NKC JOURNALISM STUDENTS WIN BIG AT STATE COMPETITION

The annual MIJA Journalism Day was held at the University of Missouri-Columbia on March 29.

Northtown journalists competed in State Competition for the 2022-23 school year by submitting their student work entries to judges prior to the J-Day event. These students had a great showing! Award rankings were given on four levels: at the top were Best of Show and All-Missouri, followed by Superior, Excellent, and Honorable Mention.

Overall Publications Awards:

The Hornet’s Buzz: All Missouri
The Purgold Yearbook: All Missouri
NTV News: Superior
The Hornet’s Buzz, NorthtownNews.com: Excellent
N2 Sports, NKChornets.org: Honorable Mention

2023 Individual Awards:

Best of Show:

Purgold: Aixa Ramirez, Sports Action Photography, “Just Keep Breathing”
Purgold: Andrea Hernandez and Dayanara Soto, Student Life Package, “Multicultural Assembly”
Purgold: Maya Andres and Gabrielle Kellgren, Yearbook Mod, “What’s in your bag?”
NTV NEWS: Luke Casebolt and Robert Morrow, Sports News Story, “A New Sport at Northtown: Girls Flag Football”

All-Missouri:

N2 Sports: Gerald Lewis, On Site Strategic Communications Contest
N2 Sports: Staff, Social Media Reporting, Instagram @n2sportsnkchs
N2 Sports: Staff, Social Media Reporting, Twitter @N2sportsnkchs
Purgold: Sara Hanon, Student Life/Organizations Photography, “Everyone All Together”
Purgold: Andrea Hernandez, Student Life/Organizations Photography, “Trunk or Treat”
Purgold: Student Life Package, Naomi Powers and Clean Sargent, “The Addams Family”

Superior:

N2 Sports: Staff, Online Social Media Reporting, N2 Sports TikTok
N2 Sports: Gerald Lewis, Online Sports Package, “A Stunning Opener”
N2 Sports: Gabriel Hinosoja, Sports Photography, “Alex Gunnels with the Three”
Purgold: Maya Andres, Student Life/Organizations Photography, “Fan Dance”
Purgold: Sara Hanon, Sports Feature/Reaction Photography, “A Moment to Remember”
Purgold: Julian Novero, Yearbook Writing, “Ballerina On Pointe”

Excellent:

The Buzz: Lily Patterson, Academic Photography, “Kelli Phariss”
The Buzz: Audrey Harris, InDepth Feature, “To IB or Not to IB”
N2 Sports: Brennen Knabe, Live Sports Broadcast–Talent, “Olathe West’s Eruption Against NKC”
N2 Sports: Gabriel Hinojosa, Photography- Portrait, “Process>Outcome”
N2 Sports: Leah Cox, Sports Feature/Reaction Photo, “Flying High!”
NTV NEWS: Jaden Frederique, Human Interest Feature, “NKC Teacher Feature: The McSparins”
Purgold: Gabrielle Kellgren, Yearbook Overall Theme Concept, “We Belong Together”

Honorable Mention:

The Buzz: Aurora Nicol, Centerspread Page Design, “Applying to College”
The Buzz: Sophia McAttee, Infographic, “First Valentine”
The Buzz: Grace Campbell, Sports Photography, “Tagged!”
NTV NEWS: Jaden Frederique, Human Interest Feature, NKC Club Feature: Majorettes
NTV NEWS: SaDerra Gill and Jocelyn Brito-Velazquez, Human Interest Feature, 2022 Homecoming Queen Candidates
N2 Sports: Leah Cox, Sports Feature/Reaction Photo, “Warm Up!”
N2 Sports: Leah Cox, Broadcasting - Sports Feature Story, “NKC Homecoming”
N2 Sports: Leah Cox and Zoe Payne, Broadcasting - Mini Documentary, “N2 vs Sports (Dive)”
Purgold: Sara Hanon, Portrait/People Package, “Down the NKC Catwalk”

MIJA State Honor Roll:

Sara Hanon, The Purgold
Brennen Knabe, N2 Sports
Aurora Nicol, The Buzz
Kiara Sanchez, The Purgold

You can view the winning entries of the “Best of Show” top awards and read more contest details on the MIJA website: https://mipajournalism.com/4919/j-day/2023-j-day-awards/

For more information, please contact:

Buzz newsmagazine/online, N2 sports broadcast: Paul Aubrey, paul.aubrey@nkcschools.org
NTV broadcast: Amanda Dolinger, amanda.dolinger@nkcschools.org
N2 Sports marketing: Zack Johnson, zachary.johnson@nkcschools.org
Purgold yearbook: Mary Prichard, mary.prichard@nkcschools.org