The High School Communications Competition sponsored by Nebraska Press Women (NPW) and the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) inspires students to excel in their journalistic endeavors.
Students can compete in 17 categories: Editorial, Opinion, News, Feature, Sports, Column, Feature Photo, Sports Photo, Cartooning, Reviews, Graphics, Single-Page Layout, Double-Truck Layout, Environment, Video News Story, Video Feature Story, and Video Sports Story.

First place state award-winning entries go on to NFPW’s national competition, vying for $100 cash for first place, plaques for second and third places, and certificates for honorable mentions.

STATE WINNERS who attended the NPW spring convention were
(from left) Hannah Langdon, Lindsay Lee, Samantha Taylor, Brittany
Marvin, Kelsey Janda, Jessalyn Holdcraft, Sarah Frankel, Bridget
McLeay, Kristyn Koscis and Marydeth Cummings.

The only nationwide communications competition for high school students, the NFPW contest is endorsed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Dow Jones announces first-place winners and promotes the competition in its publication distributed to journalism advisers across the nation, giving students and their teachers/advisers local and nationwide recognition.

On the state level, competition is held in two divisions with awards presented in each. Division 1 is for students in Class A schools, and Division 2 is for all schools smaller than Class A. Schools that do not have a newspaper but have a newsletter also are eligible to enter the contest. First-place winners are invited to the Nebraska Press Women spring convention luncheon to receive their award certificates. This year's convention will be Saturday, May 1, at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln.

Because winners are chosen in Divisions I and 2, the state judges select a “best of show" in each category, and that entry advances to the national contest.

Work eligible for the 2010 competition must have been completed between March 1, 2009, and Feb. 14, 2010. The $2 fee (per entry) must accompany the entry, which must be postmarked by Feb. 28, 2010. Late entries will not be judged. Nebraska Press Women follow national guidelines, and use the national entry form, both of which may be downloaded here.

For more information on the state contest, contact Mary Pierce, NPW High School contest, Keith County News, 116 West A, Ogallala, NE 69153. You can e-mail her from our Contact Us page.

OMAHA WESTSIDE DOMINATES THIS YEAR'S DIVISION 1

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Five Omaha Westside High School students attended the Nebraska Press Women Spring Convention in Council Bluffs, Iowa, April 25, 2009, to pick up awards they won in the high school communications contests.

Westside received five first-place awards, four of which advanced to the National Federation of Press Women High School Contest. Also picking up awards were students from Crete, Papillion-LaVista, Bellevue West and Marian high schools.

The NPW High School Contest drew 190 entrants from 11 schools. Schools were divided into two divisions, Division 1for Class A schools, and Division 2 for all other class schools. Judges determined between first-place winners in each division which entry should advance to the national contest. Division 1 schools that participated were Lincoln Southwest, Grand Island, Hastings, Bellevue West, Marian, Westside and Papillion-LaVista South.

Division 2 schools were Crete, Broken Bow, Grand Island Northwest and Perkins County.

While every school had at least one entry that placed in the top four spots, Omaha Westside had 16 entries that placed, five of those first-place awards.

Papillion-LaVista South students earned nine awards, two of those first place, while each of the seven students who entered the competition from Marian placed, three of them earning first place nods.

Lincoln Southwest students won four awards and Grand Island Senior High students will bring home four awards, one of those a first.

Hastings students earned nine awards, two first places, and Bellevue students earned eight awards, one of those a first place.

Crete students earned five awards, two of which placed first, while Northwest students received eight awards, one a first place.

Perkins County students earned three awards, and Broken Bow, out pacing all other schools, earned 20 awards, seven of which were first.

Seven of the 11 schools competing had at least one national qualifier with Omaha Westside having four entries make it to the national contest. Marian had three of its seven total entries make the national contest, while Papillion-LaVista and Hastings had two apiece, and Northwest, Bellevue West and Grand Island each having one national entry.

