Newsletter: Summer 2011 |

Students, advisers attend 63rd annual conference

Scholastic journalists and their teachers heard sessions on topics ranging from news writing to graphic design essentials at the New England Scholastic Press Association’s 63rd annual conference at Boston University’s College of Communication Friday, May 6.

Tom Fiedler, the College of Communication’s dean, welcomed the group of more than 650. Speakers included College of Communication faculty and students, national and regional professionals, and high school magazine, newsmagazine, newspaper, online publication and yearbook advisers and staff members.

Along with the results of All-New England and Special Achievement contests, those at the conference received 63 tips from the New England Scholastic Press Association’s Board of Judges on how staffs can improve their work.

TV journalist shows how she tells stories

Kelley Tuthill gives keynote speech

By Megan Welch

“I have a question for you,” WCVB-TV reporter Kelley Tuthill said. “Who can tell me where I went to college?”

Her question received blank stares from nearly everybody in the audience in Morse Auditorium.

“If you want to be a good story teller, you have to be a good listener,” Tuthill said.

These were the opening words of advice to students and their advisers at the New England Scholastic Press Association’s 63rd annual conference.

Tuthill, the keynote speaker and, as she had said, a graduate of Notre Dame, talked about telling stories with impact.

“If you don’t pay attention or listen, there is no way you can be a good storyteller,” she said.

Tuthill, who wrote for publications at Thayer Academy in Braintree before she graduated in 1988, said she knew from a young age that journalism was the right career for her.

For her, she said, the events matter less than the people do.

“When I look back at my career it’s not that I was at the presidential recount,” Tuthill said, referring to events in 2000. “That was amazing, but I’m more likely to remember the people I met there.”

With communications technology, news can be delivered instantaneously—and that has become the new expectation.

“You’re looking at a field that is changing so rapidly,” Tuthill said. “The minute we hear something and can confirm it’s true, we’re expected to tweet it out to people.

“People say that journalism is the first draft of history, but no one imagined that the draft would be 140 characters.”

Journalists need to get used to 140-character limits, and they also have to possess curiosity and read widely, she said.

“You have to care,” Tuthill said. “You have to care about other people, about things that are important and about getting stories right and being fair and thorough.”

If journalists care enough, sometimes their stories can have an impact on someone else’s life. Tuthill and WCVB-TV followed the story of a terminally ill woman from China whose dying wish was to see her parents a final time.

“I was really skeptical that our station could do anything when the federal government wouldn’t grant her parents a visa, but we helped make that happen,” she said, showing the family’s reunion.

“It’s about sticking with a story and seeing if you can change something,” Tuthill said.

“Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances have amazing stories to tell.”

One story Tuthill covered concerned the effects of budget cuts on fire departments’ response times.

She showed the impact on a Shirley, Mass., family whose house caught fire.

The local fire station was closed, but an off-duty firefighter who lived nearby went into the burning building and rescued the mother, who would otherwise have died. Her three children and their baby sitter had escaped from the blaze.

Tuthill also said that though journalists can make an impact, they have to keep a certain amount of distance from a story.

“Sometimes we want to be that person who helps too,” Tuthill said.

“But our job is to help in a different way—to tell the story and draw attention to the situation.”

“That’s my job: not to be an advocate, but to shine the light.”

Megan Welch is an editor of The Villager at Westport High School in Westport, Mass.

Panelists urge sensitivity when covering bullying, suicide

By Samantha Libraty

Especially after the suicide of Phoebe Prince, student news publications have done in-depth stories on bullying at their own schools.

At the New England Scholastic Press Association’s conference May 6, an attorney, an adviser and an editor in chief discussed related legal and ethical considerations.

The attorney, Robert Bertsche, is with Prince Lobel Glovsky & Tye. The adviser and the editor in chief, Harry Proudfoot and Samantha Cabral, are with The Villager, a daily newspaper at Westport High School in Westport, Mass.

Bertsche spoke about the Massachusetts law that gives student journalists in the commonwealth’s public schools First Amendment rights.

“The law in Massachusetts is absolute,” he said.

“But it’s only as absolute as people make it.”

Massachusetts student journalists are free to cover important, controversial stories without administrators holding them back, Bertsche said.

In covering bullying, Proudfoot said, student journalists should “run stories on victims, so that there is a first-person account of bullying.”

