Student journalists from Lawrence High and Free State both took home awards from the Kansas Scholastic Press Association this year, adding to a tally of recent honors for the programs.
Three Chesty Lions claimed individual state titles. Piper Journey placed first in cutline writing, Beatrix Johnson placed first in social media and Alex Velasco-Crates placed first in video public service announcement.
For Free State, junior Anders Benson won the state title in academics photography and Jaehee Kim won first place in yearbook design. Benson was also recognized as the 5A/6A and overall Kansas Photojournalist of the Year.
Lawrence High finished fourth in the 6A sweepstakes contest, with Free State close behind in fifth.
Students from about 80 schools across the state compete in KSPA’s state contest in 26 categories spanning writing, design, photography and more. Journalism teachers, professional journalists, university faculty members and other journalism experts judge the student’s entries.
The two schools have a history of successful journalism programs. Lawrence High School’s 2024 yearbook was recently named a Pacemaker winner, one of the highest honors in journalism. And three of the last four state journalists of the year have come from Lawrence High.
Free State’s newspaper and website both received All-Kansas recognition from the KSPA earlier this year.
And Lawrence journalism students have made impacts outside of the high school as well. Lawrence High students last year pushed district administrators to walk back usage of an AI surveillance tool on journalists’ files, something students said violated the First Amendment.
Advisers from both programs also received awards this year. Free State adviser Jared Shuff won the KSPA Sunflower Award, which recognizes a new adviser who shows enthusiasm and dedication to building a strong journalism program.
Lawrence High adviser Barbara Tholen won the Jackie Engel Award for Adviser of the Year. She was nominated by peers and former students for the honor. Tholen is leaving Lawrence High to work as director of KSPA and teach journalism at KU next year.
“We know this is just part of the hard work students put in all year as they learn the craft of journalism,” Tholen said. “We love celebrating their work and seeing the creativity this generation of journalists brings to each contest.”
Here’s a full list of Lawrence award winners, as provided by the district:
Lawrence High School:
● Lydia Folks, Academics Photography, 2nd place
● Eliza Naumann, Academics Photography, 3rd place
● Piper Journey, Cutline Writing, 1st place
● Arabella Gipp, Infographic Design, 6th place
● Beatrix Johnson, Social Media, 1st place
● Lydia Folks, Sports Feature Photography, 4th place
● Lydia Folks, Student Life Photography, 2nd place
● Taryn Wells/Ida Harrington, Video News, 6th place
● Alex Velasco-Crates, Video PSA, 1st place
● Morgan Moeckly/Arabella Gipp, Video PSA, 3rd place
● Juliet Outka, Yearbook Sports Writing, 5th place
Free State High School:
● Anders Benson, Academics Photography, 1st place
● Nathan Friedman, Cutline Writing, 5th place
● Ava Talbott, Digital Illustration, 3rd place
● Geneva Sabatini, Editorial Cartoon, 5th place
● Maria Mosconi, News Writing, 4th place
● Lauren Jackson, Review Writing, 5th place
● Delaney Bayliss, Social Media, 3rd place
● Nathan Friedman, Sports Action Photography, 2nd place
● Nick Sprecker, Sports Writing, 5th place
● Jaehee Kim, Yearbook Design, 1st place
● Avery Smiley/Richard Li, Yearbook Theme & Graphics, 2nd place
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