WPCI awards more than 50 high school winners
Here are results for the 2008 WPCI High School Contest:
Editorial
- First place: Matt Spears, Warren Central High School, Indianapolis; "MRSA is not the next coming of the black plague, not yet anyway"; Adviser: Mark Haab.
- From the judge: This is a well-written discussion of staph infections and how they are spread, defusing fears of an epidemic. Matt takes a common sense approach, making sense in the process.
- Second place: Sara Walker, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Third place: Lindsey Pittman, Greenwood Community High School, Greenwood.
- Honorable mention: Kate Wisley, Southport High School, Indianapolis.
Opinion
- First place: Kristine Morgan, Southport High School, Indianapolis; "Families of alcoholics suffer from the disease, too"; Adviser: Mike Klopfenstein.
- From the judge: The writer takes a very personal subject and bares her soul in hopes of helping her classmates. She does so in a frank way, without preaching. Instead, she takes the "been-there-done-that" and "here's-how-to-get-help" approach.
- Second place: Kevin Gottlieb, Center Grove High School, Greenwood.
- Third place: Frank Evan Freeman, R. Nelson Snider High School, Fort Wayne.
- Honorable mention: Beth McManus and Allison Troutner, Leo Junior/Senior High School, Leo.
News
- First place: Nicole Burts, Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis; "Custodial work merits respect"; Adviser: Heather Stockdell.
- From the judge: Burts "cleaned up" on this category with her compelling lead, good research and descriptive writing on the day in the life of a school custodian.
- Second place: Lauren Chapman, Warren Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Third place: Michael Wang, Carmel High School, Carmel.
- Honorable mention: Nicholas Maudlin, Noblesville High School, Noblesville.
Feature
- First place: Abby Large, Southport High School, Indianapolis;
"Coming out: Teens face emotional and social difficulty in revealing their orientation to others"; Adviser: Mike Klopfenstein.
- From the judge: In a field of excellent feature story entries this year, Abby Large's article on "Coming Out" stands out. Woven in the engaging narrative is the info from experts and documentary sources, lending contrast and support for the story's examination of what surely must be a traumatic transition for young teens. Bravo to the writer for making the story flow effortlessly, and for her ability to not only find these candid students willing to share their stories, but also for her ability to handle their stories with respect and professionalism.
- Second place: Mary Queisser, Carmel High School, Carmel.
- Third place: Lierin Ehmke, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Honorable mention: Nicole Hong, Munster High School, Munster.
Sports
- First place: Zach Bucholtz, Munster High School, Munster; "Sectional showdown"; Adviser: Nancy Hastings.
- From the judge: Writer has firm grasp of topic. Clean copy, well-written story, strong lead, good transition, good organization of facts, good use of quotations, good background information, nice review of team's success, three sources. Fun to read!
- Second place: Nathan Pace, Center Grove High School, Greenwood.
- Third place: Brian Karski, Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis.
- Honorable mention: Eric Rees, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis.
Columns
- First place: Jaclyn Chen, Carmel High School, Carmel; "I Tell It Like It Is"; Adviser: Jim Streisel.
- From the judge: Her "I Tell It Like It Is" column came close to editorializing, but it fits the criteria of analytical scrutiny and personal comment. I particularly liked "Should be a small world after all" and felt empathy for the owner of the consignment shop being forced to move. Jaclyn's research on this piece was excellent. She was equally good with "Distinguished Grad emphasizes quantity over quality." I agreed with her opinion and hope her views help reinstate the tradition of having a valedictorian. My only complaint was with the third column, "Censoring controversy undermines education." She had a legitimate subject, but she relied on what the Indianapolis Star wrote without interviewing the teacher or the school board. A good writer should never rely on what another writer has written, no matter how thorough that story may have been. Overall, however, Jaclyn is a very talented writer with a smooth style.
- Second place: Ashley Peek, Warren Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Third place: Frank Evan Freeman, R. Nelson Snider High School, Fort Wayne.
- Honorable mention: Ally Denton, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis.
Cartoon
- First place: Michael Bush, Southport High School, Indianapolis; "Progress"; Adviser: Mike Klopfenstein
- From the judge: Cleanly drawn and presented. The cartoon reads well and isn't cluttered with unneeded rendering or shading. Simple and to the point usually equals great cartooning and this artist did just that.
- Second place: Thomas E. Grooms III, Noblesville High School, Noblesville.
- Third place: Taylor Norris, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Honorable mention: Nick Reasoner, Warren Central High School, Indianapolis.
