Health & Fitness
National Press Association honors UHS publications with six top awards
National Scholastic Press Association adds to long list of national and state honors for UHS publications.
The National Scholastic Press Association has honored Utica High School with six awards in its latest compilation of student-produced work, the 17th edition of Best of High School Press.
The UHS student newspaper, the Arrow, as well as the Warrior yearbook, was honored with "best of" status for newspaper page one and cover design, editorial and opinion pages, sports pages, yearbook covers, divider spread and yearbook portraits.
More than 400 images from 240 different publications are represented in Best of the High School Press 17. Most of the book's content covers student work from the 2010-11 school year, although some material is as recent as the current school year, such as the Fall 2011 JEA/NSPA convention Best of Show winners.
"This 17th edition is stronger than ever," NSPA executive director Logan Aimone writes in the preface to "Best of the High School Press 17." "Each year, the work submitted raises the bar of excellence for the nation's top student journalism."
In addition to the NSPA honors, both UHS publications were notified earlier this year that they had earned "All-American" status from NSPA as one of the top publications in the nation.
UHS students have also been honored with several recent awards for their high school newspaper. Both have received Spartan awards from the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, ranking them in the top student publications in the state, and have earned "Gold Medal" recognition from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
Both publications are currently preparing for the state awards competition, which will be held in April at Michigan State University.
The Arrow newspaper is led by senior Lindsay Spagnuolo, while the Warrior yearbook is led by senior Katie Hawkins. Journalism teacher Stacy Smale advises both publications.
