Pictured are, first row from left, Shamis McGillin, Olivia Lofgren, Olive Carrollhach, Pombie Silverman, Abbie Skemp, Fatima Jayoma, Ashton Duncan, Zora Hurst and Juliann Skarda; second row, Adam Canady, Ansel Landini, Brenna Deerburg, Amelia Moser, Eleanor Marshall, Grant Leonard, Tyler Voss, Shirley Wang, Ashlynn Yokom and Nathan Peterson; third row, Caroline Van Vorrhis, Leah Murray, Dan Rothman, Blake Oetting, Frank Weirich, Katie Mons, Sara Whittaker, Quentin Misiag, Anna Egeland, Hannah Rublaitus and Bob Aley.
The West Side Story website, wsspaper.com, won an Online Pacemaker at the National Scholastic Press Association High School Journalism Convention in Seattle on Saturday.
Wsspaper.com is one of seven websites nationwide to win a Pacemaker in the large school category – schools with more than 1500 students. West High is the only school in Iowa to win an Online Pacemaker this year. Earlier this year, the West Side Story also was the only in school in Iowa to win a Pacemaker for its print publication.
Entries were judged holistically based on content, design, writing and editing, rich media and breaking news.
Adam Canady (senior) is the web editor, Eleanor Marshall (senior) is the editor in chief and Sara Whittaker is the adviser.
The West Side Story received other awards at the conference as well. The newsmagazine’s special edition “The West High Project” that came out in December received sixth place in the Best of Show contest. Marshall received a superior rating in the national newswriting write-off competition. Grant Leonard (senior), Quentin Misiag (senior) and Juliann Skarda (junior) all received honorable mention for their work in the videography, review writing and feature writing competitions.