Hoosier Star Newspaper awards
Indiana High School Press Assn
April 9, 2003 (for 2002 entries)
Dennis Cripe, director/IHSPA
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Newspapers from Carmel, Munster, Connersville, Plainfield and Brown County high schools won top honors in the annual Indiana High School Press Association’s Hoosier Star competition this week.

Additionally, newspapers from Lawrence Central, James Whitcomb Riley, Cathedral, Zionsville, Scottsburg high schools and Summit Middle School won “Merit” recognition in the critique contest designed to provide feedback to schools and identify those publications producing outstanding work.

Judges reviewed newspapers from schools in three divisions: Division I (enrollment of 800 or fewer students); Division II (enrollments of 801 to 1300 students), and Division III (enrollments of 1301 or greater). From Division I, the Talon from Brown County High School won a Hoosier Star while the Clarion from Connersville High School and the Quaker Shaker from Plainfield High School won the title for schools in Division II. The Hi Lite and Crier from Carmel and Munster high schools captured Hoosier Stars in the large school division.

The Hoosier Star represents the highest award given to a publication staff by the IHSPA and involves a comprehensive evaluation of the publication’s content, photography, design and editing.
More than 50 Indiana high school newspapers entered the IHSPA critique service for entries completed in 2002. Entries were sent to out-of-state judges who provided the initial feedback and overall ranking. Those publications earning marks of “Superior” or “Excellent” by the first judges were sent to a second judge who determined the Hoosier Stars.

Cheryl Pontius, an adjunct journalism professor at the I.U. School of Journalism at IUPUI, evaluated the Hoosier Stars and found the winners to be “first-class acts,” with “good writing, leads and a great mix of coverage.” She applauded Hoosier Star editors for “creating something for every reader.” “Overall, these publications leave the reader wanting more,” the judge added.

Considering the large school winners, Pontius was impressed that The Hi Lite from Carmel “is a true broadsheet newspaper that uses all the space to its best interest.” Of the Crier from Munster, the judge considered the publication “a truly nice paper to read – clean, focused…with a nice mix of headlines and a staff editorial that feeds off a Page 1 story.”

Tony Willis is the Hi Lite adviser at Carmel High School and Nancy Hastings advises the Crier at Munster. Maggie Platt and Joey Manderino are the editors of the two publications respectively.

In Division II, Pontius liked the Connersville Clarion for different reasons.
“Your Page 1 has a distinctive look with a great-looking nameplate, nice dominant story and photo per page.” The judge thought the staff excelled in feature and news writing.
Lisa Morris is the adviser at Connersville High School. Ashley Gross is the editor.

The Plainfield Shaker Quaker won its first Hoosier Star. The judge liked the “packaging” of the paper and commented on the effective center-spreads and variety of coverage and content.” Michelle Burress is the adviser at Plainfield High School. Holly Essex is the editor.

In the small school division, the judge liked The Talon’s in-depth editorials, good columns and letters to the editor. The judge also commented on the “great mix of coverage” and how all “ties into the school.” Greg Mosley is the adviser at Brown County High School. Megan Gushwa is the editor.

In addition to the Hoosier Stars, Pontius named two Merit Award winners in Division III, two Merit Winners in Division II and two Merit Awards in Division I.

In Division III, The Cub Reporter staff from Lawrence Central and The Review Staff from Riley won Merit Awards. Elizabeth Granger advises The Cub Reporter and Morgan Camp is the editor. Marcia Kovas advises The Review. Ben Marshall, Nick Henry, Molly Shook and Andrew Kirksey shared editor duties at Riley.

In Division II competition, the judge awarded Merits to Cathedral High School’s Megaphone and Zionsville High School’s The Harbinger. John Hannon and Lori Wilkin advise at Cathedral and Zionsville. Alexandra Juckno and Lindsey Klaunig are the editors of their respective newspapers.

In Division I, Scottsburg High School’s The Booster won a Merit Award. Also, The Sentinel from Summit Middle School (Fort Wayne) won the first Merit Award for a non-high school IHSPA member. Susan Jerrell advises The Booster and Brandon Money is the student editor. Reponding to the middle school publication, the judge said, “Wow. What an effort by a middle school to produce a professional newspaper. Great job.” Scott Shoup advises The Sentinel.

Newspaper staffs will be honored at the IHSPA’s fall state convention on the Franklin College campus Oct. 17, 2003. The full critiques of all Hoosier star yearbook and newspaper winners are posted on the IHSPA web site at: psj.franklincollege.edu/ihspa.