The Paw Print and PNN take home 23 awards at the IJEA State Journalism Competition

By Paw Print Staff~ The Paw Print and Payton News Network received 23 awards at the Illinois Journalism Education Association competition, including first place awards for Best Alternative Storytelling, Best Serious Commentary, and Best Personality Profile. Managing Editor Olivia Sampson and Staff Writer Annya Kong each received three awards, with various other team members also…

By Paw Print Staff

The Paw Print in action, brainstorming new article ideas and looking over website designs, during a club meeting.

Shortly after taking home 12 city journalism awards from the McCormick Media Foundation and Chicago Scholastic Press Association, the Payton Paw Print and Payton News Network submitted pieces to the state competition, run by the Illinois Journalism Education Assocition. Payton journalists received 23 awards from the organization, including first place awards for Best Alternative Storytelling, Best Serious Commentary, and Best Personality Profile.

Both Managing Editor Olivia Sampson and Staff Writer Annya Kong received three awards, and each collected two in the first-place category. Staff Writer Madeleine Spanbauer earned two awards, one for a news story about community safety, and one for an album review. Articles written by Junior Editors-in-Chief Bridget Galibois and Megha Khemka also received three awards each for their pieces.

See below for the award-winning pieces published by the Paw Print.

Best Alternative Storytelling (First Place)

Meet the Teachers (series) by Paw Print Staff (Isabelle Ravanas, Bridget Galibois, Megha Khemka, Anna Calkins, Julia Kozlowski, Campbell Meszaros, Nabiha Charolia, Madeleine Spanbauer, Ashley Sierra, Olivia Sampson, Janiya Williams, Sanaa Taqvi, Daniel Garin-Vila, Ayan Sayani, Annya Kong, and Kieran Blake)

Best Serious Commentary (First Place)

“On Youth and Politics” by Annya Kong, Staff Writer

Best Personality Profile (First Place)

“Tatted Up Teachers” by Olivia Sampson, Managing Editor of Community and Culture

Best News or Feature Photo (First Place)

“Few masks but far from forgotten: Marking three years since Chicago’s Covid-19 lockdown” by Bridget Galibois, Junior Editor-in-Chief

Best Sports Photo (First Place)

“Spirit for Seniors” (from the article “Seniors, spirit, and celebration: The 2022 fall sports pep rally”), by Peter Albu, Photo Editor

Best Advertisement (First Place)

Global Connections Ad: Boricua by Julianna Mokaya, PNN Executive Producer

Best Staff Editorial (Second Place)

“In defense of the humanities at Payton” by Megha Khemka, Junior Editor-in-Chief