adds. “They have made this unconventional learning process their own and continue to report with passionate curiosity and high ethical standards.”
 
Congratulations to our student- journalists!