Wayland Student Press Wins the Pacemaker Award

"The highest honor in scholastic journalism, equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize"
[Source: The Feather, Fresno Christian High School]

« Below is a feature document made by WSPN »

On April 19, Wayland Student Press, a student-run news medium of Wayland High School in Wayland, Mass., received a National Online Pacemaker Award that was given by the National Scholastic Press Association,
which was established on 1921.

The award was given at the Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim, Calif. near Los Angeles, right next to Disney Land. Many famous people came to the convention, including the president of Daytime and Disney-ABC Television Group, a four-time Emmy Award winning anchor, a nationally recognized LA Times sports columnist, and celebrities of the new hit series Gossip Girl.

"In recognition of general excellence and outstanding achievement by a high school online publication in a national competition. Given by the National Scholastic Press Association at the Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim on April 19, 2008." [As said on the plaque]

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Example of Other Winners' View of this Award

Judges' Notes from NSPA

The NSPA Online Pacemaker competition has become increasingly competitive over the last three years. This year's entries were judged by the online editorial team at DesMoinesRegister.com. The Des Moines Register is an award-winning publication, garnering 15 Pulitzer prizes over the years.

The judging team selected ten Online Pacemaker finalists. The web sites were judged based on excellence in site content, site design, ease of navigation, interactivity and quality of writing/editing.

The judges released these comments about their Pacemaker finalist selections: "The best online entries had a few things in common. They effectively used multimedia (videos, photos, blogs) as a storytelling tool. They allowed users to comment on the sites. The pages were well organized. Their writing and photography stood out far above the rest." [Source: NSPA]

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Why is the Online Pacemaker Award So Significant?

Numerous advantages of online media are affecting the entire publishing industry. Today, online news outlets accompany many print publications. Some publications are seeking to transfer completely to the Web. As the younger generations are more comfortable with the online media, the spotlight is on the people who are innovative and who are changing the way news is delivered to the public. As more high school journalists join the trend of publishing online, the competition for the NSPA Online Pacemaker Award has become increasingly competitive.

About the Pacemaker Awards  |  Relation to Colleges

The National Pacemaker Awards are awards for excellence in American student journalism, given annually since 1927. The awards are generally considered to be the highest national honors in their field, and are unofficially known as the "Pulitzer Prizes of student journalism."

The National Scholastic Press Association administers the contest for high school programs, while the Associated Collegiate Press administers the college and university contests. Pacemakers are awarded annually at the JEA/NSPA National Conference (for high schools) and the ACP/CMA National College Media Convention (for colleges) in the following categories: Newspaper, Online, Yearbook/Magazine, and Broadcast. [Source: Wikipedia]

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Why is this Award so Special to Wayland Student Press?

Wayland High School does not have a journalism course. Other winners have journalism courses.

While most of the other finalists and winners enter many years before receiving such an award, Wayland Student Press was founded only a year ago, on May 1, 2008.

Wayland Student Press is completely operated by students.

Wayland Student Press has a small group of students working together. Student work on the news medium is completely extracurricular. Students do not get course credits or community service hours for working on the student news medium. Even without an allocated time on the school schedule, WSP was able to compete with other student publications put out by larger staffs who are given periods during the school day to work on their publications.

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Inception of the Wayland Student Press Network (WSPN)

There was no journalism course. There was no technological support. There was no money. There was no precedent. But there was a dream, and the perseverance to make it happen.

Freshman Robin Kim first approached some teachers last year about the possibility of starting a student-run, student-focused Web site at Wayland High School. His ideas about a technological revolution were so well thought-out, that despite the fact the High School is woefully under-funded for its technology needs, his English teacher, Janet Karman, and Technology Specialist Mary Barber were willing to hear him out.

In less than a year, the Wayland Student Press Network (WSPN) has grown from just an idea to becoming a winner of the Online Pacemaker Award--the most prestigious student journalism award in the country.

Kim saw a gap in communication at the high school. While the school has a rudimentary Web site that is friendly to teachers and parents, it didn't address the concerns of, and it didn't provide a voice for, the students.

He dreamed of a place where students could hear and see what was actually going on in various parts of the school--about the projects students were taking on, the sports, the drama, the music, the academic extracurricular activities--all the elements that make up the Wayland High School community.

He longed for a place where students could voice their concerns about all things great and small, where students could showcase talents, and a place where the Wayland community could tap into the climate of the school.

Using his own resources, including computer hardware, software and video equipment, Kim worked tirelessly, spending most of his waking minutes on the design and marketing strategies.

His enthusiasm and determination were infectious, and he soon managed to recruit a core group of students who had similar visions and were willing to work together to achieve them, including Marie Stotz, Peggy Wang and Mike Gentilucci, who had similar visions and were willing to work together to achieve them.

According to Wang, WSPN has the potential to benefit many students at Wayland High School. "I hope that WSPN will teach students about the responsibilities of journalism and provide the community with quality journalism that portrays the objective truth and prompts people to think and question."

Stotz explains how multimedia played a big role in her dream for WSPN's success and why students should consider being part of the online student medium.

"It's great how we are able to integrate all kinds of videos and photos into WSPN. Average high school students might not want to read articles, but they would be content to watch three-minute videos. We must utilize multimedia to prevent traditional news sources from becoming obsolete. Through WSPN, one can experience the 21st century journalism and get a head start in pursuing a career in the media field."

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Wayland Student Press at Wayland High School

This year, WSPN has taken off. Karman and Barber, as co-advisers, obtained a grant from the Wayland Public Schools Foundation to purchase necessary computers, and video and digital cameras. Students signed on to write articles, opinion pieces, conduct interviews and create videos for the Web site. Many more students have tuned in to view the site and to send in online comments on a wide range of subjects, from praise for student productions to lively debate about the upcoming elections.

Numerous parents and faculty members are also visiting the Web site regularly. The site has become a centralized location for students and teachers alike to raise and ponder important issues related to school climate, which directly addresses the core values of the school's mission statement to "create a climate where risk-taking is safeguarded, open expression is encouraged, and free association is protected," as well as "to advance our students' growth into principled, informed and capable citizens who will help guide a democracy that follows humanitarian principles in the global forum."

Students are gaining valuable experience in journalism issues including writing, editing, interviewing, video and podcasting, as well as First Amendment concerns.

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Wayland Student Press from the Outside

Mathew Ingram, a technology writer with The Globe and Mail in Toronto,
praised the technological advancements of WSPN:

"A small-town high school--Wayland High in Wayland, Massachusetts--(is) doing things with their school newspaper's Web site that more big-city papers should do, including a smart use of video,
blog-style format and great design."

He further added, "A bunch of 16-year-olds, and they are out-producing many larger newspapers
put out by a giant staff. Pretty powerful stuff."

Paul Conley, who held senior positions at CNN and Bloomberg News,
brings up a question to other journalists through his blog:

"Take a look at the future: a news site run by high school kids. Not college kids. Not pros. Take a look and ask yourself honestly, 'What are these kids doing on this site that I can't do at my publication?'"

Howard Owens, a Director of Digital Publishing at Gatehouse Media, Inc.,
described Wayland Student Press on his blog that talks about newspapers online and online journalism:

"I don't know whether to say, "this is your competition," or "it's a good sign for our industry that a high school news site would so closely mimic a lot of newspaper.com conventions." It might also provide a barometer for what high school students expect in a news site."

List of 2008 NSPA Online Pacemaker Winners

How to Access Wayland Student Press and WSPN