The Stanner, the newspaper of Archbishop Molloy H.S., Briarwood, swept this year’s Tablet High School Press Awards by earning 10 awards, including six first place titles.

They went head to head with eight other high schools in the diocese, all of which earned at least one award this year.

“I was mesmerized by the presentation of the awards,” said Marissa Vaccarelli, a sophomore on the staff of The Mariel, the newspaper of The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates.  “It was an enriching experience to see others and ourselves receive awards for outstanding high school newspapers in Brooklyn and Queens.”

The students and moderators who attended the ceremony at St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, took the opportunity to speak with each other and check out their competition. They read each other’s newspapers and compared notes.

John Flynn, a freshman on the staff of the The Lance, the newspaper for Holy Cross H.S., Flushing, said he learned that The Mariel was different from The Lance in that the two newspapers focus on different types of stories. For example, The Lance focuses more on sports.

The newspapers from the schools all take a different approach to their mission. Some rely more heavily on features and entertainment others on hard news. Some are color on newsprint paper and carry advertisements, while others with a lower budget print their papers in- house.  However all schools have student staffs which include reporters, photographers, editors, artists and graphic designers.

Aside from having the opportunity to networking with each other, the students were also able to benefit from the experience of professional journalists. They heard from journalists who work for The Tablet and from keynote speaker David Gibson, an award-winning religion journalist, author, filmmaker and a convert to Catholicism.  A resident of Brooklyn, he shared his experience of starting out in Italy with no journalistic experience, working in Italy, including with Vatican Radio, and eventually moving back to the United States to continue his career.  He told the students that he sticks with journalism because he cannot imagine working at a job he does not enjoy.  However, there is a more important reason why he has dedicated his life to the profession.

“You can actually change things,” he said.  “If you can’t change the world, you can change your corner of it.”

He congratulated the students on starting this mission early in life. He said they have a jump start on him because he did not find his passion until he was 24.[hr]

And the Winners Are…

 

Best Front Page
First Place – The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School
Second Place – The Parmentier, St. Joseph High School
Third Place – Mariel, The Mary Louis Academy
Honorable Mention – The Seraph, St. Francis Preparatory school

Best News Story
First Place – “Memes Lead to Detention” by Liana Liang and Robert Dittus,  The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School
Second Place – “Walk-a-thon: $80 or be ‘punished’” by Lauren Miller and Crystal Wong,  The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School
Third Place – “Teens for Jeans” by Jacklyn Salgado  Mariel, The Mary Louis Academy

Best Feature Story
First Place – “Lanyards are New Molloy Accessory” by Matthew Spataro,  The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School
Second Place – “Juggling Work, Family Proves Daunting Task” by Elisa Csorba, Folio, Fontbonne Hall Academy
Third Place – “Acquista Family Provides Delicious Food for FHA” by Alessandra Albano, Folio, Fontbonne Hall Academy
Honorable Mention – “Picture Perfect!” by Jennifer Calebrese, Skyline, St. Saviour High School

Best School-Related Editorial
First Place – “Is SJHS One Sacred Community?” by Astrid Alonzo, The Parmentier, St. Joseph High School
Second Place – “Molloy Will Miss Christian’s Laugh” by Manpreet Sachdev and Sameera Kassim, The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School

Best Community-Related Editorial
First Place – “Stanners Should See Manhattan” by Conor Tuohy, The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School
Second Place – “Modern Brides: ‘I DO’ Want to Keep My Last Name” by Zari Havercome, The Parmentier, St. Joseph High School
Third Place – “Lighten the Burden” by Christopher Cadigan, The Lance, Holy Cross High School
Best Regular Column
The Roger Payne Memorial Award for Best Column – “Video Game Review” by Robert Neidkowski, The Royal Times, Christ the King Regional High School
Second Place – “A Day in the Life of a Cynical Senior” by Ashley McCorey, Veritas, St. Agnes High School
Third Place – “The Joust” The Lance, Holy Cross High School
Honorable Mention – “Locking Horns” The Parmentier, St. Joseph High School

Best Sports Story
First Place – “Join the ZUMBA Party and Get Fit” by Nicole Pimentel, Veritas, St. Agnes High School
Second Place – “Girls Lacrosse Comes to AM in Spring” by Darien Dey, The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School
Third Place – “New Challenges Await the Hilltoppers” by Alexandra Wurglics, Mariel, The Mary Louis Academy

Best Photograph
First Place – “Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!” by Jordi Sevilla, The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School High School
Second Place – “Spanish Club at International Day” by Jordi Sevilla, The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School
Third Place – “And With Your Spirit” by Nick Zito, The Lance, Holy Cross High School

Best Editorial Cartoon
First Place – “Penguins Give Thanks” by Tiffany Camusci, Mariel, The Mary Louis Academy
Second Place – “Hector & Paul” by Nicole Pimentel, Veritas, St. Agnes High School
Third Place – “Standardized     Testing” by Samyira Lewis, The Parmentiers, St. Joseph High School

General Excellence
First Place – The Stanner, Archbishop Molloy High School
Second Place – The Parmentier, St. Joseph High School
Third Place – The Seraph, St. Francis Preparatory School