Lion newspaper lands awards at national convention

Lyons Township High School student newspaper staffers recently attended the national high school journalism fall convention in Chicago, hosted by the Journalism Education Association and the National School Press Association (JEA/NSPA). Five students earned individual awards, with senior Lars Lonnroth, of LaGrange, winning four national awards - the most of any student taken to these conventions for 16 years.

In write-off competition at the convention, five seniors placed in individual contests. In total, 2,033 students entered various write-off contests, with 811 winning awards: 141 Superior, 239 Excellent and 431 Honorable Mention awards. The following Lion staffers took home awards:

Senior Lars Lonnroth, of LaGrange: Superior, Newswriting

Senior Greg Smith, of Western Springs: Excellent, Editorial Writing

Senior Taylor Schmitt, of LaGrange: Excellent, Journalism Ethics and Press Law

Senior Mary Okkema, of LaGrange: Honorable Mention, News Editing / Headline Writing

Senior Harper Hill, of Western Springs: Honorable Mention, Feature Writing

In other awards given out at the convention, based on published work submitted from the 2017-2018 school year:

Senior Lars Lonnroth 5th place Story of the Year: Podcasting

Honorable Mention, Story of the Year: Podcasting

Honorable Mention, Story of the Year: Blogging

Sydney Kaehler (2018 graduate), Honorable Mention, Story of the Year: Editorial Cartooning