An ethical question with a first-person account is whether to run a student’s name.

Proudfoot and Cabral said that the student in question should decide whether to have his name published. The Villager puts an editor’s note at the top of the article indicating whether a name is real, they said.

“The role of the newspaper is to bring attention to social issues,” Cabral said. “When students are educated on things such as bullying and suicide, it is easier for them to realize that they should get help.”

Proudfoot said The Villager did an entire section on suicide, “not because it is a huge problem at our school, but because we wanted to be proactive in preventing it.”

“Make sure to stress the importance of help services available,” he said.

In dealing with suicide and a specific suicide in particular, Proudfoot said it “may sometimes be better to make the tough decision not to run a story.”

Samantha Libraty is an editor of The Newtonite at Newton North High School in Newtonville, Mass.

Journalist describes modern war reporting

Embedded in Iraq with National Guard unit

By Kait Kingman

Thomas Caywood, now a reporter with The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, said he had unique opportunities for story telling as an embedded correspondent in Iraq.

Caywood, a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Gulf War in 1991, said he and a photographer, John Wilcox, spent three and a half months covering the 42nd Military Police Company, a National Guard unit. Both journalists were with The Boston Herald at the time.

“We were chronicling a story on these soldiers’ lives and how the war changed them,” he said.

“I got to see the real them—the homesickness, the little practical jokes. Part of the story actually becomes yours because you’re also experiencing it with them.”

Power supplies made writing and uploading difficult, especially on missions, Caywood said.

“John and I would try to find an empty outlet and plug everything in as often as we could, to let it all charge.

“But even the small task of uploading pictures was difficult. We’d be in the process of uploading, and we’d lose power and have to start all over. The guys would be sitting there laughing at us for it.”

Journalists in war zones need to win trust, Caywood said.

“Here the roadside bombs are what get you,” he said. “It’s nerve-wracking.

“If you can’t keep up, not whine, or carry your own equipment, that’s going to be a problem. Everyone is fearful, but you can’t let that show. That goes back to living the story. They were tired and I was tired. No one had to say it.”

Caywood helped load and unload supplies, along with carrying his own gear.

“You have to do your part,” he said. “As the writer I wanted to be a part of the chores. I wanted to feel it.”

However, being involved also comes with responsibility, he said.

“You have to be accurate and professional,” Caywood said. “It’s good that you’re accountable for what you write.

“If it was a hoorah mission and they caught the bad guys, then they loved that story,” he said. “But if it showed them in a bad light, they hated it.”

“You’re there to write the good stories and you’re there to write the bad stories. You’re not their buddy.”

Ethics was a major issue, Caywood said.

“You get close to the soldiers, so you get influenced by them,” he said. “You are also a non-combatant and that is also an issue.

“As a non-combatant you are surrounded and protected by these men and women on missions.”

“You are also taking up a seat where they could have put another solider. So if you see someone with a gun in the distance you should tell one of the soldiers beside you, but I didn’t know if I could do that.”

“So the question became, ‘Am I going to die over journalism ethics?’”

Kait Kingman is an editor of The Villager at Westport High School in Westport, Mass.

Editors give advice about online news

By Maeghan Quinlan

Two Wayland Student Press Network editors gave suggestions at the conference May 6 on the whys and hows of starting, organizing and improving online news publications.

“With the web you can go into multimedia—photos, videos and social networking,” said Matthew Gutschenritter, co-editor in chief of the award-winning Wayland site with Evan Barber.

“You need to figure out what your goal is with your online publication.”

“When things are published online, people don’t have to wait to read something for two weeks or a month. They can get at it right away wherever they are.”

Creating an online publication means that each staff member needs to want to learn new skills, Barber said.

“You need to change the way you think,” Barber said. “The ‘I’m scared of computers and technology’ attitude has to go. Attitude is everything because the nature of journalism is always changing.”

Gutschenritter said content should drive the design.

“There are certain stories that would work better online than they would in print,” he said. “You can divide things up by what kind of content it is.”

“When getting started you have to find someone who knows their web stuff. The most common platform is WordPress. WordPress has plugins that help you with all kinds of things.”

Staying organized is crucial, Barber said.

“When you are putting an online publication together in class, we highly recommend using an internal email system,” Barber said. “A class website can help you stay organized. It keeps everything together from homework assignments to contact information and our class handbook.”

