Four students on the 2014-2015 West Side Story staff are finalists in the National Scholastic Press Association’s 2015 Individual Award Contest. Pictured above (left to right) are seniors Kelsey Keranen and Allie Biscupski. Not pictured are 2015 graduates Akash Borde and Brittani Langland.

Borde is a finalist in the Story of the Year contest for an editorial he wrote titled “Securing our school with a student resource officer.” Biscupski and Langland are finalists in the Multimedia News Story of the Year contest for their digital media story titled “Ferguson to Iowa City.” Langland is also a finalist in the Multimedia Sports Story of the Year contest for her digital media story titled “Rising star: Nelson Brands.” Keranen is a finalist in the Comic Strip/Panel of the Year contest for her cartoon titled “Fun promposal ideas.”

The first place winners in each category will compete for the $1,000 Brasler Prize, judged by Wayne Brasler of University High School in Chicago. First through fifth places and honorable mentions will be announced at the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention on Nov. 14 in Orlando.

For more information and to view the other national finalists, visit these links from the National Scholastic Press Association’s website: Story of the Year finalists, Multimedia Story of the Year finalists and Cartooning Awards finalists.