Wantagh Student Journalists Take Home A Dozen Awards

Under the leadership of Peter Kravitz, the Wantagh Warrior newspaper journalists captured 12 individual awards during the annual Empire State Scholastic Press Association contest, held at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications on Oct. 26. The students garnered a gold, three silver, five bronze and three honorable mention award for articles and portfolios written during the 2017-2018 school year.

The district single gold award was garnered by Audrey Abbate, currently a freshman at Lasell College, for a news story about her friend Mike Pastore, a Wantagh High School senior and pilot, who made a terrifying emergency landing at Robert Moses Beach.

Silver awards were received by Shirly Londaño, who wrote about her late 15-year-old friend Genesis Cornejo, who after moving to Houston was sexually assaulted and murdered by MS-13. Jess Nealon and Grace Tague, currently a Manhattan College freshman, each won a silver award in the category of news photo. It was the fifth journalism award during Grace’s high school journalism career.

Bronze awards were each received by Christian Encarnacion and Megan Fehling in the sports columnist category, Allie Kelsey in the category of columnist, Jenna Miller for her entertainment review portfolio and Brandon Schroh for an entertainment review.

Lastly, Reilly Brady received an honorable mention for a news story. Editor-in-Chief Grace Anne McKenna also received an honorable mention in the sports columnist category, while Juliet Watstein’s entertainment review also won an honorable mention.

Photo courtesy Wantagh School District