The National Scholastic Press Association recognized the nation’s top scholastic websites April 18, announcing wsspaper.com as one of 16 winners nationwide in its annual Pacemaker competition.

The WSS staff has been an Online Pacemaker finalist multiple times, but last won the Pacemaker in 2012. In this competition, only the online news product was judged. NSPA named the WSS print edition a Newsmagazine Pacemaker finalist in November 2025.

“The Pacemaker is the association’s preeminent award,” Executive Director Laura Widmer said. “NSPA is honored to recognize the best of the best.”

The NSPA Pacemaker, one of the oldest awards for scholastic journalism, has a rich tradition. The association started presenting the prestigious award to high school newspapers soon after the organization was founded in 1921. Throughout the years, yearbooks, magazines, online sites, broadcast programs and innovation were added to the competition.

The online sites competed in two different categories based on school population. Two teams of three judges studied every entry, analyzing its strengths. The status of each entry was agreed upon by at least two of the three judges.

Evelyn Kraber ’26 is the WSS online editor-in-chief. On April 7, Kraber was also named to the Iowa High School Press Association’s inaugural All-State Journalism Team for 2026.

Additionally, Quill and Scroll recognized five West journalism students in its international Writing, Photo and Multimedia Contest on April 18. Trojan Epic Assistant Design Editor Emmerson Reimers ’28 won third place Beginning Social Media Journalist for her coverage on @trojan.epic.

Zikra Haque ’29, Emma Lai ’28, Youan Lee ’29 and Katherine Rabe ’29 won third place Audio Podcast: Single Episode for “Screen time’s over: the effects of the ICCSD’s phone policy.”