![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
Starting their journey at the airport at 11 a.m., journalism students from the school traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From Nov. 7-10, the National Student Press Association/Journalism Education Association (NSPA/JEA) student journalism convention took place.
Students attended sessions and workshops intending to improve their school’s programs, but they also competed in writing, photography, and design competitions against students from almost every state, and some students from London, U.K..
Awards for JEA competitions are a system of ratings given by judges who read through the work of the students done on-site at the convention, or designs submitted by the due date on Oct 15.
The judges determine which entries meet the criteria for honorable mention, excellent, and superior awards, superior being the most prestigious as it is given to fewer students than the other awards.
Of 1,328 students that entered competitions, 281 earned honorable mentions, 164 earned excellents, and 92 earned superiors.
The individual awards given to West Linn students for these competitions are as follows:
- Audrey Krake: Excellent: Yearbook Layout: Inside Pages
- Claire Lenarduzzi: Honorable Mention: Feature Writing
- Clara Wood: Excellent: Review Writing
- Edie Himmer: Honorable Mention: Editorial Writing
- Elise Meikle: Honorable Mention: Portrait Photo
- Lucy Forest: Honorable Mention: News Editing/Headline/Current Events
- Olivia Wang: Superior: Commentary Writing
- Sophia Martella: Honorable Mention: Yearbook Copy/Caption: Clubs
An article about accessibility and inclusion at our school, ‘How unified are unified sports?,’ was also submitted to the Fred Ross Award for Reporting on Systemic Change and received an honorable mention in the category.
Not only did students compete, but the yearbook, Amplifier news magazine, and wlhsNOW.com website were submitted for review.
The 2023-24 yearbook was declared the third best in the nation for schools with over 1,800 and yearbooks with 144-256 pages, the highest placement Green & Gold has achieved in its history of national events.
For a more in-depth experience of what the students did at the convention, listen to the latest episode of the West Linn Weekly Wake Up, hosted by Multimedia Coverage Editor Garrett Arendt and Multimedia Resources Editor Clara Wood.
