Utica High School student newspaper earns top national award

Utica High School’s Arrow newspaper has earned one of scholastic journalism’s highest honors by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The student publication was named a 2015 Crown Award finalist and will receive either a Gold or Silver Crown Award during CSPA’s 91st annual Spring Scholastic Convention held March 18-20 in New York City.

“We were so excited when we found out we won a Crown Award,” Arrow editor-in-chief Chelsea Koger said. “Although we consistently win state and national awards, this one is different. Earning a Crown is like winning the Super Bowl of student journalism; we’re proud of our accomplishment and hope to continue the Arrow’s tradition of excellence.”

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 31 student newspapers to win an award.

The award follows the Arrow’s complete redesign, switching from a traditional broadsheet newspaper to a tabloid-style paper.

“We spent so much time making the changes,” Koger said. “We knew we had one chance to ‘wow’ our readers with the new design, so we wanted to do it right. Summer camp and editor meetings during lunch and after school made it all possible. We’re really proud of what we’ve done.”

The Arrow continues to keep up-to-date with the newest trends, incorporating social media, an online news site and “augmented reality” videos that can be viewed after downloading a smartphone app called Aurasma. The Arrow’s Web 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 Julia Vasquez said. “It keeps students up to date on the latest news. Now that we’re using Aurasma, our readers can stay connected with Utica events by actually seeing them firsthand.”

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.

There are no set number of Crown awards given; 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 and photography, as well as writing and editing.

“I couldn’t be prouder of my students,” Arrow adviser Stacy Smale said. “They produce a professional, quality publication, and there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make that happen. 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 for them; 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, and even the world.