EC Wins American Scholastic Association Newspaper Contest

The first semester journalism class is now an award-winning newspaper staff, placing in two national contests over the past two weeks.

The American Scholastic Press Association, founded in 1980, offers an annual review and contest with the intention of promoting excellent journalism. The November and January issues of EC Times were submitted for review, along with 350 newspapers around the country.

FIRST PLACE is given to a publication that scored over 850 points and, in the opinion of the reviewer, was an outstanding overall example of a scholastic publication in format, content, and presentation.  The schools enter their newspaper for review in a specific school size and school type category. Eastern Christian High School entered in the Private School category with an enrollment of under 500 students.

Eastern Christian High School received 875 points (out of a possible 1000 points) in the contest this year and won a First Place Award. There were 20 schools entered in that category and 4 received First Place Awards.  The EC TIMES had the second highest score among the First Place awards.  The EC TIMES was reviewed in several areas such as format, content, and overall presentation compared to other entries in the same category.

In addition to the award from the American Scholastic Press Association, two students were additionally recognized in the J-Day contest sponsored by Ball State University in Indiana. This year, the 60^th annual contest drew nearly 900 entries across multiple categories. Schools were divided into two divisions: A and AA.

Abi Johnson received Honorable Mention for her Feature Story, “Battling Depression and Anxiety.” In this article, she compared national statistics with an anonymous poll taken at Eastern Christian, while including interviews from students and the school counselor. She was one of only four students recognized in the Division A category.

Kristen Casey received Honorable Mention for her Sports Story, “Basketball’s Fresh Start,” which looked at the upcoming basketball season through the perspective of coaches and students. She was one of only two students recognized in the Division A category.

Congratulations to the entire first semester class for excellent student journalism!