Each year, The Dallas Morning News honors the winners of its high school journalism competition. Entries include work from student newspapers, yearbooks and digital news organizations from high schools across North Texas.
This year’s 31st annual contest included nearly 400 entries from 21 schools. They were judged by News editors and reporters. The newspaper’s executive editor, Katrice Hardy, selected the “best of the best” sweepstakes award winner.
Following are the winners and comments from the judges, who included Madi Alexander, Michael Apuan, Sarah Blaskovich, Everton Bailey Jr., Callie Caplan, Julieta Chiquillo, Dom DiFurio, Emily Donaldson, Lorena Flores, Michael Gehlken, Lola Gomez, Michael Hogue, Thomas Huang, Laurie Joseph, Nataly Keomoungkhoun, Dave Lieber, Alma Lozoya, Catherine Marfin, Shawn McFarland, Allie Morris, Talia Richman, Ryan Sanders, Charles Scudder, Kevin Sherrington, Dan Singer, Ashley Slayton, Elizabeth Souder, Tom Steele, Elias Valverde II, Leah Waters and Marin Wolf.
News reporting
Winner: Ashley Henderson, Argyle High School
A thoroughly-reported and sharply-written story finding a local angle in a national trend. We’ve read plenty about the substitute teacher shortage, but few stories that included both high-level data alongside on-the-ground voices from those directly impacted. As readers, the judges would have liked to see the reporter provide a sharper explanation as to why the anonymous sources are not named and what their positions are. Clean that up, and this could easily run in The News.
Finalist: Akhila Gunturu, Coppell High School
A very strong entry that explores how a school is handling students’ return to classrooms. The article is well-written, and it does a good job of incorporating a number of voices among students and staff. It could’ve been made stronger if the school’s use of Universal Design for Learning had been mentioned earlier on, and if some of the quotes had been a bit shorter.
Finalists: Diane Lin and Khushi Chhaya; Greenhill School
The writers of the article endeavor to diagnose a trend in political rhetoric sweeping the nation, deciding elections and directly impacting their own quality of education. The result is an article that displays a deep understanding of the debate around this area of academic study. The reporters tackle the topic of race and inequity in education with ease, including perspectives from students and comments from administrators as well as anecdotes about their own school’s curriculum.
News feature
Winner: Katherine Harrell, Highland Park High School
We felt this story was a standout for its vivid exploration into the physical and mental demands of student athletes. From the use of statistics to the accounts from doctors and students who’ve incurred injuries, anxiety and other pressures to participate, we believe this story clearly, comprehensively and concisely lays out the unintended consequences that come with participating in youth team sports in this day and age and the expectations for trying to achieve peak performance. We felt this story could have been strengthened with the inclusion of a coach and/or parent who could also speak to the pressures of school athletics and the roles both authority figures play in adding to and helping ease the demands on students.
Finalist: Anjali Krishna, Coppell High School
This reporter demonstrated a keen eye for detail and storytelling. Her skills as an interviewer are apparent in the way she got her subject to open up about difficult subjects and we appreciated the range of voices included in this profile. We would’ve loved to see an interview with a source who knew Springer outside of the principal capacity, like a family member. The reporter can also work on being more selective with long quotes.
Finalists: Jothi Gupta and Saara Bidiwala, Greenhill School
The reporters clearly have a knack for making complex topics both interesting and easily understandable. They hooked readers from the start with a strong example of how the monitoring software works and included the administration’s response up high. We would have liked to see students’ reactions to the software higher in the story. The students should also focus on editing down long quotes so only the most powerful portions are included.
Sports reporting
Winner: Meer Mahfuz, Coppell High School
The lead’s creativity distinguished itself from all other entries in the category, but that was just the start. The writer thoughtfully explored what prompted a soccer referee shortage and its implications on coaching strategy, capturing a nuanced way that COVID-19 impacted the sport. This is a strong example of localizing a national story.
