Each year the Sterling High School journalism staff submits its yearbook and magazine to contests hosted by the Kansas Scholastic Press Association in hopes of earning top honors.
On Tuesday, the All-Kansas News Publication Awards, which are the top newspaper and magazine awards in the state, were announced, and the 2016-17 volume of the Sterling Cub Reporter came out on top in the 3A classification.
“This is an incredible honor and testament to the hard work the student journalists put into their publications,” journalism adviser Todd Vogts said. “We were one of only three 3A schools to be recognized with an All-Kansas distinction this year in this category, so that’s pretty incredible. There were at total 37 news publications submitted for critique across all classifications, and there were only 20 All-Kansas awards.”
The Sterling Cub Reporter magazine was entered this spring. To enter, three issues of the magazine produced during this school year had to be entered, at least two of which had to be consecutive issues. The three issues represented the entire year of the publication, which was then judged using a rubric.
Vogts said the 3A classification is full of strong programs, which makes being an All-Kansas News Publication extra special.
“The way the contest works is that there could essentially be any number of All-Kansas publications,” he said. “KSPA could give the honor to 20 or zero publications in any classification. Each publication is judged individually based upon a rubric. If the publication makes the grade, it gets the honor. If it isn’t up to snuff, it doesn’t get the honor. It’s nice because our publication is judged on its own merits instead of in comparison to other programs directly like a lot of competitions we enter.”
The 2016-17 Cub Reporter was lead by seniors Lexi Rose and Dallas Lackey, who where the co-editors. Other staff members included current seniors Will Dutton and Lindsay Gilmore, and sophomore McKiah San Miguel.
Winning the award gives next year’s staff something to strive for, and the rubric provided by the judge gives the staff members ideas for areas of improvement.
“Now the students working on the 2017-18 Cub Reporter know they need to be at the top of their game if they want to achieve All-Kansas distinction again next year,” Vogts said. “They are already doing great work, and the insights provided by the judge in the critique will be helpful in taking the magazine up to the next level. I am confident about entering again next year.”
For a complete list of All-Kansas News Publication and other spring All-Kansas contest winners, visit https://www.kspaonline.org/news/2017/04/25/2017-all-kansas-spring-winners/.
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