Journalism Students Recognized as "Best of the Best"

Fall 2022 SMSD Journalism Honors, NSPA convention logo, One Shawnee Mission logo, NSPA 100 logo
Shawnee Mission School District

Shawnee Mission School District journalism students proved, once again, that they are one of the best programs in the nation with dozens of top five finishes and two Pacemaker Awards.

The 2023 National Scholastic Press Association Fall conference brought together nearly 5,000 journalism students from across the country to recognize the best of the best.  

This year, individuals from all five SMSD high schools finished in the top five across the dozens of individual awards categories including an impressive seven first-place winners. 

Shawnee Mission East’s newspaper “The Harbinger” and Shawnee Mission Northwest’s newsmagazine “The Northwest Passage” were recognized with the prestigious Pacemaker award- the NSPA’s preeminent award honoring the “best of the best” in Newspaper or Newsmagazine.   

Here is a complete list of SMSD award winners with links to the work. 

 

Pioneer Award: Becky Tate; Shawnee Mission North; Recognized for her devotion to student journalism.

 

Pacemaker- 

The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East  

Northwest Passage Shawnee Mission Northwest

 

Story of the year- Feature

First- Grace Logan; No Excuses; Northwest Passage; Shawnee Mission Northwest  

Fifth- Katie Murphy; American Dreaming; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East  
Honorable Mention- Lily Coash-Johnson; One in six; The Epic; Shawnee Mission West

 

Story of the Year- Editorial

Fourth- Katie Murphy; Teachers With Tacticals?; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East  
 

Story of the Year-Opinion

First- Larkin Brundige; Beyond Pink; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East  

Second- Katie Murphy; Typical Asian; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East  

Fourth- Sofia Ball; No Matter What; The Northwest Passage; Shawnee Mission Northwest   

Fifth- Gage Chapman; Running With It; The Mission; Shawnee Mission North  

 

Diversity, Equity and Inclustion Reporting

Fifth Place- Alex Young; Dear Little Me; Lair; Shawnee Mission Northwest  

Honorable Mention- Greyson Imm; Discipline or Disrespect?; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East 

 

Design- Newspaper front page

Fifth Place- Peyton Moore ;The Heroes Among Us; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East 

 

Design-Newspaper spread

Second Place- Francesca Stamati; What’s At Stake?; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East 

 

Design-News magazine spread

Third Place- Maya Copaken, Noel Mohamed; Washed Out; The Patriot; Shawnee Mission South 

Honorable Mention- Ren Park; The Calorie Conundrum; The Patriot; Shawnee Mission South  

 

Design-Yearbook spread

Third Place- Francie Garrison, Ella Yun; After the Disco; The Hauberk; Shawnee Mission East

Honorable Mention- Payton Cook, Laurel Hansen; Meet Your Pep Exec; Brickhouse, Shawnee Mission North  

 

Design-Yearbook Theme

First Place- Marissa Buffon, Katie Burke, Brody Carlson, Danie Eaves, Sydney Jackson; Sounds Like Us; Lair; Shawnee Mission Northwest  

Honorable Mention- Laurel Hansen, Rylie Peterson; Understood; Brickhouse, Shawnee Mission North  

 

Design-Info Graphic

Honorable Mention- Laurel Hansen; Bringing it Mahomes; Brickhouse, Shawnee Mission North

 

Cartoon

Fifth Place-  Caroline Daniels; Hazards of Tanning; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East 

 

Digital- Multimedia-News Story

First Place- Katie Murphy; A New Extreme;  The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East

 

Digital-Interactive Graphic

First Place- Aanya Bansal, Maggie Kissick; Colorful Futures; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East  

 

Photo-News Photo

Second Place- Maggie Wells; If Not Now When; Hauberk; Shawnee Mission East 

 

Photo- Feature Photo

Third Place- Kylie Chaplin; Touch Ups; Hauberk; Shawnee Mission East  
 

Photo- Sports Feature

First Place- Macy Crosser; Loud From the Lane Lines; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East

Second Place- Eva Berkley; Unfair; Hauberk; Shawnee Mission East

Fourth Place- Maggie Wells; Having Fun; Hauberk; Shawnee Mission East

Honorable Mention- Teryn DeBey; Caught Baseball; Brickhouse, Shawnee Mission North

 

Portfolio- Photojournalist

Fourth Place- Macy Crosser; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East  

 

Portfolio- writer

First Place- Katie Murphy; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East  
 

Social media reporting

Honorable Mention- Mia Vogel, Paige Zadoo; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East

 

Social media promotion

Fifth Place- Mia Vogel, Paige Zadoo; The Harbinger; Shawnee Mission East