National awards will be presented in September during the National Federation of Press Women’s annual convention, set for San Antonio, Texas.

The contest results are as follows: (NQ national qualifier)

DIVISION 1
Papillion-LaVista South – Amy McConnell, first place, editorials (NQ), honorable mention, feature story; Ally Phillips, third place, news story; Blythe Butcher, second place, single page layout, honorable mention, news story; Merydeth Cummings, first place, sports story (NQ); Kayla Clark, second place, sports story; Katie Nelson, second place, sports photo; Lisa Genaidy, third place, reviews.

Omaha Marian – Bridget McLeay, first place, opinion (NQ); Bridget McQuillan, second place, feature photo; Kristyn Kocsis, first place, sports photo (NQ); Barbara Anderson, first place, graphics (NQ); and Madalyn Shea, honorable mention, double truck layout.

Omaha Westside - Sarah Frankel, first place, news story (NQ), second place, editorials; Mary Hepburn, first place, columns (NQ); Jessie Lassley, honorable mention, columns; Samantha Taylor, first place, feature story, honorable mention, single page layout, third place, editorials; Claire Taylor, honorable mention, editorials; Mary Susman, second place and honorable mention, feature story; Lauren Bradford, honorable mention, sports story; Lindsay Lee, first place, feature photo (NQ); Maddie Freitag, third place, sports photo; Sarah Nelson, honorable mention graphics; Lauren Florea, third place, double truck layout; Hannah Langdon, first place, environment (NQ).

Lincoln Southwest – Kathy Cook, honorable mention, editorials, honorable mention, columns; Courtney Powers, third place, sports story; and Jillian Coatney, second place, reviews.

Grand Island - Nicole Greenwalt, first place, reviews (NQ), honorable mention, columns; Brandon Pfeifer, honorable mention, feature photo; and Lance Peterson, honorable mention, reviews.

Hastings – Elisabeth Arneson, second place, opinion; Jake Andreason, third place, opinions, honorable mention, feature story; Sara Florek, second place, graphics, honorable mention, opinion; Samantha Brannagan, second place, news story; Michael Beahm, third place, feature story; and Kelsey Sejkora, first place, single page layout (NQ), and first place, double truck layout (NQ).

Bellevue West – Cori Masi, honorable mention, opinion; Erin Driscoll, second place, columns; Brandon Brown, third place, columns; Clara Paugstat, third place, feature photo; Clara Nino, honorable mention, sports photo; Eddie Hanline, third place, graphics, third place, single page layout; Lexi Labenz, second place, double truck layout; and Brittany Marvin, first place, cartooning (NQ).

DIVISION 2
Crete - Jessalyn Holdcraft, first place, sports story, honorable mention, news story; Emily Wenz, third place, columns; and Kelsey Janda, first place, double truck layout, second place, graphics.

Grand Island Northwest - Karen Buettner, second place, news story; Allison Vipond, first place, feature story (NQ); Chelsea Glause, third place, feature story; Rosanne Goerl, second place, sports story; and Kelsey Lilienthal, first place, sports photo, and first, second and third places, single page layout.

Perkins County – Joe Craig, honorable mention, feature story; Alecia Friedel, second place, editorial; and Jordan Johnson, first place, cartooning.

Broken Bow – Travis Connely, first place, opinion, first place, editorial, first place, cartooning, honorable mention, sports story; Emily Smallcomb, second place, environment, second place, opinion, honorable mention, feature story; Megann Myers, first place, news story, second place, feature story; Thomas Peterson, second place, columns, third place, news story, honorable mention, feature story; Jacob Zlomke, first place, columns, first place, reviews, third place, environment, honorable mention, feature story; honorable mention, single page layout; and Jeremy Hunt, first place, sports story and graphics, and second place, reviews.

Nebraska Press Women is an affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women. Both organizations provide professional growth opportunities for women and men in the communications field. Programs include conventions, workshops, contests, awards, and scholarships.