Student journalists on the U-High newspaper, yearbook and photojournalism teams have been recognized for their work through awards from national organizations.
The Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded multiple honors for work published during the 2023-24 school year. Photo editor-in-chief Olin Nafziger earned first place in the single spot news photograph category for “UChicago pro-palestine encampment faces opposition yet stands with goals.” Other first place honors included Bryce Light’s “Pressure Rising” for yearbook sports action and the photo slideshow “Eclipse excitement,” which highlighted the Lab community’s celebration of a celestial event.
Jaya Alenghat, a Midway editor-in-chief, received two CSPA awards.
“These awards mean a lot to me. I’m really proud of having progressed in terms of my journalism skills,” Jaya said.
In the Texas Photographic Society’s International Student Competition, five U-High photojournalists earned honors. Junior Devyn Moubayed took home first place in the sport and action category for a photo of sophomore Zoe Cobb swimming. Devyn had faced many obstacles.
“The process to get that photo was pretty difficult because I remember being at their section meet and struggling to get a good angle of the swimmers because it was all going super fast,” Devyn said.
Gold Circle Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for work published during the 2023-24 school year:
- Single spot news photograph, first place: Olin Nafziger, “UChicago pro-Palestine encampment faces opposition yet stands with goals (main photo)”
- Photo slideshow, first place: “Eclipse excitement: Lab community gathers to celebrate unique celestial event”
- Yearbook sports action photo, first place: Bryce Light, “Pressure Rising”
- Single feature photograph (print): Eli Raikhel, “Repair with care”
- Breaking news, third place: Jaya Alenghat, Chloë Alexander, and Mia Lipson, “UChicago pro-Palestine encampment faces opposition yet stands with goals”
- Single Subject News or Feature package, Single-Page Design, third place: Jaya Alenghat, “Cicadapalooza”
- Sports features, third place: Victoria Washington, “These twins win: On and off field, Sturgill sisters provide support”
- Yearbook caption/cutline writing, third place: U-Highlights staff
- Single feature photograph, certificate of merit: Olin Nafziger, “Defying Gravity: Daisy Coleman finds freedom in aerial silks”
- Yearbook sports feature writing, certificate of merit: Daniel Chang, “Taking the wind out of their sails”
Honors from the Texas Photographic Society’s International Student Competition:
- Sport and action, first place: Devyn Moubayed
- Documentary/Photojournalism, second place: Bryce Kenny
- Landscape, third place: Simon Vaang
- Documentary/Photojournalism, honorable mention: Simon Vaang
- Documentary/Photojournalism, honorable mention: Calder Wong
- People/portraits, honorable mention: Daniel Baeza