Finalists: Maddy Hammett and Charlotte Tomlin, Episcopal School of Dallas
With a self-organized survey of their peers, the writers not only shone a light on gender inequity but, more interestingly, the subjectivity in perceiving its existence. There is a social application here that extends beyond the article’s scope. The overall ambition demonstrated throughout this piece is commendable.
Finalist: Anjali Krishna, Coppell High School
The writer hit all the spots in this basketball game recap, showing sound judgment by capturing the winning team’s focus on areas for improvement as well as the game’s key rhythms. As readers, we were made to appreciate why the regional championship team is a champion: It competes more against its own standards than its opponent on the court.
Sports feature
Winner: Avery Franks, Greenhill School
This feature shows a real knack for discovering and reporting on an enterprise topic — often more difficult to pitch and execute than coverage of a standalone event or profile subject — and includes a diverse array of perspectives from students and staff at the school. Future features in this realm can become even stronger by “showing” and not only “telling” what people think about a topic by asking interview subjects for specific stories and examples of their experience with the topic and using their feedback to guide and color your writing.
Finalist: Hyunsung Na, Marcus High School
This feature offers a thoughtful, in-depth look at Brittany Marshall’s wrestling background and helps readers easily understand why she’s unique to the LISD community and worthy of such attention as a new coach. To make future profiles even stronger, look to include more perspectives and anecdotes from people who’ve known the subject at different stages of their lives — such as, in this case, Marshall’s own high school coach or her family.
Finalist: Callie Hawkins, Episcopal School of Dallas
This feature does a great job of taking a nationally relevant recruiting trend and localizing it with perspectives from students and coaches at ESD. In addition to using a variety of anecdotal explanations for enterprise topics like this, adding statistical support — such as the number of students pursuing the recruiting process at ESD, the percentage of recent graduates who’ve gone onto college sports, etc. — will further boost the reporting process and make these kinds of features even more comprehensive.
Commentary
Winner: Muna Nnamani, Marcus High School
In this powerful column, Muna cites the advertising community’s preoccupation with featuring “white beauty” models with “the perfect smile” as the cause of her insecurities. In doing so, she reveals how basic products ignored non-whites, excluding much of the population. This story is about Muna, but it’s actually about longstanding inequities in advertising. The pacing in her column kept us hooked.
Finalist: Vanessa Cardoso, Marcus High School
Vanessa shows the difficulties of growing up in the melting pot of America and then traveling back to the family’s ancestral home in another country — and realizing the vast gulf that cannot be closed with foreign family members. “You are not Mexican. You are a Gringa,” her cousin tells her. Vanessa’s journey to finding her identity was heart-felt and beautifully honest.
Finalist: Joanne Kim, Coppell High School
Joanne writes powerfully about how her American friends claim to be “literally more Asian than you” because they follow K-pop groups. She takes the story to a higher level when she demands that Americans who favor foreign cultures’ art and music go beyond the stereotypes and try to understand the deeper meaning of a foreign culture.
Editorial
Winner: The Evergreen, Greenhill School
This was a well-reasoned argument about an interesting topic, relevant to your readers, and written in an engaging way. This wasn’t just a “hot take” on the most controversial news of the day. The best thing you’ve done here is to choose a clear and discrete line of advocacy: personal finance should be a required course. That’s a specific change you want to see in the world. Excellent!
Finalist: The Sidekick, Coppell High School
This addressed a relevant, important, and somewhat uncomfortable topic, which you tackled head-on. You urged students to change their behavior, but did so without being preachy. And there is some good original reporting here from your principal, school safety officials, TEA, etc.
Finalist: Ian Wright, Hebron High School
Overall, this is a good piece: a well-reasoned argument supported by statistics and original reporting. You conducted your own poll? Great legwork! You have a clear editorial line and you cite sources.
