The Lakota East Spark news magazine staff earned its eighth consecutive Quill and Scroll George H. Gallup award for comprehensive publication excellence. Only 34 schools nationally received this coveted award which is based on the stellar reporting, comprehensive coverage, compelling writing, tight editing and cutting-edge design prowess exhibited over the course of a six-issue publication cycle. The national judge called the Spark "one of the top two or three publications that I have reviewed in 22 years." The staff earned 997 out of a possible 1,000 points.
The Spark was recently named a NSPA National Pacemaker Finalist for the ninth time in 12 years. The final 43 national Pacemaker winners will be announced during the annual JEA/NSPA national fall convention in Washington D.C. on November 14. The top honor that the National Scholastic Press Association awards for publications, The Pacemaker represents the "top half of a percent" of national publications; subsequently, the five issues from each competing school are scrutinized by professional journalists and editors from the NSPA convention host city (this year it's Washington D.C.). A list of the competing publications and Pacemaker finalists is available at the NSPA website at: studentpress.org
Two East Spark writers were named as two of the 25 national finalists for the NSPA National Story of the Year program, which awards a "National Story of The Year award to five respective students in five respective categories (news, feature, sports, opinion, and diversity coverage). Spark produced a finalist in Feature writing (Billy Lawton) and in sports writing (Kaitlynn Kerley). The winners will be announced at the NSPA national convention in Washington D.C. on Nov. 14. After the five winners are named, one of the five will receive the "Bresler Award," a $1,500 cash prize for the one most interesting and compelling story chosen from the five division winners. East has produced three Bresler winners in the past seven years.
Kerley's sports story is an indepth report on the funding and building of the two Atrium fields at East and West high schools. Lawton's feature story is an investigative report on the Fourth Street Homeless mission in Hamilton. This summer Lawton's piece earned First Place in the National Federation of Press Women's annual national student writing contest.
Also, three Spark students were named finalists in the National NSPA Design of The Year contest as well. Rohan Kusre and Kevin Li are finalists in the information graphic division, and Rohan Kusre is a finalist in the "news magazine" cover contest.
Contact: Dean Hume, 759-8615 Date: November 2, 2009
