Crown Point High School journalism students earned high honors at both the Indiana High School Press Association and Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association conventions.
October State:
Journalism students left the 2017 IHSPA state convention with multiple individual and staff awards. Both the newspaper and yearbook were honored as Hoosier Star finalists. Principal Chip Pettit was awarded the 2017 IHSPA Administrator of the Year for his support of high school journalism.
For the Inklings newspaper staff, 2017 graduates Jackie Ham, Maria Leontaras and Jeremy DeBold took first place in civic journalism; Ally Rekitzke took first place in column writing; Jackie Ham and Maria Leontaras took first place in news writing, and Jillian Kidder got an honorable mention in photo portfolio for work done during the 2016-2017 school year. At the on-site competitions, seniors Andrea John and Audrey Gacsy placed first and second for news coverage, Kira Schuelka placed second in social media ethics and junior Timmy Abbott placed second in event column writing.
For the Excalibur yearbook staff, the following students were recognized for work from the 2017 yearbook: seniors Taylor Smith took first place in communication graphics, Abbie Gelon took first place in photo portfolio and Shannon McCloskey took second place in writing. The staff took first in people/album spreads and sports spreads, second place in organizational spreads and overall theme, and got an honorable mention in advertising and student life spreads. At on-site competitions, seniors Taylor Smith took first place in event infographic design, Ethan Scott took first place in “Humans of IHSPA” and Shannon McCloskey took second in event photo coverage.
November Nationals:
Inklings and Excalibur staffers attended the JEA/NSPA national convention in Dallas from Nov. 16-19 with over 5,000 other journalism students. Inklings 2016-2017 editor-in-chief Maria Leontaras won second place for design of the year for work submitted prior to the event.
Competing on-site in the JEA Write-Offs with nearly 1800 students, seven CPHS journalists earned recognition.
For Inklings, senior Audrey Gascy took superior in law and ethics, junior Morgan Taylor got an honorable mention in commentary writing and senior Grace Cleland got an honorable mention in infographic design.
For Excalibur, senior Abbie Gelon got an honorable mention in photography portfolio and senior Shannon McCloskey got an honorable mention in photo story. Junior Catie Kusek got an honorable mention in literary magazine photography and junior Lucy Liske got an honorable mention in first-year photo.
Other National Honors:
In addition, both staffs achieved an All-American ranking from the National Scholastic Press Association.
For its 2016-2017 edition, Inklings earned a Gold Medalist and Crown from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, as well as a George H. Gallup award from Quill and Scroll. Crown awards will be presented at the CSPA convention in March in New York City.
Excalibur also earned Gold Medalist status from CSPA.