Hartland Patch Whiz Kids of the Week — Staff members of The Eagle

Whiz Kids: Staff members of The Eagle newspaper
School:

Accomplishments: The staff of the 2010-11 Hartland Eagle won its first ever Spartan award for overall excellence during the spring conference of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association on April 26, according to newspaper adviser Elaine Bell. In addition, individual staff members won the following awards:

• First place — Professionally Published Page — Jordan White
• Second place —Professionally Published Page — Jordan White
• Honorable Mention — Advertising Layout — Jordan White
• Honorable Mention — Environmental Coverage — Kaila Pietila
• Honorable Mention — News/Feature Photo — Julia Olearis
• Honorable Mention — Front page/newspaper style — Danielle Buffa
• Honorable Mention — Bylined Opinion Article — Caitlin Wineka

Overall, there were 73 schools and 2,963 entries in four divisions. The Eagle competed in Division I.

Key to awesomeness: “(It is) the ability of our staff to work together as an editorial team to make decisions on design, coverage, and photography," Bell said. "Together they create a product that they are proud of and that the student body enjoys reading. With a lot of first year editors, they had to take on the challenge of learning new software, journalistic writing, and leadership skills, but they never gave up. It is so exciting to see how a staff can overcome obstacles and excel when they work together.”