Awards

  • 2019 NSPA Writer of the Year

The National Scholastic Press Association announced its 2019 national award winners in a variety of categories at the November convention in Washington, D.C. In October, I was selected as one of 10 finalists for Writer of the Year. In November, NSPA named me as the national first-place Writer of the Year within the Portfolio of the Year category.

  • 2019 NSPA Social Justice Reporting – Fifth Place

My piece “In the minority,” co-written with Jessica Moonjely, received fifth place in the National Scholastic Press Association’s Social Justice Reporting category.

  • 2019 IHSPA Writer of the Year

Each year, the Iowa High School Press Association chooses one student each for the Writer, Designer, Hawkeye Photographer, and Videographer of the Year awards. I was selected as the 2019 Writer of the Year based on five submitted pieces.

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Crystal Kim (left) and Anjali Huynh (right) were chosen as the 2019 Designer of the Year and Writer of the Year, respectively.
  • 2019 IHSPA Spring Contests
    • First place In-Depth News
    • First place Feature Story
    • First place Multimedia News Story
    • Third place In-Depth News

These awards are presented by the Iowa High School Press Association recognizing high school journalism in numerous categories. See the full list of West Side Story awards here.

  • 2019 International Quill and Scroll award winner
    • In-Depth Reporting: Individual honorable mention
    • In-Depth Reporting: Team honorable mention
    • Editorial Writing honorable mention
  • 2019 Iowa Journalist of the Year Runner-Up

This website originally served as my entry for the JEA Journalist of the Year state contest. I received second place out of seven submitted portfolios.

  • 2018 Al Neuharth and Free Spirit Conference – Iowa Representative

Each year, 51 students from around the nation (one student from every state + the District of Columbia) are selected to attend an all-expenses-paid conference in Washington, D.C. and receive a $1,000 scholarship. I represented the state of Iowa.

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The 2018 class of Free Spirits gathers for a photo outside the White House on June 16, 2018. These students hail from across the nation and are recognized for their journalistic ability through attending an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C.
  • 2018 IHSPA Emerging Journalist
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  • 2018 NSPA Honor Roll

Students are honored for maintaining a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative GPA on a four-point scale and serving on their newspaper staff for at least two years.

  • 2018 Quill and Scroll International Honors Society

Students are recommended by their journalism supervisors for their superior work in journalism.

  • 2018 IHSPA Spring Contests
    • First Place In-Depth News
    • Honorable Mention Feature Story
    • Honorable Mention Multimedia Story – News

These awards are presented by the Iowa High School Press Association recognizing high school journalism in numerous categories.

  • 2018-19: Six time “Best of SNO” recipient

Articles from school newspaper using “SNO” based sites are selected and published on the “Best of SNO” website for being excellent pieces of writing.

  • 2017 IHSPA Conference On-The-Spot Photo Contest – 1st place
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  • 2016 NSPA Conference Commentary write-off contest – Honorable mention