The Iowa High School Press Association determines News Team of the Year finalists by choosing the schools with the highest number of individual award winners from its annual writing, photography, design and online contests. IHSPA awarded the WSS with 71 wins, for a total of 306 points — the most points of any school in the state.
The WSS staff swept first-third places in the state in five different categories: in-depth news story, multimedia feature story, multimedia sports story, photo slideshow and sports photo.
First place winners:
Social Media Accounts: WSS staff
Web Design: WSS staff
Ads: Baroncini Restaurant and Pizzeria by Sara Baroncini
Covid-19 Coverage: “Trapped” by Misha Canin and Hanah Kitamoto
Editorial Cartoon/Comic Strip: “Caroline’s Comics: Watching American democracy burn” by Caroline Mascardo
Entertainment: “3 fun fall recipes” by Caroline Barker, Misha Canin and Sila Duran
Feature Photo: “Photo feature: November 2020” by Zohrae McLaskey
Feature Story: “Detached” by Heidi Du, Hanah Kitamoto and Soom
in Koh
In-depth News Story: “Unzipping Gen Z” by Maya Chu, Heidi Du and Krisha Kapoor
In-depth Sports Story: “The e-sports report” by Caroline Chandler and Rosemary Timmer-Hackert
Multimedia Feature Story: “Indigineous in ICCSD” by Kailey Gee, Hanah Kitamoto and Rosemary Timmer-Hackert
Multimedia News Story: “A nation divided: Students reflect on the Capitol attack” by Paige Albright, Bess Frerichs and Tosh Klever
Multimedia Sports Story: “Broken Season” by Alaina Greenlee, Hanah Kitamoto and Tosh Klever
News Magazine – Multiple Page Design: “Indigineous in ICCSD 4PS” by Ella Rosenthal
News Photo: “Mayor Bruce Teague” by Maddy Smith
News Story: “PALs spreads holiday cheer amidst pandemic” by Cassie Michaels, Renee Gould and Jack Harris
Photo Slideshow: “Girls basketball punches ticket to state tournament” by Owen Aanestad
Photo Story: “Boys basketball falls in rematch against Xavier” by Owen Aanestad and Hanah Kitamoto
Reviews: “‘Hubie Halloween’ is dimwitted Adam Sandler fun” by Sam Westergaard
School News Story: “Elevating untold stories” by Helen Zhang
Social Justice Reporting: “Beyond the Binary” by Hanah Kitamoto and Caroline Mascardo
Sports Photo: “Trojan basketball teams split with City in season opening double header” by Owen Aanestad
Sports Story: “Post-performance” by Camille Gretter and Alaina Greenlee
Sports Story: Game or Season Recap: “Boys swimming places third at state” by Hanah Kitamoto
Staff Editorial: “Counting the cases” by Caroline Mascardo
Video News Show: “West High Weekly 12.4.20” by Tosh Klever, Alyssa Skala and Isaac Young
Second place winners:
Covid-19 Coverage: “Zoomed out” by Alice Meng
In-depth News Story: “Viral” by Kailey Gee and Marta Leira
Infographic: “Gen Z at West High” by Sachiko Goto
Multimedia Feature Story: “Surviving cancer: five years later” by Bess Frerichs
Multimedia News Story: “In-person versus online schooling: Student-athletes weigh in” by Alex Carlon, Annie Schwartz and Abby McKeone
Multimedia Sports Story: “Life in the fast lane” by Owen Aanestad, Hanah Kitamoto and Tosh Klever
Photo Slideshow: “Trojan football team shuts out Liberty in season opener” by Owen Aanestad
Podcasting: “No cap recap: winter sports preview with Christian Barnes” by Owen Aanestad and Camille Gretter
School News Story: “Iowans weigh in on bill limiting gender identity in curriculum” by Kailey Gee and CarolineMascardo
Sports Photo: “West keeps the boot for the fourth consecutive year” by Owen Aanestad
Video News Story: “West High Weekly 10.9.20” by Tosh Klever and Alyssa Skala
Third place winners:
Ads: “Friends of Journalism” by Abby McKeone
Editorial Cartoon/Comic Strip: “Caroline‚Äôs Comics: Watching American democracy burn” by Caroline Mascardo
Entertainment: “7 socially distanced activities” by Sila Duran, Zoey Guo and Helen Zhang
Illustration or Art: “All for one” by Kailey Gee
In-depth News Story: “Trapped” by Misha Canin and Hanah Kitamoto
Multimedia Feature Story: “#SaveTheArctic: The social media storm” by Alaina Greenlee and Emma Hall
Multimedia Sports Story: “Top 10 sports moments of 2019-2020” by Owen Aanestad
Personality Profile: “Bonding through swords” by Soomin Koh
Photo Slideshow: “Girls wrestling competes at third annual state tournament” by Alyssa Skala
Podcasting: “Life After a Trojan: from Iowa City to soaring to new possibilities” by Paige Albright
Social Justice Reporting: “Standing in solidarity: protester profiles” by Fareeha Ahmad, Misha Canin and Kailey Gee
Sports Photo: “Girls basketball punches ticket to state tournament” by Owen Aanestad
Sports Story: “The rise of livestreams” by Owen Aanestad
Sports Story: Game or Season Recap: “West keeps the boot for the fourth consecutive year” by Owen Aanestad
Video Story: “Recruiting Trail with Aurora Roghair” by Tosh Klever
Honorable mentions:
Ads: “Volunteer Opportunity” by Caroline Barker
Covid-19 Coverage: “COVID in our community” by Fareeha Ahmad, Maddy Smith and Helen Zhang
Covid-19 Coverage: “On call: students, siblings and learning online” by Kailey Gee
Entertainment: “Iowa City dogs speak up” by Tosh Klever and Isaac Young
Feature Photo: “Vibe Tribe” by Caroline Barker
Feature Photo: “Photo feature: November” by Gwen Watson
Feature Story: “Class of COVID” by Maya Chu and Helen Zhang
In-depth News Story: “Power to the people: 2020 election preview” by Alex Carlon, Abby McKeone and Maddy Smith
Multimedia Feature Story: “The ADHD impact” by Bess Frerichs and Gwen Watson
Multimedia News Story: “Disastrous derecho: Iowa’s unexpected storm” by Maya Chu and Krisha Kapoor
Multimedia News Story: “District discrimination” by Bess Frerichs, Maggie Huang and Abby McKeone
Multimedia Sports Story: “The route to success” by Owen Aanestad
Multimedia Sports Story: “Stay-at-home athletes” by Owen Aanestad
News Magazine – Multiple Page Design: “Winter what-to-do’s” by Zoey Guo
News Photo: “Don’t shoot” by Maddy Smith
Photo Slideshow: “Girls basketball defense falters against Southeast Polk” by Alyssa Skala
Photo Story: “Iowa City South District residents unite to paint community mural” by Paras Bassuk and Marta Leira
Podcasting: “Bag and Baggage: The model minority myth” by Zaira Ahmad and Athena Wu
Video News Show: “West High Weekly 3.13.20” by Paras Bassuk, Aditi Borde and Jillian Prescott
Additionally, IHSPA named Owen Aanestad second place Hawkeye Photographer of the Year.
IHSPA also identified Maya Chu, Alaina Greenlee and Caroline Mascardo as three of Iowa’s Top 10 Emerging Journalists, a program which seeks to acknowledge emerging talent in newspaper, yearbook and digital media students. These students also receive a $100 scholarship toward attending the 2021 Summer Journalism Workshops for high school students at the University of Iowa.