Southeast, Southwest students earn top prize in high school journalism

December 2, 2024

Journalists in two Lincoln Public Schools classrooms created successful headlines this fall with their work on award-winning print publications.
 
Students at Southeast High School and Southwest High School earned major honors at the 2024 Nebraska High School Press Association Fall Convention. Members of Southeast’s newspaper staff and Southwest’s yearbook team returned to their campuses with the Cornhusker Award. It is the top honor that high school newspaper, yearbook, broadcast and online journalism staff can receive each year.
 
The Knights and Silver Hawks continued their traditions of showcasing the positive impact printed words and photos have at their schools. Southeast’s newspaper – The Clarion – won the Cornhusker Award for the second time in the past three years. Southwest’s yearbook – The Talon – earned the award for the fifth time in the past six years.
 
Southeast High School
 
The close-knit nature of The Clarion’s staff helped the Knights capture their Cornhusker Award. Senior Jarod and sophomore Myla both said they were happy when Southeast’s name was announced as one of the recipients. Myla is copy editor this year and Jarod serves as sports editor.
 
“It was really exciting,” Myla said. “We have such a small staff, but it was exciting to know that all the work we put in last year really meant something.”
 
“It’s definitely a close staff, and I think that’s what makes us able to achieve things like the Cornhusker,” Jarod said. “We’re not selfish, we’re not trying to do anything that’s just for us. It’s all for the school and the newspaper staff in general.”
 
Seniors Georgia and Maren are co-editors of both the newspaper and broadcast teams this year. They lead a journalism department that produces a steady stream of social media, newspaper, magazine, broadcast, podcast and online content. Advisor Brianne Clark has helped all of the Knights increase the amount of important material that fellow students can enjoy.
 
“Both of us have been in it since freshman year, so it’s fun to see how the newspaper itself has grown,” Georgia said. “We’ve gone from mainly doing a magazine once or twice a year and online stories to doing actual newspapers that we’re bringing out. It’s just a cool experience to be able to learn what you want to learn.”
 
Fewer than a dozen Knights produce all of the stories, photos and graphics that appear in the newspaper’s pages every month. Maren said it was a good feeling to know that the small-but-mighty team was every bit the equal of much larger staffs at the state conference.
 
“I was proud that we were able to produce such high-quality work, and so much high-quality work, and I think that’s what sets us apart from a lot of other schools that were there,” Maren said. “The other schools that were there, they’re amazing, but something that is maybe different about us is how much content we put out with such a small staff.
 
“It goes to show how talented our writers are. Our writers write three stories for the newspaper every time, and they’re in-depth and good and award-winning, so I think it just goes to show how talented the people are on our staff who contribute to the newspaper.”
 
Sophomore Lily is one of those writers. Her mom has a degree in journalism, and Lily felt she might be interested in pursuing a similar career. She immediately found success with her craft, as she finished sixth in the Class A entertainment review writing category at last year’s state contest.
 
Lily said the Cornhusker Award was additional evidence that the Knights are doing good things with their headlines, bylines and storylines.
 
“It’s a big deal,” Lily said. “This is my second year, so I don’t know what it was like before that, but I think it’s really cool for our school to have a paper like this.”
 
Georgia and Maren said one of their goals is to encourage more Southeast students to become journalists. They would like to see The Clarion’s numbers increase throughout the second semester.
 
“Once you join, I feel like you connect with it,” Georgia said. “There are so many people who have stayed on who have done such good work.”
 
“It’s a great opportunity,” Maren said. “I’m really thankful for it. It’s so cool to be surrounded by so many talented people and see their creativity and see them grow over the years.”
 
Southwest High School
 
Southwest students claimed their Cornhusker Award by compiling a yearbook with the theme “Nothing We Can’t Do.” Khloe served as editor last year and is repeating the feat as a senior. She said it was an honor for yearbook members to receive state recognition for their work.
 
“The theme definitely encompassed what we could do last year,” Khloe said. “We came in with a really young staff, and I was a really young editor, so it proved to be true. We had a lot of state championships, a lot of things that went really well in our school, and it encompassed our staff too, for being able to accomplish that at such a young age for all of us. We felt that there was nothing we couldn’t do after finishing that book.”
 
Sophomore Emery joined the yearbook staff for the first time this fall after two of her friends told her about their positive experiences. The school’s yearbook advisor, Brandi Benson, had also been Emery’s teacher in a photojournalism class, and Emery felt it would be fun to try the activity.
 
Emery has already spent time working on pages about the boys cross country team, Summer Olympics and student sections at Friday night football games. She said she views the 2023-24 yearbook with a newfound level of appreciation.
 
“I didn’t work on the yearbook last year, but it’s cool to look through it,” Emery said. “Now, being in the class and knowing how much work it takes to make just one page, it’s neat to look through the book from last year with like, 300 pages, and you think, ‘A lot of work went into this.’ It’s cool to be on the other end of things, to know what it felt like to be the ones behind all of it.”
 
Claire also wanted to add her name to The Talon’s staff list after looking at previous yearbooks. The junior is currently working on several holiday-themed pages. She said it has been fun to spend time with her fellow Talonites this fall.
 
“I really like being part of it,” Claire said. “It’s very inclusive.”
 
Khloe said the yearbook has become a valuable part of her Southwest career. Her time in the class has given her the chance to interview dozens of Silver Hawks about everything from academics to athletics. She has also learned important leadership skills and become friends with students in many grade levels.
 
“It’s really awesome,” Khloe said. “There are a lot of amazing people who come from a lot of different backgrounds. I get to meet a lot of people that I maybe wouldn’t have met if I wasn’t a part of this.”
 
Emery said she has also enjoyed her first adventure into the yearbook arena.
 
“I’ve liked it so far,” Emery said. “I like the design aspect of it because I’m a creative person. I like to design layouts and make things unique and get to learn more about the school. It’s been pretty fun.”
 
Khloe said the Silver Hawks are planning to use either “A Little Bit Extra” or “A Little Bit More” for the 2024-25 yearbook theme. She said the Cornhusker Award would serve as additional encouragement for students to put their best efforts into every yearbook page.
 
“It’s one of the highest honors of journalism excellence here in Nebraska, so it’s really cool to receive it,” Khloe said. “It’s a really big accomplishment and it feels like such an honor to win it. It’s definitely not an easy task and it’s super cool to accomplish.”

To see more of Southwest High’s journalism work, visit its website at https://lswhawk.com/.

To read more from Southeast High’s student newspaper, visit its website at lseclarion.com. 
 
Do you have a story idea? Share it with the LPS Communications Team by filling out this form!

---