Series or project
Winners: Alanna Reed, Hyunsung Na, Aishani Raju, Harrison Hamre, Avery Jerina and Jayla Landou; Marcus High School
The writers did an excellent job of taking a national issue — culture wars over how history is taught — and making it relevant for students and their community. We greatly appreciated the perspective of Rabbi Geoffrey Dennis and congregant Joel Loeb. To make the pieces stronger, consider defining “critical race theory” in easy terms for the reader. It’s important to know that what politicians call “critical race theory” is not how academics define it. Establishing a common definition is important so readers know what the concept means.
Finalists: Abby Baughman, Kara Dross, Easterly Yeaman and Charlotte Tomlin; Episcopal School of Dallas
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
We enjoyed the nuanced approach the writers took to a complex topic, breaking it down in a relevant way for readers at the school. The details — for instance, the amount of toilet paper used at ESD — made the stories special. We would recommend you look around Dallas for other events impacting our own environment. There are great local examples like Shingle Mountain that might be of interest to students and community members from the area.
Finalists: Iniya Nathan, Angelina Liu, Akhila Gunturu, Anette Varghese, Trisha Atluri and Anjali Krishna; Coppell High School
The podcasters did a good job of highlighting a range of interesting topics and asking in depth questions. The host’s conversation with Coppell High School CTE teacher Michael McCabe was particularly compelling. The audio at times was crackly or difficult to hear. We would recommend smoothing the sound for an easier listening experience.
News photography
Winner: Christi Norris, Propser High School
This photo was well framed by the four EMTs around the student and captured the emotion of the moment nicely. The photographer could look to improve a moment like this by getting lower and making the student more dominant in the frame.
Finalist: Ravi Vasan, Greenhill School
The photographer was able to capture two important moments from a typical press conference, the unveiling of the new building and the groundbreaking. They were able to capture the essence of the moment with clapping attendees and officials.
Finalist: Murphy Jones, Argyle High School
The student did well to capture a spur of the moment emotional interaction between two subjects of a worldly news event. The photographer can improve the photo by having a variety of angles from the moment by using tighter and wider shots of this very emotional moment.
Feature photography
Winner: Taylor Harvey, Frisco Heritage High School
The photographer captured the essence of photojournalism with this photo by seeing an intimate moment between the teacher and student. The whole picture tells a story with the person in the background also framed nicely. The photographer demonstrated a mastery of camera settings with the depth of field and shutter speed used in this photo.
Finalist: Timothy Gunn, Willis High School
You can see the intention of the photographer to find the right angle to show their vision of this big marching band being led by the smaller figure of the drum major. The photographer demonstrated well their knowledge of depth of field and lighting to make this photo.
Finalist: Christi Norris, Prosper High School
This student knew where to be at the right moment and acted quickly to capture the moment of celebration from the team.
Sports photography
Winner: Christi Norris, Prosper High School
This photographer showed a true knowledge of their camera settings to capture a moment like this. They positioned themselves to have a clean background and combined with shallow depth of field creates a nice action photo.
Finalist: Nicholas West, Argyle High School
The players fill the frame nicely in this photo and because of that you can see the concentration of the players in this moment very nicely.
Finalist: Sarosh Ismali, Hebron High School
The photographer showed their knowledge of the game here to be in the correct place to capture a moment like this catch. We think that having a level horizon line would take this photo to the next level as well as to clean up their background.
Photography portfolio
Winner: Olivia Short, Coppell High School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
The student’s portfolio featured peak sports action and an ability to capture general news. They had a variety of wide, medium and tight detail photos. They can look to improve the cropping of their sports work to be more impactful.
Finalist: Mackenzi Cox, Brownsboro High School
This particular photographer did very well to get on the same level as her subjects which really help bring the viewer into the moment and the scene.
Finalist: Camarion Johnson, Duncanville High School
This student had a nice variety of action and emotion from the biggest game of the year for Duncanville. We would like to see more of that peak action like the big tackle or collision to really improve their portfolio.
