Student Journalists Win Awards
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Student newspapers in Portland, Wells and Standish took top honors in the 10th annual newspaper contest sponsored by the Maine Center for Student Journalism based at the University of Maine.
Deering High School’s Ramblings placed first in the General Excellence category of the statewide contest, retaining for the second year the James Russell Wiggins trophy for the state’s outstanding student newspaper. Second in general excellence was Wells High School’s Wells Street Journal, and third place went to the Eagle Times of Bonny Eagle High School in Standish.
First place writing honors in six categories went to students from North Yarmouth Academy, Bonny Eagle, Wells, Catherine McAuley and Deering high schools. Deering also took a first in photography.
Presentation of the awards culminated a day-long conference at the University of Maine May 22 that drew more than 200 participants and presenters. Professional journalists from Maine’s daily and weekly newspapers led workshops on the skills and issues involved in reporting, writing and publishing.
The conference theme, “Building Community,” recognized ten years of bringing together student journalists to learn from each other and from their professional counterparts.
Newspaper contest entries were judged by editors and reporters from the Bangor Daily News, The Sanford News, The Mt. Desert Islander, The Bar Harbor Times and The Portland Press Herald and the Lewiston Sun-Journal. Students received honors for news, feature, review, sports and editorial and opinion writing, layout and design, and photography.
The Maine Center for Student Journalism is funded by the Maine Daily Newspaper Publishers Association to foster the teaching and practice of journalism in Maine schools. Founded in 1993 at the University of Maine Department of Communication and Journalism, the center provides information, a newsletter and ongoing support for schools publishing and creating new student newspapers.