“A big thing online is rolling deadlines,” Barber said. “The deadlines are staggered. We set our website up so that we can have an article to publish when we need it or want it to be published.”

Challenges for existing online publications include attracting and holding an audience, the editors said.

“Social media is a big thing right now,” Barber said. “It is something that brings your articles around and it is a great way to bring people to your site. At the top of our website we have a twitter feed.”

To keep people coming back, publish as often as possible, Gutschenritter said.

“Each week we send about 400 emails to parents and subscribers to tell them what will be on the website soon,” he said.

Other techniques Barber suggested to keep the readers happy are to use:

short paragraphs and spread them out so they are pleasing to the eye
sidebars and/or enlarged type for important quotes
hyperlinks to other stories that are related
series of stories to keep readers coming back

“The best way to make your publication better is to look at what other people are doing,” Barber said.

But he said, “You can’t waste your time trying to do everything because your content will suffer and your content is extremely important.”

Maeghan Quinlan reports for The Villager at Westport High School in Westport, Mass.

63 Suggestions from NESPA judges

Judges who chose the Special Achievement Contest winners this year offered some suggestions for improvements.

Of the 1,138 Special Achievement Contest entries this year, 181 won awards.

Now, in the New England Scholastic Press Association’s 63rd year, here are 63 suggestions to help staffs continue to improve their work.

First of all, nice going!

Judges praised the winning entries.

Resulting suggestions for emulation include the following:

