Crusader staff members combined for 32 individual and overall awards, including bronze medals for both the newspaper and CrusaderNews.com website, at the Kansas Collegiate Media 2015 conference in Wichita.
In addition, Crusader editor Maria Lara was recognized as second runner-up for the Journalist of the Year award.
“I couldn’t be more grateful to have an adviser like Anita Reed who taught me all that I know about journalism,” Lara said. “To her pushing me, I owe the great honor of being awarded second runner-up for Journalist of Year.”
Crusader staff members received 30 individual awards, including four first-place awards, seven second-place awards, nine third-place awards and 10 honorable mentions. Crusader online editor Daisy Torres received an honorable mention certificate in the on-site copy-editing contest.
“What a great weekend,” Lara said. “I’m extremely proud of the staff and all of the accomplishments we have achieved.”
The sheer number of individual awards “says a lot about what our students are doing,” said Crusader adviser and SCCC/ATS Journalism Instructor Anita Reed. She noted the individual awards total is one of the highest the Crusader has reached during nearly two decades as instructor.
In the special sections category, the Crusader staff claimed a second-place state award for the back-to-school “Brushing Up on College” edition and a third-place for the 2014 graduation edition “Let’s Graduate…but first, let me take a selfie!”
Anita Reed, SCCC/ATS journalism instructor and Crusader adviser, was recognized and given a standing ovation at her last conference with the Crusader staff and with the members of KCM. Reed is retiring from Seward this year and leaving her KCM board position as vice president in charge of state contests.
Secretary Stacy Sparks, adviser from Southwestern College in Winfield, had done some math.
“Anita Reed has driven more than 7,000 miles to accompany her students to 17 Kansas Collegiate Media spring conferences,” she told those in attendance at the awards luncheon Monday. “Her students are consistent winners in competitions sponsored by Kansas Collegiate Media, Associated Collegiate Press and Columbia Scholastic Press Association.” Sparks added that Reed has served on the KCM board as well as coordinated magazine and yearbook contests and thanked her for her service.
Reed and the members of the Crusader staff who attended the conference —editors Maria Lara, Diana Chavira and Daisy Torres and staff members Kim Nguyen, Lanre Hassan and Alexandra Loya — were joined by former staff members Makiah Adams, who graduated from Seward in December, but was editor during part of the contest period; Jakub Stepanovic, former Crusader photographer and design editor who graduated from Seward in 2014 and is currently a photographer for the Emporia Gazette; and former editor Jose Medrano, pictured at left, a 2013 graduate who assisted the staff this year.
The conference began with a copy-editing contest and training sessions, followed by a keynote address, awards ceremony and publication critiques. Keynote speaker Linda Friedel, of Overland Park, is a freelance writer and vice president of the Kansas City Press Club. She shared her experiences of returning to college as a non-traditional student and starting a successful career later in life.
The conference ended with the final awards ceremony, where the Crusader staff received the Bronze Medalist Awards and Lara was announced as the second runner-up in the Journalist of the Year contest.
Crusader students earned the following individual awards in the two-year newspaper category for work published between February 11, 2014, and February 10, 2015.
First Place Awards:
Column Writing: Maria Lara
Feature Photography: Jakub Stepanovic
Series Writing: Maria Lara
Ad Design: Christie Proctor
Second Place Awards:
Front Page Design: Makiah Adams and Maria Lara
Infographics: Jakub Stepanovic and Dawn Shouse
Page Design: Maria Lara
News Writing: Dawn Shouse
Special Section: Makiah Adams and The Crusader staff
Sports Features: Dallas Kelling
Sports Photography: Jakub Stepanovic
Third Place Awards:
Ad Design: Daisy Torres
Editorial Writing: Dawn Shouse
Feature Photography: Jakub Stepanovic
Headline Writing and Design: Makiah Adams
News Photography: Dawn Shouse
Photo Essay: Dawn Shouse, Diana Chavira and Jakub Stepanovic
Series Writing: Efren Rivero, Diana Chavira and Dallas Kelling
Special Section: The Crusader staff
Sports News Writing: Jevyn Voss
Honorable Mention Awards:
Column Writing: Daisy Torres
Feature Photography: Xochitl Gonzalez
Infographics: Dallas Kelling, Daisy Torres and Jose Medrano
Page Design: Diana Chavira
Photo Essay: Diana Chavira, Grant Glaze, and Efren Rivero
Review Writing: Jose Medrano
Sports Features: Grant Glaze
Sports Features: Diana Chavira
Sports Photography: Jakub Stepanovic
On-site copy-editing contest: Daisy Torres
Categories: Humanities Division, News & Events
Leave a Reply