Video
Winners: Conner Escobar and Hally Leonard, Coppell High School
This video did well lighting the interviews and it has a really nice variety of angles in their b-roll. We would like to see more of a sequence to their clips and storytelling. The audio sounded fine. We would like to see the students improve the shakiness of some of the shots in their work going forward.
Finalist: Grace Esquibel, Prosper High School
This student can improve their video work with more of a variety of shots (medium and tight) and sequences. They did well to interview the source in their environment on the track. The video ends nicely with the clip of the team together cheering which matches the ending of the story.
Finalist: Sloan Dial, Argyle High School
This story has a great beginning keeping the viewer in suspense before knowing what happened with the source. After the reveal of the disease the video could be edited tighter to create a shorter and more impactful story.
Informational graphic
Winner: Athena Tseng, Frisco Liberty High School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Athena’s creative use of online graphing programs thinglink and Timeline lifted her entry above the others. Graphics that talk and move are clearly where the craft is headed. Make that CTE graphic even stronger with brief text explaining what viewers get when they click on the links, such as “What CTE teachers find valuable about their classes.” Great job!
Finalist: Emma Nguyen, Greenhill School
Strong visual presentation on all three pieces, especially the gun entry, though that was more an illustration than an infographic. It would have been nice to see a visual ranking of data on the vaccine piece — maybe a bar chart comparing Greenhill’s student rates with the overall city for perspective — but the presentation was clear and compelling. The quote page is a good roundup of student voices on a wide range of issues — a lot of information there, nicely displayed.
Finalist: Josh Campbell, Coppell High School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Of all the entries, this one had the most polish and panache and suffered only from a deep stretch of the definition for infographic. The super stylish and fun Rock Redux entry is really a long-form illustrated review, but Josh gets big points for technical presentation. The melting head is also an illustration. His one true graphic — the slang timeline — is both well researched and so delightful to look at that it makes up what the other entries lack. Mad skills on display here.
Illustration or cartoon portfolio
Winner: Maddy Hammett, Episcopal School of Dallas
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Maddy’s illustrations do the right thing: They’re clean, simple and elegant and get straight to the point of the story conceptually. Beautifully done.
Finalist: Cenia Moreria, Willis High School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Cenia’s pencil drawings are beautiful and she combines her drawings in digital collages to add extra depth to her work.
Finalist: Emma Nguyen, Greenhill School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Emma works in a variety of styles ranging from realistic to cartoon, and she also works in a style that compliments informational graphics very well.
Page design portfolio
Winner: Abby Nguyen, Plano East Senior High School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Abby’s work is impressive, particularly her cover concepts and execution of design. Her cover of TVs depicting the issues we are facing today is easy to read and tells you the story without words. Abby’s attention to detail, such as the reflection of the screens on the floor, is what took this to the next level. Her school shooting cover conveys the stark reality that students live with. The gun shadows are subtle and make their point. Abby’s top brew page is fun and simple. Overall, Abby’s attention to detail and her innovative concepts — and the ability to execute them effectively — make her a standout in this competition.
Finalist: Emily Lichty, Episcopal School of Dallas
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Emily’s pages are well done, and her graphics and illustrations are clean and well used. She shows a sophisticated use of color and white space. We appreciate how she limits her use of fonts on her pages. She’s considerate of her reader by breaking up type with pullouts and breakout information. We especially enjoyed her fro-yo page — a little chaotic, but super fun. Overall, nice job on her creative, clean pages with plenty of detail and thought for the reader.
Finalist: Gina Montagna, Episcopal School of Dallas
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Gina’s execution on her pages is nicely done — smart typography and great use of subtle colors on her pages when warranted. Her critics page is smart, colorful and uncluttered. Also, not only did she design the page, but she illustrated the story as well. She showed her design flexibility with a nice news page about the 9/11 anniversary.