Set the stage with covers, tables of contents, teasers and/or home pages.
Put the emphasis on people and events rather than on the process of telling about them. Humanize the coverage.
Be ready to experiment with weird-seeming ideas and humor. There’s nothing like a good quiz. One winner was a series of pictures of faculty members’ noses, with the question, “Can you match the nose to the person?”
Use irony to make narration especially compelling in fiction and nonfiction.
Take into account readers’ tendency to want to scan. Use typographical devices to help them through long stories.
Connect the microcosm of the school to the macrocosm around it in terms that have meaning to your audience. One winning entry, for instance, explains how events in Egypt directly affected a teacher.
Use the right medium to reach your audience with a story. Should it be a photo? Slides with audio? Video? Text? One winning online entry let the audience hear the speakers and see their faces during a controversial demonstration, so that the result was excellent immediacy.
Over the course of the year, designate examples of the best work in each broadcast or publication. Review these examples to help decide on contest entries.
Keep the categories distinct when choosing materials. As one judge put it, “When you put a name at the top or bottom of an opinion piece, it becomes a column, not an editorial. An editorial is the paper’s opinion, not an individual’s.” Of the 86 pieces that publications entered as editorials this spring, judges moved 61 to other categories, primarily to bylined columns. Another judge noted that the term, news series, refers to stories about the same topic that were broadcast or published on different dates, not simultaneously.
Make sure the URL is valid and the material is live on the site so that online submissions are easy to find.
For print entries, send the tear sheet on which each entry appears. Judges of print submissions do not download and print out PDFs.
Make it clear which work you want judged. If, for example, a page carries several ads, designate exactly which ad is the entry.
Enter art that makes a statement on its own.
For slide shows, keep in mind that although the web gives you the freedom to put up much more work than you can publish in print, six to nine good pictures are better than 25 that are just so-so.
In a literary magazine or online exhibit, identify each piece of art and each photo so as to recognize students whose work you publish. Strive in a magazine to be as clear as a museum catalogue. Give the title, the medium and artistic intent along with the artist’s name, for instance “Portrait of My Mother,” watercolor by (name of artist).
If the work has no title, do give the artistic intent and the medium or media along with who created it: for instance, “Overlapping Shape Design,” watercolor by (name of artist).
Credit every picture accurately and carefully. Use artists’ and photographers’ full names.
Check on fair use. “Courtesy of” does not mean a picture is used by permission. For explicit guidelines on fair use and crediting pictures, contact the Student Press Law Center at splc.org or by calling 703-807-1904.
Be as careful of the sharpness of type and of images in ads as you are everywhere else.
For broadcast, be sure that people you show answering an interviewer’s questions look right into the camera, not above it.
At the end of a piece labeled as straight news, do not include a statement of opinion. Just tell the story and stop at the end of the facts. When explaining how to write broadcast news, professor Robert Baram, the New England Scholastic Press Association’s founder, once said: “Simply report. Do not exhort.”
In reporting any kind of controversy or conflict, inform your audience about opposing points of view.
In sports, inform your audience about opponents so as to set your own team’s challenges and accomplishments in perspective.
Keep in mind that captions are well read. Include enough information—all the names for all the visible faces—along with the what, when, where, why and how.
Remind the reporter/photographer to obtain a roster at a game or meet so as to facilitate IDs.
Focus editorials on subjects your readers can actually do something about.
End editorials whenever possible with a strong call for a specific action on the part of your readers.
Avoid dry, impersonal “term paper journalism.” Do not begin with a thesis statement.
Start with a timely lead that attracts attention and sets the focus.
Do not write to impress your English teacher. Instead, write to reach and inform your readers: all members of your own school community. Do not use “SAT words.”
Unless you are deliberately using chronological order, leave the oldest information for the end of the story.
Generally, don’t start a lead with the where or the when.
Use a feature lead for a feature story. Attract readers quickly by evoking emotion.
Keep leads shorter than 30 words.
Keep all paragraphs short. Don’t go much longer than six lines. Especially with the Internet, readers expect to scan.
Avoid clichés. As one judge said, “Quote coaches who say something surprising, not ‘They tried hard.’”
Keep in mind the need to control four main design elements: headlines, artwork, body type and white space.
Avoid strict symmetry, especially on facing pages and spreads.
Show the reader where to start, where to go next and where to finish. Try using an underlying “Z” shape to suggest the route you want the readers’ eyes to follow.
Use modular design, which means all the elements square off.
Decrease the size and boldness of headline type as you go down a page. Do not have all one-line, three- or four-word, 36-point bold headlines.
Run artwork—drawings, photos, ads, informational graphics—of some kind on every page or set of facing pages.
Do not interrupt columns of type with a picture that the reader has to jump over several times so as to keep reading the story.
Do not expect readers to go back and forth among photos and captions. Run the captions directly adjacent to their related photos.
Never run body type all the way across a newspaper page. Instead, keep to a column width that is one-and-a-half times the length of the lowercase alphabet.
Break up the gray. Avoid the “telephone book look.” Use subheads, bullets and boldfaced lead-ins to provide relief from long columns of body type.
Use sidebars to highlight angles of a long story.
Even when you think the work is all done, go over it one more time so as to eliminate avoidable errors.
Make each word count.
Do not use the same words in the transition into the quote as what the person says in the quote.
Use “downstyle” in headlines. Capitalize as you would in a sentence.
If you decide to use the relatively old-fashioned “upstyle” for headlines, capitalize as you would in a composition title. Never capitalize a, an and the
Separate lines of headlines on sense. Avoid ending the top line with a preposition or modifier that’s split off from what it modifies.
Never syllabicate words from line to line in headlines.
Make sure pronouns agree with antecedents.
Make sure subjects and verbs agree in number.
Use the minimum of punctuation.
Check punctuation for accuracy. Do not confuse hyphens (-) and dashes (—). Be sure apostrophes are there when necessary.
Avoid question and quote leads.
Avoid the overuse of talking heads.
Do not run type over dark tones.
Do not butt heads, including headlines at the tops of facing pages.
Know your audience.

All New England Awards for 2011

Broadcast

First Place

Panther TV, Plymouth South High School, Plymouth, Mass.

Magazines

Class I

Register, Boston Latin, Boston, Mass.

Class III
First place – tie

Panoply, Sacred Heart High School in Kingston, Mass.
Voice, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.

Second place

The Villager Focus, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Online

First Place

Wayland Student Press.com, Wayland High School, Wayland, Mass.

Second Place

The Rebellion online, Walpole High School, Walpole, Mass.

Newspapers

Class I
First Place – tie

Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
The Winnachronicle, Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, N.H.

Second Place

The Lion’s Roar, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.

Third Place – tie

The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
The Newtonite, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.

Class III
First Place

The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Second Place

Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School in Kingston, Mass.

Yearbooks

Class I
First Place

Trillium, Trumbull High School, Trumbull, Conn.

Class II
First Place

The Pride, Biddeford High School, Biddeford, Maine

Class III
First Place – tie

Corric, Sacred Heart High School in Kingston, Mass.
The Black and Orange, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.

