Jessieville, Lakeside, Centerpoint recognized at ASPA

A Jessieville High School senior, Lakeside High School's broadcasting program and the yearbook staffs for both schools, as well as Centerpoint High School, were handsomely rewarded for their efforts this year during the Arkansas Scholastic Press Association's annual meeting last week.

The 2017 ASPA Convention and Contest was held Thursday and Friday at the Hot Springs Convention Center. Students were judged in contests from previously submitted work and competitions on-site.

Jessieville senior Victoria Radke was one of the convention's most decorated students with the Journalism Education Association Journalist of the Year award among 14 she received at the event. Students from Fort Smith Southside High School have won the award nine of the 11 times it has been presented since 2005, including the last four.

Radke has been offered a scholarship by New York University and is a member of the ASPA Graduate Scholars Class of 2017. She won the Designer of the Year award for high schools in classifications 1A-4A and the Yearbook Editor of the Year award for Class 3A.

Results from many of the contests are assessments based on three levels of recognition. The top submissions received ratings of superior, the second-best submissions were rated as excellent and other work was given honorable mention.

Radke was the only local student recognized in the newspaper category. She received an excellent rating for News Story and an honorable mention for Sports News Story.

The rest of her award haul came from the yearbook category: Cover Design, superior; Sports Copy, superior; Sports Layout, superior; Sports Photograph, superior; Theme Development, superior; Theme Photograph, superior; Clubs Copy, excellent; Club Layout, excellent; and Club Photograph, honorable mention.

Lakeside TV earned ratings of excellent in the general excellence categories of broadcast and film. The broadcasting program also received the Best Dressed award during the conference banquet.

The Jessieville "Lion" received a rating of superior in the general excellence category of yearbook. Centerpoint's "Excalibur" and Lakeside's "Ram" were each given honorable mention. All three schools were rated highly throughout the yearbook contests.

Radke's fellow ASPA Graduate Scholar Shelby Dale was rated superior for Student Life Copy, excellent for Special Coverage and excellent for Student Life Layout. Lindsey Caldwell won the 2016 Best of ASPA award for Yearbook Academic Copy and was rated superior in the contest. She was also rated excellent in Academic Layout and honorable mention in Advertising Layout.

Lexi Bassett and Kali Klitz were given honorable mention for the "Lion" in Student Life Photograph. Jax Belin and Hazel Bonilla were given honorable mention in Academic Photograph.

Centerpoint senior Dominique Benedict, an ASPA Graduate Scholar, received recognition in seven yearbook contests: Theme Development, superior, with Mason Thomas; Cover Design, excellent; Environmental Portrait, excellent; Advertising Layout, honorable mention, with Jaide Vavra; People Layout, honorable mention; Sports Photograph, honorable mention; and Student Life Photograph, honorable mention.

Other awards were received for "Excalibur" by Keasha Owens, Student Life Layout, excellent; Franco Zuniga, excellent in Sports Copy and excellent in Sports Layout; Thomas, honorable mention in each of Clubs Copy, Club Layout and Club Photograph; Jaycee Jester, honorable mention in each of Academic Copy, Academic Layout and Academic Photograph; Lydia Lambert, Special Coverage, honorable mention; and Hannah Diggs, Student Life Copy, honorable mention. Diggs also won the Business Manager of the Year award.

Paige Arthur won four awards for her work on the "Ram:" Sports Photograph, superior; People Copy, excellent; Student Life Copy, excellent; and Student Life Photograph, excellent. The "Ram" staff earned superior in Theme Development.

Lakeside's Savanna Bader was recognized in five contests. She received honorable mention in Academic Layout, People Layout, Special Coverage, Sports Layout and Student Life Layout.

Other Lakeside yearbook award recipients were Sidra Hansen, Academic Copy, superior; Tori Lowry, superior in Clubs Copy and excellent in Academic Photograph; and Sidney Hanson, Sports Copy, superior.

Lakeside TV's Madelyn Lawrence and Mary Rachel Walston were rated superior in the broadcasting category of Sports Package and received the category's Best of ASPA award. Lawrence placed second in the Video Editor of the Year contest and was rated excellent in Demo Reel. Walston placed third in Film Cinematographer of the Year.

Collin Gallimore and Scarlett Gooch placed second and third in Film Producer of the Year and joined with Shelby Little to earn a superior rating in Music Video. Gooch was also rated superior in Demo Reel.

Shelby Little tied for second place in film for Cinematographer of the Year with Andrew Trice from Fayetteville High School. Kaitlin Mitchell and Danny Price also finished in second place for Film Editor of the Year and Screenwriter of the Year, respectively.

Price was rated superior in Screenplay. Other Lakeside students recognized in film contests were Zoey Lawless and Carington Salazar, Film Documentary, superior; Elizabeth Patrico, Narrative Film, excellent; and Logan Gaston and Katelyn Headley, Short Narrative Film, excellent.

Lakeside's broadcasting staff earned a superior rating in Weekly Show. Other broadcast ratings were Lawless and Webb, News Package, superior; Garett Roberts, Human Interest or Serious Feature Story; Sydney Blount, Show Opening, excellent; and Emily Conly and Natalie Conly, Humorous Feature Package, honorable mention.

Students recognized in the video production contests were Samantha Rutherford, Animation/Stop Motion, superior; Jonathan Webb, Commercial, excellent; Reina Gutierrez, Public Service Announcement, excellent; and Cathleen Criss and Callie Dodd, Public Service Announcement, excellent.

The ASPA was renamed from the Arkansas High School Press Association in 1988 and has held conferences every year since 1951. The AHSPA was founded in 1929 and 14 schools attended the first convention that April at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

The officers of the Arkansas Journalism Advisers Association serve as the ASPA's governing board. Jennifer Garner, of Lakeside, is vice president of the AJAA

Erin Radke, of Jessieville, serves as AJAA secretary. Jessieville High School was also re-elected as the ASPA secretary school for 2018.

Local on 04/26/2017

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