Newspaper Staff Receives State Awards

Members of the Eagle Eye newspaper staff won a state bronze star and multiple awards for their online newspaper from the Interscholastic League Press Conference (ILPC) contest. Members also received awards and ratings from the Texas Association of Journalism Educators (TAJE).

“I am so excited about them receiving this honor,” newspaper supervisor Neda Morrow said. “It is a very big deal to be in the top of Texas online student journalism. They really had to go above and beyond to make this happen.”

The newspaper was one of only 13 newspapers in the state from all class divisions to receive a star in the ILPC competition. There are two rounds: the first nominates worthy staffs for consideration, and the second determines if they receive a star at all. The best receive a gold, silver, or bronze star award.

“I was so nervous to see if we would even be able to qualify,” junior Jaida Jones said. “After we did, the hardest part was to wait to see if we got a star.”

Leading up to the competition, the staff works by writing news articles, feature and entertainment stories, shooting videos, and producing one print magazine per semester. The ILPC judges read through their whole body of work and multimedia techniques to determine the rating.

“I’m super proud of all of our hard work,” sophomore Keren Lee said. “We were able to push through whatever got in the way, even with only six people on the staff.”

TAJE is a professional journalism organization for journalism educators. They also host various contests that focus on the quality of concept, writing, and design to give online and print news programs an opportunity to gain individual recognition.

“It is a great honor to receive awards from TAJE,” Morrow said. “They are very focused on teaching quality journalism.”

The ratings consist of superior, excellent, and honorable mentions. Sophomore Andrea Hernandez and junior Charlotte McConathy received an excellent rating for a feature story.

“I’m glad we are getting rewarded for our hard work,” McConathy said. “It really does pay off in the end.”

ILPC Awards Individual Awards

HONORABLE MENTION – ‘Band To Compete At Contests With New Drill’ by Andrea

1ST IN NEWS FEATURE – ‘Former Lindale Student Continues Her Twirler Career At Nationals’ by Keren

2ND IN NEWS FEATURE – ‘Students Attend Workouts and Camp Activities During Summer’ by Andrea, Paula, Keren, and Kanyon

2ND IN SPORTS NEWS – ‘Tennis Earns State Semi-Finalists’ by Jaida

3RD IN SPORTS FEATURE – ‘Tennis Aces’ by Charlotte and Jaida

HON MENTION IN FEATURE WRITING – ‘Living and Learning” by Andrea and Charlotte

1ST IN PERSONAL OPINION – ‘The Truth Behind BeReal’ by Charlotte

2ND IN SPORTS COLUMN – ‘Top 10 World Cup Teams’ by Paula

1ST IN MULTIMEDIA PACKAGE – ‘The Move To The Lone Star State’ by Jaida and Paula

2ND IN MULTIMEDIA PACKAGE – ‘Stepping Up’ by Charlotte