HHS Journalism Team Earns Top Accolades at State

Huntley High School and Prospect High School (Mt. Prospect, Illinois) tied for first place at the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) journalism state series competition on April 25 in Normal, Illinois, where more than 100 school teams competed. 

The IHSA journalism awards recognize excellence in high school journalism across various categories each year. This year, besides HHS's team win, individual placements at the state competition included:  
-Alyssa McQueen (senior) - 2nd place, yearbook layout
-Carrie Willig (senior) - 2nd place, copyediting
-Ly Martil (senior) - 3rd place, infographics
-Will Mize (senior), Jocelyn Jones (junior), Elaina Satalino (senior) - 3rd place, TV news
-Emma Christenson (senior) - 4th place, newspaper design
-Cooper Wackerlin (senior) - 4th place, photo storytelling
-Laura Langkan (senior) - 6th place, yearbook caption writing

Senior Elaina Satalino said, “Just winning third was a huge honor in itself but it was so surprising to take home the championship after not placing at all last year. It was truly an honor and a great way to end my senior year.”

Raider Nation News production manager Will Mize and “The Voice” editor-in-chief Irene Banerjee (graduated senior) earned spots on the Illinois Journalism Education Association’s (IJEA) all-state team, which recognizes students who have proven themselves indispensable to their respective school media and are considered “most valuable players.” Students are nominated by their advisor for this award. The all-state team will be recognized on June 7 in Springfield at the Illinois Press Foundation headquarters.

“I am so very proud of all these kids accomplished,” said HHS social studies teacher and journalism advisor Dennis Brown. “They worked hard, prepared, and did the job they had to do. Winning a state championship is an amazing honor and I'm thrilled with the result.”

In addition to the journalism team's state win, several members of the Raider Nation News crew (at left) were recently recognized at the Midwest Emmy Silver Circle Awards dinner in Chicago on May 2. Main editor and production manager Will Mize (senior), along with Jocelyn Jones (junior), Addison Stone (junior), Dylan Fekete (sophomore), and Caden Slad (junior) – news package creators - earned the Crystal Pillar award for "Best Newscast" by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). The organization created the awards to honor outstanding television production by high school students and is designed to expose young enthusiasts to the substantive and ethical aspects of the television industry. 

According to HHS English teacher and yearbook and TV production advisor Lauren Teeter, “This is the first time HHS has earned this award and it essentially represents the ‘best of the best.’ I could not be more proud of this group of students. They continue to impress me with their talents, poise, and determination day after day.”

“NATAS was definitely a once in a lifetime experience that I didn’t think I’d be able to get while being in high school,” said Mize, “but being inside TV production and being offered these opportunities surprises me every day.”

Sophomore Dylan Fekete said, “It was fun to talk to some of the professional journalists, especially Mary Ann Ahern. We got to learn a lot and it was cool to see some of the people you see on TV.”

“I didn’t realize the significance of this award or this event until I was there,” noted Jocelyn Jones. “I strive to go back. It was so cool meeting people that have the same goals and values that I have and it encouraged me to go back and earn more awards like this.”  

Other top accolades for HHS journalists include awards from: 

• Illinois Women’s Press Association (IWPA) - An HHS news crew (Season 9, Episode 11) won first place through the IWPA. All first place awards through IWPA go on to the national competition through the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW). William Mize also earned first and third place for two separate news packages through the IWPA. Harmony Yearbook’s Kathleen Nash earned first place for design and photography from the IWPA, and third place for an additional design. Her first place entries will now move on to the national competition. Other IWPA awardees include Cooper Wackerlin, who received an honorable mention for design and second place for photo; and Alyssa McQueen, who received a second place for design.​​​​​​​
• Midwest Media Education Association (MMEA) - The MMEA hosted their annual festival on April 25. Junior Addison Stone earned a first place trophy for the movie trailer that she created for Creative Vision, a silent film that was also created by students. “I felt very surprised and honored when I was told that we won this award,” said Stone. “The process as a whole took me about two hours to edit once the final footage was submitted. The trailer was originally made for another project, the Silent film Festival, and seeing it be able to win awards elsewhere was pretty awesome.”
• Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association (NISPA) - The Harmony Yearbook staff earned Silver at the Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association (NISPA) contest. NISPA is dedicated to highlighting the accomplishments and education of high school journalists throughout Northern Illinois. William Mize earned the Ted Heiser scholarship. Each year, NISPA gives the scholarship to seniors who are going to college to study journalism. The scholarship is named in memory of Ted Heiser, a former NISPA president.