Best pandemic coverage
Winners: Nandini Muresh, Sreeja Mudumby, Akhila Gunturu and Anjali Vishwanath; Coppell High School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Coppell’s entries stood out to us because of the range of lenses their coverage viewed the pandemic through. Their one-year anniversary story did a great job getting a range of perspectives within the school, and their story on the wave in India was a unique localization of a global issue. We thought it was unique that the coverage also gave students a look into a school board meeting — next time, we’d love to see more quotes and details from speakers at the event.
Finalists: Brooke Ebner, Lyle Hawkins, Jamie Henderson, Phoebe McMillan, Sophia Sardina, John Schindel, Lauren Shushi and Charlotte Traylor; Episcopal School of Dallas
The writers brought compelling details and a wide range of perspectives to this article about the omicron wave. We appreciate that they weaved in statistics and personal anecdotes to tell a gripping story. The writers can work on being more selective with long quotes, choosing only the very best material.
Finalist: The Evergreen staff, Greenhill School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
Reporters at Greenhill School took a unique approach to covering the intricacies of returning to school during a pandemic. Their graphic on COVID-19 protocols during the omicron wave provided critical and easy-to-follow information to their readers, and their coverage of omicron’s triggering of deja vu featured a wide range of voices within the school community. In the future, the reporters can be more selective with which quotes to use versus which quotes to paraphrase.
Best digital coverage
Winner: The Sidekick, Coppell High School
The Sidekick’s site is well-designed, clean and easy to navigate. Strong photography — including complete cutlines — is prioritized on the site. Tagging and linking between different types of content is consistent throughout.
Finalist: The Hawk Eye, Hebron High School
The illustrations are a great way to break up text and photography with a different style of visuals. Individual stories make good use of linking and referring readers to previous coverage of similar topics.
Finalist: Wingspan, Frisco Liberty High School
The breaking news banner and simple navigation bar made it clear what stories were current and most important for readers to see. The design on the podcast page makes brand recognition easy for readers.
Best newspaper
Winner: The Sidekick, Coppell High School
The Sidekick’s ability to bring big news stories and make it relevant and timely for the student body made it a winner in the best newspaper category. Judges were impressed at The Sidekick’s ability to offer a wide array of topics that served its readers in the best way. The stories and journalism were relevant to the audience and covered strong topics such as housing and COVID-19. From the three issues entered, judges were able to get a small glimpse into student life.
Finalist: Eagle Edition, Episcopal School of Dallas
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
The design and journalism of Eagle Edition made it a finalist for the best newspaper category. Judges were impressed with the page design and felt that it was one of the most cohesive in the entries for this category. Judges also felt that the inclusion of international and national news made Eagle Edition stand out among the rest, but they felt the stories needed a stronger link back to the student body to best serve its audience.
Finalist: The Evergreen, Greenhill School
Submission 1, Submission 2, Submission 3
The Evergreen consistently shows a commitment to telling stories of student’s lives while still trying to localize big national issues with nuance. The topics were varied and allowed readers to consume both news and lighter topics.
Sweepstakes winner
The Sidekick, Coppell High School
From the story selections and news judgement, tackling issues such as the referee shortage, the graphic and art they use to draw readers into the paper and content, and then there’s the use of video. Overall I was extremely impressed with even the writing, and the context that the stories provided quickly so that their audience knew exactly why the stories were so important to read.
Most valuable staffers
Kie Binion, The Eagle Angle, Allen High School
Ziyue (Katy) Zhang, The Vanguard, Frisco Lebanon Trail High School
Khushi Chhaya, The Evergreen, Greenhill School
Katie Parker, The Hawk Eye, Hebron High School
Amanda Hare, Eagle Nation Online, Prosper High School
Summer Rains, The Voice of the Wildkats, Willis High School
Abby Nguyen, Panther Prints, Plano East Senior High School
Ashley Henderson, The Talon News, Argyle High School
Anjali Krishna, The Sidekick, Coppell High School
Mackenzi Cox, BearNation, Brownsboro High School
Eden Taylor Shamy, The Guyer Wire, Denton Guyer High School
Yilmar Bonilla, Panther Prints, Duncanville High School
