Journalism students from Canyon High and Randall High attended the Texas Association of Journalism Educator’s (TAJE) State Contest and Convention this past weekend. Both high schools received top accolades in the statewide yearbook competition with Canyon High taking Best of Show among yearbooks with fewer than 256 pages.  Randall High earned Best of Show among books with 257- 320 pages. In newspaper competition, the schools tied for fourth place in the online newspaper category receiving Honorable Mention ratings. In addition, students from both schools were among the top 15 percent who received individual awards for writing, design and photography.

The two schools attend the conference that is held in San Antonio, Texas every October. This year approximately 1000 students attended the convention and more than 700 competed in on-site contests. During the two day conference, students not only compete in journalism contests but they also spend a full day attending classes taught by writing and photography instructors from all around the country.

“This convention is a good way for our students to not only showcase their work but learn from other teachers and journalists who are working in the field today,” Randall High Journalism Adviser Amy Neese said. “The conference gives our students an opportunity to learn about current trends in journalism, see how our publications stack up to others around the state, and understand what the future of the media will look like in an evolving industry.”

Both schools added an online newspaper to their journalism curriculum in 2009 and Neese said the fourth place finish in the online newspaper category was a pleasant surprise.

“We were ecstatic to get recognition in this area,” Neese said. “Many schools around the state have been operating online papers for years and have had time to work out the kinks. Our online programs are still in their infancy so it’s exciting to see how far we’ve come in such a short period.”

Canyon High School’s online newspaper can be found at www.eaglestaleonline.com while Randall High School’s online address is www.silverstreakonline.com. In addition to their online newspaper and yearbook, publications students from both schools also produce four printed newspaper issues each school year as well.

 “Our journalism students work extremely hard,” Neese said. “Most people don’t realize how much time and effort goes into publishing three publications. Our student journalists have an important job. They are the record keepers, the historians for our school. They take their jobs seriously and it is nice to see them recognized for being some of the best student journalists in the state.”

Randall High Individual Awards

Cody Stavenhagen- Honorable Mention in Sports Feature

Kelli Blashill- Honorable Mention in Review Writing

Marlene Daniel- Superior in Advertising

Jenny Marshall- Excellence in photography (people division), and Honorable Mention in photography (taste of San Antonio division)

Madelyn Darnell- Honorable Mention in photography (architecture division)

Canyon High Individual Awards

Trevor Ferril- Honorable Mention in Broadcast Writing

Morgan Hicks- Honorable Mention in Yearbook Copy Writing