Special Achievement Awards 2011

Broadcast

Documentary

“Pregnancy,” Florence Gonsalves and Carissa Brown, Plymouth North News, Plymouth North High School, Plymouth, Mass.

Feature story

“Breast Cancer,” Florence Gonsalves and Brianna Fazio, Plymouth North News, Plymouth North High School, Plymouth, Mass.
“Thanksgiving in America’s Hometown,” Walter Cicchetti, Panther TV, Plymouth South High School, Plymouth, Mass.

News story

“Ellis Island,” Olivia Savage, Samantha Fanning, Annie Deloid, Panther TV, Plymouth South High School, Plymouth, Mass.
“Project Adventure,” Nikki Bevans, Panther TV, Plymouth South High School, Plymouth, Mass.

PSA

“Be a Hero,” Jenn Weatherhead, Amber Tanderes, Panther TV, Plymouth South High School, Plymouth, Mass.
“Save your ‘Deer’ Life” Walter Cicchetti, Haley Wentworth, Dominique DeCola, Panther TV, Plymouth South High School, Plymouth, Mass.

Magazine

Artwork

“Floral Eruption,” Katie Gilroy, The Halyard, Norwell High School, Norwell, Mass.
“Pitcher,” Olivia Bourque, The Halyard, Norwell High School, Norwell, Mass.
“Inner Clown,” Arianna Petrelli, Panoply, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“page 58,” Erin Martell, Ramblings, Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, Billerica, Mass.

Cover design

“Glee Parody Cover,” Katie MacVarish, Voice, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.

Fiction

“Just Another Silly Game,” Shane Gallagher,Voice, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.

Nonfiction

“Otis,” Abby Sullivan, Voice, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.
“A Wish Your Heart Makes,” Sam Martin, Voice, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.

Photography

“Untitled,” page 13, Teddy Wenneker, Thoughtprints, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.
“Girl in the Forest,” Julia Driscoll, The Halyard, Norwell High School, Norwell, Mass.
“page 22,” Ramblings, Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, Billerica, Mass.
“Airplane View,” Irini Sotiri, Voice, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.
“Snow Coast,” Jamie Williams, The Literary Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Poetry

“Reflections on the Pool,” Morgan Gallagher, The Halyard, Norwell High School, Norwell, Mass.
“When You Looked at Me,” Ashley Lamoreaux, The Halyard, Norwell High School, Norwell, Mass.

Newspaper

Advertisement

“Advantage Testing of Boston,” Jason Yoffe and Dan Kats, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Don’t Be Silly,” Samantha Cabral, Madlyn MacKillop and Carissa Broadbent, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Artwork /cartoon

“College interview,” Atri Raychowdhury, The Musket, Lexington High School, Lexington, Mass.
“Masthead, 2/17/11,” Mary-Louise Howell, The High School View, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs, Mass.
“Masthead, 3/17/2011,” Mary-Louise Howell, The High School View, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs, Mass.
“Ahh! Okay, okay; I’m up!” James Whalen, WHS Express, Wakefield High School, Wakefield, Mass.
“The shape of our eyes,” Carissa Broadbent, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Cancelled school ain’t so cool,” Ethan Riley, The Winnachronicle, Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, N.H.

Bylined column

“Mathletes be steady mobbin’,” Arjuna Keshavan, The Algonquin Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass.
“Common courtesy is knocking on your door,” Rosebella Finnegan, Hatters’ Herald, Danbury High School, Danbury, Conn.
“Students disrespect war veteran,” Brandon Lisi, Hatters’ Herald, Danbury High School, Danbury, Conn.
“Deface, Damage, Destroy: Students put the D in vandalism,” Laurie Ann Moses, Hatters’ Herald, Danbury High School, Danbury, Conn.
“Obama kills puppies and other legitimized myths,” Dan Mills, The Forum, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Mass.
“Mourning a fallen soldier—a political gambit?” Cameron Shorb, The Forum, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Mass.
“A real teen mom’s story,” Kali Lombardi, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Beware the Manther,” Morgan McGrath, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Teacher texting testing boundaries,” Mel McIntire, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Fans embarrass Lancer Nation,” Matt Rosenberg, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Gap years: Is taking a gap year beneficial to students?” Kaitlin McDonagh and Rebecca Lynch, The Independent, Manchester Essex Regional High School, Manchester, Mass.
“On in-school sleep walking,” Anna Yukevich, The High School View, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs, Mass.
“The power of words,” Emmanuel Johnson, Veritas, Nantucket High School, Nantucket, Mass.
“School is still a blank canvas,” Marena Cole, The Newtonite, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.
“Change is possible,” Bill Matson, The Rebellion, South Kingstown High School, Wakefield, R.I.
“Flawed teacher layoff system reduces education quality,” Caroline Cohn, The Rebellion, Walpole High School, Walpole, Mass.
“Learning Commons café cut short,” Emily Cimino, Terrier Times, West Springfield, Mass.
“OCD caused me to wash my hands until they bled,” Sara Pereira, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Short Shorts: Homophobia at Wilbur Cross,” Sophie Dillon, The Proclamation, Wilbur Cross High School, New Haven, Conn.

