UHS earns top national journalism award for second straight year

A Crown Award is one of scholastic journalism’s highest honors, and Utica High School’s Arrow newspaper has earned the distinction for the second consecutive year.

The student publication was named a Crown Award finalist for 2016, and will receive either a Gold or Silver Crown Award during CSPA’s 92nd annual Spring Scholastic Convention, held March 16-18 in New York City.

“I was extremely excited to hear that we won a Crown Award again for a second year,” Arrow editor-in-chief Julia Vasquez said. “We have worked really hard these past couple years to make our newspaper the best, so to win this award means a lot.”

Crown Awards are the highest recognition given by the CSPA to a student print or digital medium for overall excellence. In the nationwide competition, the Arrow was one of only 28 student newspapers to win an award.

“Winning the Crown Award is a huge honor and I am really happy to be part of a staff that has won it twice now,” Arrow graphic design editor Katelyn Tremper said. “I am really proud of everyone for doing such a great job and working hard.”

Last year, the Arrow was completely redesigned by its student editors, switching from a traditional, broadsheet newspaper, to a tabloid-style paper. This year, the staff’s new focus has been on increasing its social media presence, as well as its online readers. The Arrow’s site is: http://uhsarrow.org/

“It’s great that we’re able to have an online paper, as well as a printed one,” online editor-in-chief Ethan Cartwright said. “It keeps students up to date on the latest news.”

A panel of Crown Judges assembles each year at Columbia University to view all entrants. Judges are experienced former advisers to student media, professional journalists who understand student media or professionals such as photographers or online specialists with particular expertise needed for the judging exercise.

No set number of Crown Awards is required; the awards are discretionary, based on the evaluation by the Crown Judges. Decisions of these judges are final. They consider all aspects of value to the reader or viewer: content, design or presentation, coverage, photography as well as writing and editing.

““My students produce a professional, quality publication, and there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make that happen,” Arrow adviser Stacy Smale said. “They spend an extraordinary amount of time creating the newspaper, whether it’s attending summer workshops to keep up on the latest trends in reporting, design and photography, or working for hours after school during deadlines. It’s a great honor to win a Crown Award, and I’m excited they were able to earn the distinction two years in a row; they truly deserve the recognition.”

Each year, the Crown judges select examples from each publication, and together with written comments, create a DVD of the winning publications to share with CSPA member schools across the nation, or even the world.

“It’s really exciting to hear that our newspaper as won another Crown Award,” Arrow managing editor Annabel Aquino said. “Everyone works extremely hard to make the paper professional and entertaining, so something like this is a huge reward for all of our work. I am very proud to say I am an Arrow reporter.”

More information about the Crown Award can be found at: http://cspa.columbia.edu/news-2016-crown-finalists-announced