Individual student journalists have received national recognition for their work, while the U-High Midway has received a prestigious national award for general excellence and is a finalist for another.
The U-High Midway and U-Highlights staff received a combined 21 national awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association at Columbia University. These 21 Gold Circle Awards featured work from recent school years.
The Midway received its 18th CSPA Gold Crown Award, which is its 27th Crown Award overall. Crown Awards, which are given out as gold or silver, are awarded to student print or digital media for excellence. The awards are chosen by a panel of journalists and educators for the CSPA.
In addition, the Midway’s website is one of 26 finalists for the Online Pacemaker given by the National Scholastic Press Association. To be selected as a Pacemaker finalist, NSPA judges studied approximately 130 sites submitted from 30 states and two countries. This is the fourth time in five years that the Midway has been a finalist for the prestigious award. Winners will be announced April 6.
Sahana Unni, a senior and a current Midway editor-in-chief, received three Gold Circle awards. She said she appreciates the recognition for topics that she cared a lot about, including the renaming of the assembly hall.
“The Gordon Parks auditorium was an issue that I really care about, so it feels really nice that I’m receiving recognition for such an important matter,” Sahana said.
U-Highlights assistant editor Daniel Chang, a sophomore whose work was recognized, feels that the award represents the amount of work and dedication the U-Highlights team put into the 2023 yearbook.
Daniel said, “I think the award is representative of all the teamwork and collaboration that went into the yearbook, which I’m very grateful for.”
Gold Circle individual awards
Yearbook awards for the 2023 edition:
- Sarina Zhao, first place, feature writing: student life, “Have you heard?”
- Jackie Slimmon and Sarina Zhao, third place, endsheets
- Staff, third place, feature presentation, “Here and there”
- Daniel Chang, Jackie Slimmon and Sarina Zhao, certificate of merit, feature presentation, “Have you heard?”
Newspaper (print) awards for 2022-23 school year:
- Sahana Unni, first place, personal opinion: on-campus issues, “New auditorium name at odds with values”
- Peter Cox, first place, single-subject news or feature package, single-page design (Page 4)
- Gabriel Issa, second place, single feature photograph, “Sprinting to success: Poppy Beiser”
- Zara Siddique and Sahana Unni, second place, photo layout: full page (Page 3)
- Dalin Dohrn, third place, computer-generated art/illustration, “Rethinking therapy”
- Staff (William Tan, Patrice Graham, Gabriel Issa, Matthew McGehee, Kaden Moubayed, Matt Petres), certificate of merit, photo story, “Photo Gallery: Raw reactions”
- Katie Sasamoto-Kurisu, certificate of merit, news page design (Page 2)
Digital news awards from October 2022 to October 2023:
- Gabriel Issa, first place, single feature photograph, “Sprinting to success: Poppy Beiser”
- Bryce Light, first place, single spot news photograph, “U-High celebrates community spirit in annual Homecoming assembly” (Photo 4: Teacher Matt Bonges)
- Audrey Park, first place, sidebar writing, “Affirmative Apprehension — Expert input: Law professor explains case”
- Katie Sasamoto-Kurisu, first place, sports news, “UChicago economics study tests baseball team”
- Eliza Dearing, second place, art/illustration: hand-drawn, “Affirmative Apprehension”
- Kaden Moubayed, second place, single spot news photograph, “2023 Graduation” (Photo 11: Jason & Sydney Tyler embrace)
- Jaya Alenghat, certificate of merit, sports features, “Muslim student athletes navigate fasting during Ramadan while maintaining physical endurance”
- Louis Auxenfans, certificate of merit, podcast, “A rite of passage: Seniors reflect on first voting experience,”
- Clare McRoberts, certificate of merit, personal opinion: off-campus issues, “It’s time to end legacy admissions”
- Sahana Unni, certificate of merit, news feature, “Dazzling drag city”