Editorial

“Sex: People do it,” Sydney McKinley, The Algonquin Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass.
“It’s all a game,” Sydney McKinley and Palak Walia, The Algonquin Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass.
“Keep the chivalry in the rivalry,” Haley Skov, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Where should the money go?” Courtney Buohl, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“Budget knives threaten innocent,” Samantha Cabral, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Admin needs to take petition seriously,” Samantha Cabral, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Feature page design

“Depression,” Jocelyn Nerney, The LancerSpirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Teen pregnancy,” Autumn Eustis, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Alzheimer’s affects more than the elderly,” Ellis Friedman, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“Casting a spell,” Jessica Manning, The Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.

Feature photo

“‘Of Mice and Men’ qualifies,” Elizabeth Cahill, The Algonquin Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass.
“Harmony of winds,” Mel Taing, The Algonquin Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass.
“Vampire Finds Opportunity on Stage,” Sam Colleran, Extempore, Brattleboro Union High School, Brattleboro, Vt.
“Artist thinks outside the frame,” Anna Westerholm, Hatters’ Herald, Danbury High School, Danbury, Conn.
“Could Oceans Divide be Kennedy’s best rock band?” Katianna Seman, The Eagle Flyer, Kennedy High School, Waterbury, Conn.
“Beautiful Burlesque beams,” Shannelle Ruggiero, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Mural,” Tova Katzman, High School View, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs, Mass.
“Last days of autumn,” Evan Theroux, Veritas, Nantucket High School, Nantucket, Mass.
“Hal and Robert,” Brittany Bishop, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Surviving without romance,” Madlyn MacKillop, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Feature story

“Gender discrepancies,” Palak Walia, The Algonquin Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass.
“From Hallways to Horses,” Richie Carter, Insight, Barnstable High School, Hyannis, Mass.
“A day to remember,” Samuel Wollak, Insight, Barnstable High school, Hyannis, Mass.
“Cori’s senior project a labor of love,” Pauline Adams, Eagle Times, Bonny Eagle High School, Standish, Maine
“Bullying less overt, more high-tech,” Meredith Patenaude, The Hawk’s Eye, Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, Conn.
“One girl strives to find cure for cancer,” Alyssa Smith, The Eagle Flyer, Kennedy High School, Waterbury, Conn.
“Community mourns Milley,” Victoria Sorkin and Stephanie Bower, The Forum, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Mass.
“Artist of the month: Meredythe Leonard,” Haley Skov, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High School, Londonderry, N.H.
“Events in Egypt hit home for art teacher,” Caroline Wood, The Independent, Manchester Essex Regional High School, Manchester, Mass.
“Eat, prepare, love,” Emmajean Holley, High School View, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs, Mass.
“Your favorite gadget may be hurting your brain,” Natalie Kocab, The Masuk Free Press, Masuk High School, Monroe, Conn.
“Hunting: A Nantucket Pastime,” Shawn Stojak, Veritas, Nantucket High School, Nantucket, Mass.
“Student maintains positive attitude despite cancer diagnosis,” Hye-Jung Yang, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Demonstrating courage for others to see,” Julia Rayberg, Veritas, Rockland High School, Rockland, Mass.
“Connolly’s calling to Christ,” Tim Habeeb, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“Faith Experiences: Growing up Catholic,” Tim Habeeb, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“Shedding light on Sacred Heart’s closet,” Joe Nelson, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“School says no to hugging,” Paige Comstock, The Rebellion, South Kingstown High School, Wakefield, R.I.
“Hazing,” Brennan Murray, Voice, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.
“The Ever Afters of Teenage Moms,” Grace Slawski, Terrier Times, West Springfield High School, West Springfield, Mass.
“Cancer family affair,” Sierra Liberty, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Stalking Colley,” Megan Welch, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Informational graphic

“Students who text in class,” Tessa Holmes and Maddie Mercier, Spotlight, South Hadley High School, South Hadley, Mass.

