by Lindsey Valdiviez

The STA journalism department collectively took home 10 awards at the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention held in San Antonio, TX. All three of the STA publications, the Dart, the Teresian and DartNewsOnline, took home awards from the Best of Show competition. In addition, four STA students were recognized in the Write Off Competitions.

Each year at the NSPA convention, high schools from around the nation submit their publication’s best work for the Best of Show competition. The Dart received fourth place in the newspaper tabloid category for the submission of Volume 72, Issue 3. The Teresian entered last year’s yearbook, themed “Dot Dot Dot,” for the Best of Show and received tenth place. DartNewsOnline, the online news source at STA, earned third place in the publication website small school category. Being in the small school category, DartNewsOnline was judged against the websites of schools with 1,500 or less students.

Junior Dart staffers Anna Leach and Lauren Langdon were nominated for the Multimedia Feature Story of the Year prior to the Convention. Leach and Langdon’s coverage of Darren Criss and Tessa Smith received an Honorable Mention. STA alumnae Celia O’Flaherty and Kate Rohr received Honorable Mentions for their photographs and designs respectively.

After students arrived back in Kansas City from San Antonio, four STA publication staffers discovered their entries from the Write Off competitions had been recognized. Junior Katie Parkinson earned a Superior (the highest possible distinction) in the Feature Writing category. Senior Lane Maguire received a Superior in the Sports Writing category, while junior Sara-Jessica Dilks garnered an excellent for her entries in the Computer Design: Infographics Competition. Yearbook staffer and senior Sarah Kostoryz received an honorable mention for her yearbook sports photography submissions.