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BHS Journalism students win state honors
Additionally, the Bear Facts newspaper won a Bronze Star for exceptional quality, ranking it in the top 25 newspapers in the state, including all classifications 1A through 5A. Editors attending the convention accompanied by BHS Journalism Advisor Patsy Lewis were: Carter Maddox, Bear Facts newspaper editor; Jill Bragdon, Bear Tracks yearbook editor; Justin Taylor, photo editor; Haley Smith, present asst. newspaper editor and next year's editor; Eric Orange, present asst. yearbook editor, next year's editor. Winning individual state honors for the 2006 Bear Tracks Yearbook were: Jill Bragdon - 1st place, Academic Photo; 2nd place, Club/ Organization Photo; 3rd place, Prom Page Design; Honorable Mention, General News Photo. Haley Smith - Honorable Mention, General Interest Page Design Lesley Smith - Honorable Mention, Class Section Page Design Danielle Bynum - Honorable Mention, Student Life Page Design Eric Orange - Honorable Mention, Academic Photo Also, 2006 Graduates winning awards were: Megan Peyton - Honorable Mention, Theme Copy Kasey Lightfoot - Honorable Mention, Academic Page Design Winning individual state honors for the 2006-07 Bear Facts newspaper were: Lesley Smith - 1st place, Sports Action Photo; 3rd place, Sports Action Photo Carter Maddox - 1st place, Center Spread Design; 2nd place, Center Spread Design; 3rd place, News Feature; 3rd place, Feature Photo; Honorable Mentions in Editorial Writing, Photo Story, Front Page Design "This was my fifth trip to an ILPC conference in three years," Maddox said. "It is a journalism conference and I am not going to be a journalist, my major next year will be English/ Creative Writing, but what I've always enjoyed so much about ILPC and the teaching sessions they hold is that while they do teach you writing skills that help you in journalism, they do not limit their writing classes to journalism only. I was especially proud of my newspaper and the staff that I've worked with all year. We won a Bronze Star award, which places us in the top 25 newspapers in the state, no matter the classification. I can't say how thankful I am of my staff for giving me such quality work this year. We did great!" Sara Scarborough - 1st place, General News Photo; Honorable Mention, Sports Action Story "When they told me that I had won first place I really didn't take them seriously," Scarborough said. "It is such an honor to be part of a great publication." Klint Norris - 1st place, News Writing; 3rd place, News Writing Haley Smith - 2nd place, Feature Writing; Honorable Mention, News Feature "This was my second trip to Austin for the ILPC workshop and it keeps getting better," Smith said. "It's great receiving awards for all our hard work on both the yearbook and newspaper, and ILPC does that. I felt wonderful receiving second place for my Tucker story and even better receiving the bronze star award for the newspaper. " Dustin Wilson - 2nd place, Sports Action Story; Honorable Mention, Editorial Writing Eric Orange - Honorable Mention, Feature Photo; 3rd place, Portrait "I have wanted to go to the spring ILPC workshop for two years," Orange said. "This year was my first time to attend. The classes that I took helped by showing me the specific steps of making a yearbook. The judges look at hundreds of photos, stories and designs. Knowing that I received the third best portrait out of all the AAA schools in Texas is a really big deal. Now that I have already gotten an award, I can do even better next year." Justin Taylor - Honorable Mention, Feature Photo Emily Williams - Honorable Mention, Sports Column Jachym Metlicka - Honorable Mention, Sports Feature Photo "With 21 newspaper awards and 10 yearbook awards, plus the Bronze Star, this is the most statewide awards the newspaper and yearbook have ever won," said BHS Journalism Advisor Patsy Lewis. "Editors Carter Maddox and Megan Peyton and their staffs should be commended for representing our school so well." The newspaper and yearbook received five nominations for Tops in Texas, but did not win anything. These are individual awards of excellence. If a student placed first in state in a particular category, he is automatically nominated for Tops in Texas. Tops in Texas nominees were Carter Maddox, Jill Bragdon, Sara Scarborough, Lesley Smith and Klint Norris. "We have won Tops in Texas before, but we have never had five students nominated," Lewis said. "The judges look at all the designs, stories and photos and choose the best in each classification (1A-5A). The student's name and school are posted on the jumbo screen and the overall winners are announced. It was another one of those lump-in-the-throat moments when you are waiting for your name to be called. Unfortunately, we didn't win a Tops in Texas, but to have five nominations is unprecedented." Newspapers from throughout Texas were sent to ILPC for critique and judging. The judges rated the newspaper and nominated the top papers for Stars. The Star nominated papers went before a panel of judges to decide the Stars. More than 40 newspapers were nominated for Stars, and from that, 25 were selected to receive either a Gold, Silver or Bronze Star. "When my students are selling newspapers, they get very frustrated because people are indifferent sometimes," Lewis said. "They hear classmates talking about the amazing catch a football player makes on Friday night, but they seldom hear how good a newspaper story was or how good a photo was in the yearbook or newspaper. We usually hear complaints, not compliments. It can be very discouraging after you have written this amazing story and spent weeks designing a page and either no one notices or they complain because we don't have a gossip column or something equally ridiculous. But when your peers on the state level look at your work and say how marvelous it is and hand you a huge plaque commending you, it is all worthwhile. " |
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