News page design

“Page 1, December 7, 2010,” Hilary Blumberg, The Newtonite, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.
“2010 may be last year for South cafeteria staff,“ Alex Gershanov, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Page 1, December 7, 2010,” Nathanial Moore, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.

News photo

“Union supporters walk out,” Kerry Grove, The Sagamore, Brookline High School, Brookline, Mass.
“Crouch quadruplets make dream decision,” Nicole Bullard, Hatters’ Herald, Danbury High School, Danbury, Conn.
“Newton drowns in post flood woes,” Alex Gershanov, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Evacuation Day,” Chelsea Jolicoeur, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

News series

“South Hadley tragedy prompts bullying law,” “Students plead not guilty to bullying charges,” “CCC works to improve high school” and “Media portrayal tarnishes town,” Peter Lambert, Jeff Mitchell and the editorial staff, Spotlight, South Hadley High School, South Hadley, Mass.
“The Budget,” Meg Welch, Andrew Nadeau, Kait Kingman and Chelsea Jolicoeur, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Liver transplant,” Tayla Arruda, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

News story

“Students sound off on cell policy,” Shannon Temlak, The Algonquin Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass.
“Facebook conversation results in two arrests,” Anita Knopov and Ayush Kumar, The Sagamore, Brookline High School, Brookline, Mass.
“L-S federal aid allows for new positions,” Cameron Shorb, The Forum, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Mass.
“Tsunami and quake devastate Japan,” Ryan Kenney, The Forum, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Mass.
“The Recs: The real story,” Danielle Garrand, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High school, Londonderry, N.H.
“Graduation location decided,” Matt Rosenberg, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High school, Londonderry, N.H.
“Teens honored in Boston,” Emmajean Holley, The High School View, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs, Mass.
“Cape Wind receives final approval from Salazar,” Ashleigh Inglis, Veritas, Nantucket High School, Nantucket, Mass.
“Committee cuts lunch options,” Hilary Blumberg, The Newtonite, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.
“Petition drafted to improve school lunch,” Alex Gershanov, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Heart pumps blood for Red Cross,” Kate Jamison, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“White Out,” Cameron MacDonald, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Search and Seizure,” Samantha Cabral, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Alumna dies in car accident,” Meg Welch, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Opinion page design

“Balancing religion and state,” Tim Habeeb, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.

Photo illustration

“Cross country: They just keep going and going,” Jimmy Guo, The Masuk Free Press, Masuk High School, Monroe, Conn.
“Nose quiz,” Zeb Bennett and Lucy McGowan, Veritas, Nantucket High School, Nantucket, Mass.

Review

“Sam on Superman,” Sam Wollak, Insight, Barnstable High School, Hyannis, Mass.
“King’s Speech an engaging slice of history,” Kelley Gordon, The Hawk’s Eye, Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, Conn.
“A restrained Radiohead produces a verveless album,” Lucy Weltner, The Forum, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, Mass.
“Best I ever heard: Drake’s debut smash,” Scott Murphy, The Lancer Spirit, Londonderry High school, Londonderry, N.H.
“Hale St. offers upbeat aura, sushi bar,” Kyle Marsh, The Independent, Manchester Essex Regional High School, Manchester, Mass.
“Menomena brings experimental rock to Boston,” Nick Bouwer, The Independent, Manchester Essex Regional High School, Manchester, Mass.
“The Script continues successful style in sophomore effort,” Rebecca Lynch, The Independent, Manchester Essex Regional High School, Manchester, Mass.
“Book review,” Amanda Sands, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Lavigne’s Lullaby lags,” Jeff Whitney, Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“Nothing sick about these sickies,” Sara Pereira, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Cosgrove can act, but sing?” Tayla Arruda, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Just Kids Review,” Thea Doyon, The Proclamation, Wilbur Cross High School, New Haven, Conn.

