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Education

Patriot Press gets awards

MA newspaper staff

Pictured are (front row) Katherine Farese, Emma Elgin, Ashika Bhakta, Heather Tomlinson, Anna Petree (editor), Ashley Strawn, Bronson Pharr, Robbie Lundine, Olivia Childers; (back row) Michael Farese, Kent Feathers, Erin Viger, Sarah Cunningham, Kristin Mynatt, Colby Curtis, Sarah Miller (advisor). Not pictured are Evan Howell and David Breithaupt.

Marshall Academy newspaper staff students joined the 450 students and 40 advisers who came to the Ole Miss campus for the annual Mississippi Scholastic Press Association Convention on April 2.

Marshall Academy took home several journalism awards, including first place in team news writing, second place in team general excellence, second place in team sports writing and second place in team layout and design. Individual students also won awards, including second place in page design, first and third place in ad design for Olivia Childers; second place in news/feature photos for Anna Petree; second place in sports photos for Ashley Strawn; third place in sports writing for Robbie Lundine; and honorable mention in news writing for Katherine Farese.

“I am so proud of what these kids have accomplished,” advisor Sarah Miller said. “They have worked so hard to turn their school newspaper into something special and have done so much work this year to accomplish that. Receipt of these awards shows everyone just how far they have come.

“Although we’ll be losing a lot of talented seniors this year, I believe next year’s staff will be as talented and dedicated to making The Patriot Press something Marshall Academy can be even more proud of.”

Anna Petree, senior editor, said, “We’ve put so much work into making this newspaper something we can compete with against other schools. We’ve worked harder this year than I can ever remember working as a staff member, and it really paid off. I feel like I learned a lot, not only about journalism, but also about dedication and teamwork. I’m really going to miss being a part of all of this, but I know that I’m taking away from it things I will be able to use forever.”

Highlights of the convention were the two keynote speakers. The morning keynote featured Laura Schaub from Dallas, Texas, who has won numerous awards as an adviser and as a journalism educator. Her keynote on visual storytelling and her instructional sessions were helpful to students and advisers.

The afternoon keynote was presented by Sports Illustrated photographer Bill Frakes. Frakes, a Pulitzer-prize-winning photographer (who graduated from the University of Mississippi Law School), showed slides and videos of his work all over the world.

Two sponsors for the convention events were Jostens Publishing Co. (Schaub) and Apple Inc. (Frakes). Other sponsors included the Mississippi Press Association, which provided the student/adviser brunch as well as hands-on help with judging. Taylor Publishing Co. sponsored the adviser luncheon in the Overby Center and provided several yearbook teaching sessions. Ken Tally – Walsworth Publishing Co. and the University of Mississippi School of Liberal Arts sponsored the student lunch.

Over 50 sessions, taught by top professionals and educators, offered students and advisers skills in every area of journalism as well as in many life-skill topics. The sessions included nine hands-on labs in InDesign, PhotoShop, graphic design, broadcasting and podcasting. Instructors came from all over the state, several places across the nation and from the University of Mississippi.

This year was the first time MSPA offered “Carry-In Contests” for schools. The entry fields included photography, yearbook, newspaper and magazine. These awards, as well as the annual mail-in contest awards, were presented in the closing session.

MSPA director Beth Fitts said she was pleased with the event and the participation from so many schools and that she hopes to continue adding new things that will help student journalists and their advisers.

“We want to reach all schools in the state with the services we offer at MSPA,” Fitts said. “Teaching videos, a website, a blog, exchange lists, fall regional workshops, spring convention, competition, critiques and summer workshops are just a few of the things we provide to help scholastic journalism in the state.”

For information about upcoming summer journalism workshops in the Department of Journalism at the University of Mississippi June 21-26, contact Fitts as mefitts@olemiss.edu.

Mary Reid student gets wish

Marquintonio “Moonie” Webb, a first grader at Mary Reid, was granted a trip to Disneyworld from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Saltillo Primary School collected over $5,000 for the foundation which funded a portion of Moonie’s trip. The Mary Reid students waved goodbye to Moonie as he left the school in a chauffeur-driven limousine. Moonie is the son of Sharon Christion of Potts Camp who accompanied him on the trip. Mary Reid School would like to express their gratitude to the Saltillo Primary School, Van Atkins Jewelry in New Albany for donating the limo, and James Byers who donated his entire day chauffeuring Moonie to Saltillo. They would also like to thank Don Randolph, superintendent of education, for all he did to make this day special.

Moonie, family and staff

Mary Reid students give Moonie a big send-off

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