The New England Scholastic Press Association (NESPA) awarded its Highest Achievement Award in Scholastic Editing and Publishing to student journalists from the Vineyard.
“We rocked it!” junior and co-editor in chief Naomi Pallas said, summing up the good news.
“When I heard the news, I thought it was a great way to tie up the year. It honors everyone—which is perfect since everyone worked so hard all year to produce our newspaper,” senior and co-editor in chief Julia Sadowski said.
NESPA made the awards at its annual convention in Boston, held April 30, at Boston University. NESPA executive director Helen Smith presented the awards. She said the awards acknowledged the excellence of the entire collection of High School View editions published during the 2009-2010 school year and all of the student journalists who produced them.
In addition, several students received individual Special Achievement Awards for Excellence in Scholastic Journalism. Senior Ashley Drake won for masthead artwork, “New pass system gives pause”; Ms. Pallas won for her online slide show and human interest story, “MSPCA closes cage doors.” With that award, Ms. Pallas became the first student ever from the Vineyard high school to win an award for digital journalism. She also won an award for her news story, “Photography brings cultures closer together.” And, senior Caitlin Clark won for her news story, “H1N1 spreads.”
The High School View is published weekly during the school year as a page in The Martha’s Vineyard Times.
Regional high school English department chairman Dan Sharkovitz is the newspaper’s faculty adviser.
