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CSJ contest for activism coverage

The Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State is happy to announce another contest – this one for high school student media programs anywhere in the U.S. The top entry will earn $500 for the school’s media program.

This award is offered in conjunction with the 15th annual Poynter KSU Ethics Workshop Sept. 19, 2019. “Act. Action. Activism?” explored the challenges journalists face covering activism yet still finding the balance between factual, unbiased reporting and advocacy.

  • For our award, we’re looking for powerful storytelling, examples of student journalists using their voices to focus on activism that supports societal challenges and injustices. Storytelling can focus on problems, issues, grassroots movements, organized movements or individual examples of activism.
  • These are not opinion pieces but news or news feature coverage. They can be print, web, video, other digital options.
  • Entries must show the student-related context, not a global look at the issue – for instance, not what is happening to melting glaciers in Greenland with information from National Geographic, but how local teens have a campaign to deal with recycling cafeteria waste.

Entries must have been published/aired in the 2018 – 2019 or 2019-2020 school year and submitted through our online portal by 11:59 p.m. ET March 1, 2020. Only one entry per school should be submitted. Team submissions must include a concise explanation of the role and contributions of each team member. The results will be announced in April at Kent State University.

To see video of panels and speakers at the September workshop, particularly the keynote with two advisers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, scroll to the bottom of the workshop main page. Also of interest might be lesson plans related to covering activism in student media, available for download, also near the bottom of the page. Simply input your email and you’ll receive the three plans. Questions? Email Candace Perkins Bowen cbowen@kent.edu

2018-2019 Yearbook Award-winners

OSMA’s 2018-2019 Yearbook contest results are in. Twelve schools took advantage of the variable submission dates so they could get their books back as soon as possible. Those who entered June 30 with their spring delivery books, received their critiques back before Sept. 15; those who submitted by Sept. 30, received theirs before Dec. 15, and those who submitted theirs by Nov. 30 , received theirs before Christmas! Every school received a 10-page detailed critique from a former Yearbook Adviser of the Year. If you are part of a yearbook staff, why not submit YOURS next year?

All Ohio

  • THE ARCHER, Antwerp Local School, no prior review

First Place

  • BEAVER TALES, Beavercreek High School, no prior review
  • CIRCLE LIGHT, Tallmadge High School
  • GOLDEN ARROW, Olentangy High School, no prior review
  • THE BRONZE BAYONET, Olentangy Orange High School, no prior review
  • THE RIVER, Olentangy Berlin High School, no prior review
  • THE TRIDENT, Brunswick High School

Second Place

  • COMPASS, Evansville North High School

Third Place

  • LEXIAN, Lexington High School, no prior review
  • THE SILVER BULLET, Olentangy Liberty High School, no prior review
  • THE STORY OF US, Findlay High School, no prior review
  • STOANNO, Stow-Munroe Falls High School, no prior review

Tips for preparing your digital entry

Greetings OSMA advisers,

It’s that time of year again. Time to start thinking about spring contest submissions. About printing and cutting and taping and printing again and making more copies of the contest entries you screwed up and then running to the post office at 3:59 to mail your entries. Forget about that old method. This year the OSMA board has developed a new digital contest submission process that will eliminate the rolls of Scotch tape you use each year in submitting your entries and hopefully make the submission process less tedious.

Step-by-step directions for this process are available here as well as a video tutorial. Using Google Drive or another file sharing program, you will upload and share your entries. A Google Form will be used to submit your entries. Writing, design and photography entries will be uploaded as pdf files, and broadcast entries will be uploaded to Youtube. Online entries will continue to be submitted with a URL. All entries must be made public and have a shareable link, so that our judges can access them.

It is our hope that this process takes some of the stress out of the contest submission process. Your students can export and upload their own entries and fill out the contest form. As an adviser, you will finalize your entries with the Contest Roster. This replaces the written roster that was completed in the past.