Sports Photo
- From the judge: Most of sports photography is being in the right place at the right time. The young photographer got it right with this shot. It is technically clean and taken at precisely the right second. Great work.
Feature Photo
- First place: Allie Renkert, Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis; "Band overcomes challenges to make successful season"; Adviser: Heather Stockdell.
- From the judge: This is technically very pleasing. It uses scale and balance to intertwine the story and the image in positive light. The image is nicely shot and cropped to perfection.
- Second place: Tori Kissner, Warren Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Third place: Mimi Strobel, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Honorable mention: Sarah Roberts, Munster High School, Munster.
Reviews
- First place: Jeanette Wall, Center Grove High School, Greenwood; "You Kill Me, Klosterman"; Adviser: Melissa Warner.
- From the judge: This is definitely not your standard by-the-numbers review. It more than fulfills the judging criteria to be "creatively written" and "rich in style." It is full of enthusiasm and gives the reader a good sense of why the reviewer is so enthusiastic. It includes specifics but none that would spoil the reading of the book itself. It is entertaining as well as informed. It entices the reader to seek out the book and, as the reviewer says, "dive in." Good job.
- Second place: Abby Large, Southport High School, Indianapolis.
- Third place: Katharine Rinker and Kelsey Olson, Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis.
- Honorable mention: Hillary May, Leo Junior/Senior High School, Leo.
Graphics
- First place: Nick Reasoner, Warren Central High School, Indianapolis; "The American Dream"; Adviser: Mark Haab.
- From the judge: This is a crisp, clean graphic that doesn't overwhelm the reader. It catches the eye and is visually complete. Well done.
- Second place: Matthew Kanitra, Carmel High School, Carmel.
- Third place: Ross Shafer, Fishers High School, Fishers.
- Honorable mention: Lauren Thoman, Leo Junior/Senior High School, Leo.
Single Page Layout
- First place: Shannon Veerkamp, Greenwood Community High School, Greenwood; "Wearable art that comes from the heart"; Adviser: Denise Roberts.
- From the judge: This page was very well designed overall. I like that the pages makes sense as a whole and looks like a piece of art itself. I like the incorporation of the design logo throughout the page; it draws the eye down the page to every aspect of the design. The cutouts look nice and the way they were positioned worked well. I like the graphic element on the bottom of the page with the customer reviews along with photos of the customers. The use of color is very nice. There is a lot of color in the photos themselves, so the decision to not use much color in the background was very smart. More color would have overwhelmed the page. The faded photo in the background brought the whole page together very nicely. The only thing I could find that may have taken away from the page was the word "art" in the headline. I really like the font, but because of the color, the lines and the angle of the word, it gets lost in the background of the photo. I read the headline without the word "art" in it a few times before I saw it. It may have worked better if the word "art" was put more toward the left of the page where there was more negative space. Overall, the page looked very well thought-out and really added to the story.
- Second place: Tori Kissner, Warren Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Third place: Chenyun (Nancy) Tan, Carmel High School, Carmel.
- Honorable mention: Patrick Davis, R. Nelson Snider High School, Fort Wayne.
Double-Truck Layout
- First place: Meredith Dover, Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis; "The race for equality"; Adviser: Heather Stockdell.
- From the judge: When I first opened these pages, the overall design caught my eye. For such a sensitive topic, it was illustrated very well. There were several graphic elements such as graphics, pull quotes with photos, questions and statistics. They were placed very well, kept my eye moving across the entire page. It also made it easy to digest the information in smaller bites instead of just one long overwhelming story. The use of color and fonts worked well; they were appropriate for the topic. The entire page really had the feel of a well-researched and informative story. The only suggestions that I have are to be consistent with font size/case with student names in the round table discussion. Overall I was very impressed that this page was done by high school students. Very well done.
- Second place: Jessi Bratton, Southport High School, Indianapolis.
- Third place: Ross Shafer, Fishers High School, Indianapolis.
- Honorable mention: Amanda Bowman, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis.
Environment
- First place: Mary Queisser, Carmel High School, Carmel; "Students become more environmentally aware"; Adviser: Jim Streisel.
- From the judge: I liked the consistency of the story, beginning with the Starbucks policy on the company's container, reinforced with a variety of quotes. The reporter keeps her own opinion out of the story.
- Second place: Staff, Warren Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Third place: Maddy Paschal and Mykel Kennedy, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis.
- Honorable mention: Meredith Kipp, Noblesville High School, Noblesville.
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The fine print:
