U-High student journalists attended the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Boston Nov. 1-5, where they attended educational sessions, competed in writing and photography contests, received numerous awards and explored the city of Boston while learning about its history.
The U-High Midway was one of 16 high school newspapers to be recognized nationally with the National Scholastic Press Association’s Newspaper Pacemaker Award for the 2022-23 editions, its 16th time to be a finalist or winner for the award. The Midway also received third place in the NSPA Best of Show competition for schools under 1,800 enrollment, and U-Highlights received 10th place for the 2023 yearbook.
Students participated in JEA National Student Media Contests, timed competitions that test journalism skills. Photojournalists received a critique of their pre-submitted work.
- Superior: Danny Baeza, general/spot news
- Excellent: Jaya Alenghat, news writing
- Excellent: Light Dohrn, review writing
- Excellent: Declan Smith, yearbook copy/caption: student life
- Honorable mention: Chloë Alexander, feature writing
- Honorable mention, Abhay Chandran, yearbook copy/caption: academics
- Honorable mention, Alex Diamond, feature photo
- Honorable mention, Malia Maki, yearbook copy/caption: clubs
- Honorable mention, Kaden Moubayed, photo portfolio
- Honorable mention, Peyton Palmer, first-year photo
- Honorable mention: Victoria Washington, commentary writing
NSPA recognized 11 U-High students and alumni with individual awards for work in the 2022-23 school year.
- Design of the Year, newspaper spread, Clare O’Connor, honorable mention
- Design of the Year, yearbook spread, Daniel Chang, Sydney Tyler, Sarina Zhao, fifth place
- Digital Story of the Year, multimedia sports, Matt Petres and William Tan, fourth place
- Digital Story of the Year, photo slideshow, Patrice Graham, second place
- Digital Story of the Year, podcast, Louis Auxenfans, second place
- Photo of the Year, environmental portrait, Gabriel Issa, second place
- Photo of the Year, environmental portrait, Matt Petres, honorable mention
- Photo of the Year, sports feature, Matthew McGehee, honorable mention
- Story of the Year, editorial, Clare O’Connor, fifth place
- Story of the Year, opinion, Amy Ren, third place
Along with the competitions students were able to explore Boston, and attended a guided historic tour of the city. They also walked the Freedom Trail, and learned about significant events in Boston’s history.
“We went to this really cool graveyard and while we were doing the graveyard Ms. Rumble put together this scavenger hunt for us,” Chloë Alexander, the Midway’s arts editor, said. “We also got a lot of chances to explore Boston, just by walking around and being able to go get lunch on our own.”
At the conference the students attended sessions and presentations to teach them more about journalism.
“My favorite was Power Revisions, to become a better writer and editor,” Chloë said. “The woman who was doing the session was very energetic, and she gave us a lot of ideas that I would hope to implement in our own newsroom to help improve all of our writers.”
Malia Maki, U-Highlights staff member, explained that she attended a presentation by members of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigative team, who spoke about their careers and how important journalism is.
“There was a lot of valuable information that they gave,” Malia said. “Particularly I liked the keynote presentation. I thought it was really motivating.”