2014-2015 Yearbook Award-winners

OSMA’s 2014-2015 Yearbook contest results are in. These schools entered books for one of the three deadlines — June 30, Sept. 30 and Nov. 30 — and received judging feedback. Every school received a 10-page detailed critique from a former Yearbook Adviser of the Year. If you are part of a yearbook staff, why not submit YOURS next year? * indicates schools with open forum policies that allow students to make content decisions.

All-Ohio

  • LOHIAN, Loveland High School
  • NORTH COMPASS, North High School, Evansville, Indiana
  • BRONZE BAYONET, Olentangy Orange High School*

First Place

  • ARCHER, Antwerp High School*
  • AURUM, GlenOak High School
  • BEAVER TALES, Beavercreek High School
  • CIRCLE LIGHT, Tallmadge High School*
  • POLARIS, Pickerington North High School*
  • POWDER HORN, Jonathan Adler High School*
  • TORRENT, Dublin Scioto High School

Second Place

  • CHIEFTAIN, Copley High School
  • CRYSALIS, Notre Dame Cathedral Latin School
  • THE GOLDEN KEY, Streetsboro High School*
  • THE SENTINEL, Sheridan High School *
  • TRIDENT, Brunswick High School

Third Place

  • THE EAGLE, Big Walnut High School*
  • SILVER BULLET, Olentangy Liberty High School*

Honorable Mention

  • ECHO, Black River High School

Journalist of the Year

Enter the Georgia Stilwell Dunn

Ohio Journalist of the Year
scholarship competition now

This is a chance for your students to showcase their work and get recognized for their dedication to journalism. Not sure how to instruct your students on the JOY portfolio submissions? Check out the online tutorials to help you and your students prep for success.

The Ohio winner will be announced at the state convention awards banquet but will have already been entered into the Journalism Education Association’s national Journalist of the Year competition.

1.) Create a digital portfolio of journalistic work by creating a website with links to student work in the 11 categories outlined by JEA (news gathering, writing, editing, design, multimedia broadcast, photojournalism, web, law and ethics, leadership and team building, news literacy and entrepreneurship). For more direction, view the JEA Rubric and tips for polishing your portfolio.

 
2.) Prepare required contest materials to attach to application:
  • Official high school transcript or a counselor’s statement including journalism classes taken, grades and current GPA. Student should be a high school senior and should have an overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
  • Action photo of applicant involved in some aspect of student media, and an extended caption written for that photo. If there is more than one dominant subject in the photo, please use location of candidate (left, right, etc.). 
  • Three letters of recommendation from those who know the applicant well and understand the impact of the journalistic experience on the student’s life 
  • Personal résumé.
  • Self-analytical essay: Students should write with passion and make an impact on the judges because this essay functions as the applicant’s one-on-one interview with the judges. Essay should not exceed two pages in length
*These pieces should be emailed as attachments. Please do not put personal information (such as student address) in the online portfolio.
 
3.) Email submission material, including a link to the student online portfolio and the required attachments, to Julieanne McClain at mcclaiju@delawarecityschools.net.
 

For more information on how to enter, visit the JEA website.

Deadline to enter is Friday, February 10, 2023.

Email submissions to…
Julieanne McClain, CJE
JEA State Director, Ohio
Email: mcclaiju@delawarecityschools.net

RECENT JOY WINNERS

  • 2022 — Callia Peterson, Upper Arlington High School (Robin Mollica, Adviser)
  • 2021 — Sama Ben Amer, Dublin Scioto High School (Amanda Leahy, Adviser)
  • 2020 — Anna Mullins, Lakota East High School (Dean Hume, Adviser)
  • 2019 — Jacob Fulton, Olentangy Orange High School (Kari Phillips and Brian Nicola, advisers)
  • 2018 — Julieanne Ford, Lakota East High School (Dean Hume, adviser)
  • 2017 — Emma Stiefel, Lakota East High School (Dean Hume, adviser)

2013-2014 Yearbook Award-winners

OSMA’s 2013-2014 Yearbook contest results are in. These schools entered books for one of the three deadlines — June 30, Sept. 30 and Nov. 30 —  and received judging feedback, generally within a month of their submissions. Every school received a 10-page detailed critique from a former Yearbook Adviser of the Year. If you are part of a yearbook staff, why not submit YOURS next year?