Sports page design

“Page 8, October, 2010,” Amanda McDonald and Kariane Gentry, The Eagle, Plymouth North High School, Plymouth, Mass.

Sports photo

“Playing together,” Catarina Massa, Hatters’ Herald, Danbury High School, Danbury, Conn.
“Swimming,” Merrill McCluskey, Veritas, Nantucket High School, Nantucket, Mass.
“Skaters enjoy warm weather,” Zeb Bennett, Veritas, Nantucket High School, Nantucket, Mass.
“Jump for it,” Teddy Wenneker, The Newtonite, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.
“In the air,” Teddy Wenneker, The Newtonite, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.
“Lacrosse practice,” Teddy Wenneker, The Newtonite, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.
“Freshmen join varsity squads,” Jenna Marles, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Tyler Araujo tried to drive,” Madlyn MacKillop, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.
“Foul shot,” Max Santeusanio, The Winnachronicle, Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, N.H.

Sports story

“McBarron Hits the Mat,” Tayler McBarron, Insight, Barnstable High School, Hyannis, Mass.
“Freshman makes an instant impact,” Jessica MacDonald, Eagle Times, Bonny Eagle High School, Standish, Maine
“Students dream of marathon glory,” Rohan Lewis, The Sagamore, Brookline High School, Brookline, Mass.
“Girls end season with loss at New Bedford,” Kristian Lundberg, The Newtonite, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.
“Boys’ gymnastics team gains members, spirit,” Zach Pawa, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.
“Sacred Heart and Carver join forces,” Amy McGann, The Heart Beat, Sacred Heart High School, Kingston, Mass.
“Power Bracelets Bring Confidence to Athletes,” Jack Blessing, The Rebellion, South Kingstown High School, Wakefield, R.I.
“The fast, the furious, the stupid,” Tyler Ellis, The Villager, Westport High School, Westport, Mass.

Typographical design

“Gender discrepancies,” Adena Modestow, The Algonquin Harbinger, Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, Mass.

Special award

“50^th edition, 1961-2011,” senior editors and staff, Denebola, Newton South High School, Newton Centre, Mass.

Online/multimedia

“Interactive graphics,” Hudson Klebs,The High School View, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Oak Bluffs, Mass.

Podcast

“Students rally for acceptance at WBC protest,” Evan Barber, Oliver Levin and Ben Rabin, Wayland Student Press Network, Wayland High School, Wayland, Mass.
“It’s a family affair: A talk with Towers,” Ethan Walshe, WAGhostwriter, Westford Academy, Westford, Mass.

Slide show with photos

“Students and community raise money, counter-protest at Westboro Baptist protest,” Brianna Fay, Matthew Gutschenritter, Cole Mahlowitz, Wayland Student Press Network, Wayland High School, Wayland, Mass.

Yearbook

Captions

“Basketball, Word of the Day, Baseball and softball,” 2010 Trillium Executive Board, Trillium, Trumbull High School, Trumbull, Conn.

Cover

“Bringing Down the House, Brick by Brick,” Anna Cole Crosbie, Newtonian, Newton North High School, Newtonville, Mass.

Feature photo

“Homecoming Rally,” Kari Kennedy, The Pride, Biddeford High School, Biddeford, Maine
“Designing Dreams,” Kirsten King, Black and Orange, Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass.

Feature spread

“Tools of the Trade,” 2010 Trillium Executive Board, Trillium,”Trumbull High School, Trumbull, Conn.
“Fine Arts,” Katie Duchaney, Sachem, Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, N.H.

Feature story

“Lend a Hand,” 2010 Trillium Executive Board, Trillium, Trumbull High School, Trumbull, Conn.

Sports photo

“Baseball,” Molly Pickard, Sachem, Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, N.H.

Sports spread

“Athletics,” Cam MacLeod, Sachem, Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, N.H.
“Basketball,” Becca Morse, Sachem, Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, N.H.

Theme development and cover

“Dig It,” 2010 Trillium Executive Board, Trillium, Trumbull High School, Trumbull, Conn.

Typographical design

“Divider pages,” 2010 Trillium Executive Board, Trillium,” Trumbull High School, Trumbull, Conn.
“Headline treatment, Prom 2009,” Becca Morse, Sachem, Winnacunnet High School, Hampton, N.H.