Day-of Contest Winners 2013

Justine DeFrancesco, an early education major at Kent State, helps Dorothy Myer rake her yard. Myer was appreciative of the service, "I recently became acquainted with Justine and she offered to help me with my yard," said Myer. "I really do need help these days and she is doing a wonderful job." (photo by Sam Barton, Kettering Fairmont)

Justine DeFrancesco, an early education major at Kent State, helps Dorothy Myer rake her yard. Myer was appreciative of the service, “I recently became acquainted with Justine and she offered to help me with my yard,” said Myer. “I really do need help these days and she is doing a wonderful job.” (First place photo by Sam Barton, Kettering Fairmont High School)

News:

1st Sophia Li from Lakota East

2nd Bobbie Strickland from Centerburg

3rd Claire O’Neill from Rutherford B. Hayes

Interview:

1st Alexa Chryssovergis from Lakota East

2nd Alexandra Miller from North Canton Hoover

3rd Lindsay Wolford from Rutherford B. Hayes

HM Rachel Danner from GlenOak

Commentary:

1st Josh Shi from Lakota East

2nd Alex Ressa from Rutherford B. Hayes

3rd Melissa Layton from Centerburg

HM Hannah Rocco from North Canton Hoover

Newspaper Design:

PARTY TIME ON EAST MAIN. Many of Kent State's various fraternities and sororities are located on E. Main St. They are well known for throwing large parties that can often get out of control and leave the yards covered in litter. (photo by Sean Daughtery, Solon High School)

PARTY TIME ON EAST MAIN. Many of Kent State’s various fraternities and sororities are located on E. Main St. They are well known for throwing large parties that can often get out of control and leave the yards covered in litter. (Second place photo by Sean Daughtery, Solon High School)

1st Austin Gallogly from Centerburg

2nd Kody Keckler from Solon

3rd Emily Chao from Lakota East

HM Jen Foreman from Rutherford B. Hayes

Yearbook Design:

1st Hannah Miller and Megan Boderschats from GlenOak

2nd Nugeen Aftab and Jack Dombrowsi from Lakota East

3rd Brooke Porter and Maddie Cline from Centerburg

Newsmagazine Design:

1st Natasha Rausch from Lakota East

2nd Avery McGrail from Rutherford B. Hayes

Broadcast:

1st Jonah Yonkers, Kaitlin Lange, Angela Ferguson, and Ifram Ibrahim from Lakota East

2nd Reece Kotaka, Tara Grace, Eric Whited, and Monique Martinez from Rutherford B. Hayes

3rd Reed Hensel, Hayden Hatcher, Lindsay Mapes, and Allyson Kramer from Centerburg

Photography:

1st Sam Barton from Kettering Fairmont

2nd Sean Daughtery from Solon

3rd Lauren Weidinger from Revere

Online Membership Registration

The Ohio Scholastic Media Association is headquartered at Kent State University, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 201B Franklin Hall, Kent, OH 44242. 330-672-8297 or fax 330-672-4064. Each of OSMA’s five regions has a headquarters as well. The association is a coalition of journalism programs and media associations whose purpose is to support scholastic media. It will offer press days, workshops, conferences, contests, etc. It will work for the overall betterment of high school journalism teaching and media in Ohio. Prefer a downloadable form? It’s here.

Candace Perkins Bowen executive director
OSMA Regional
Headquarters:
Region One
Kent State University
Kent, Ohio

Region Two
Pending

Region Three
Pending

Region Four
University of Findlay
Findlay, Ohio

Region Five
Otterbein University
Westerville, Ohio

Address questions, suggestions
or concerns to Perkins Bowen at
330-672-8297 or
cbowen@kent.edu