The 2021 IWPA High School Communications Contest celebrated the work of high school communicators from students across the Chicagoland area with a total of 106 entries from seven schools. 

COVID-19, reevaluations of gender and racial standings and the 2020 presidential elections, made the 2020-2021 academic year both challenging and inspiring for student journalists. All were topics tackled by future communicators through the written word and graphics. 

First-place winners in the IWPA Communications Contest were then eligible to compete at the national level in a contest sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women. Awards in that contest were presented in a virtual ceremony held on May 22. 

Huntley High School was the winner of the Silver Pen Award, given to the school with the most total points received for first, second, third and honorable mention awards. 

Listed below are all of the award recipients in the 2021 IWPA High School Communications Contest. Congratulations to all the students and their advisors!

 

First Place

Brandon Eddy, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Radio / Television Interview or Talk Show, “COVID-19.”

Olivia Sowacke, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Video News Story, “Train Station.”

Tori Wright, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Video Feature Story, “Black in America.”

Nicholas Pratt, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Layout, “Quaran-teens.”

Sydney Laput, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Photo, “May the Best Man Win.”

Katie Anthony, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Copywriting, “Quaran-teens.”

Holly Urbanczyk, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Environmental Reporting, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”

Sara Gebka, Huntley, High School, Huntley, Illinois; Graphics/Photo Illustration, “Healthy or Perfect Graphic.”

Sasha Clinnin, Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Illinois; Sports Photo, “Supplement Cover.”

Anna Olp, Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Illinois; Single-Page Layout, “Manifestation and its Many Meanings.”

Travis Johnson, Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Illinois; Columns or Blogs, “But in the End, We’re All Americans.”

Victoria Feng, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Opinion, “As a Teen POC, I’m Beyond Offended By That Racist College Recruiter.”

Victoria Feng, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Sports Story, “Female High School E-Sports Teams Are Blazing a Trail for Girls in Games.”

Victoria Feng, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; News Story, “Colleges Are Hiring Influencers to Make Mask-Wearing a Trend.”

Bayarmaa Bat-erdene, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Editorial, “Posts and Picket Signs.”

Pooja Jain, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Review, “The Social or Student Dilemma.”

Sophia Ismail, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Cartooning, “Post and Pickets.”

Humza Qazi, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Feature Story, “Same Room Different Zoom.”

Serena Mehta, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Double-Truck Layout, “Diversity.”

Kyla Henige, The McHenry Messenger, Cartooning,  “Opinion: Your offensive language may hurt someone else/”

 

Second Place

Ari Sline, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Radio / Television Interview or Talk Show, “Cannabis/”

Jaya Russell, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Video News Story, “Balloon Business/”

Ben Turnquest, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Video Feature Story, “Cancer Support Center/”

Kayla Yakimisky, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Copywriting, “Home Sweet Homeschool/”

Kayla Yakimisky, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Layout, “You Are Not Alone.”

Sydney Laput, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Graphics / Photo Illustration, “Gender Pronoun Cover.”

Ellie Armstrong, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Feature Story, “Celebrating the Small Things.”

Ellie Armstrong, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Sports Photo, “5 Second Flight Over the X.”

Brooke Helle, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Opinion, “Remote Learning Workload.”

Sara Gebka, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Graphics / Photo Illustration, “COVID: How you are careless graphic.”

Arianna Joob, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Review, “Review of “The Midnight Sky.”

Brianna Michi, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Double-Truck Layout, “Fox River Downtowns Prepare for the Holidays.”

Megan Stefanik, Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Illinois; Cartooning, “Students United.”

Kaneland Krier Executive Staff, Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Illinois; Editorial, “A Chance to Inspire Change.”

Morgan Fry, Lyons Township High School, LaGrange, Illinois; Single-Page Layout, “Hinsdale Central swimmer dies in car crash.”

Jessica Velazquez, Metea Valley High School, Aurora, Illinois; News Story, “204 parents and students rally to re-open schools.”

Ally Flynn, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Sports Story, “Competitive COVD-19 Cuts.”

 

Third Place

Noah Clausing, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Radio / Television Interview or Talk Show, “The Band.”

Megan Spoerlein, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Layout, “Jump Into Journalism.”

Katie Anthony, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Copywriting, “We’re All in This Together.”

Ellie Armstrong, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Editorial, “Let’s Talk About Politics.”

Gabrielle Terez, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Review, “The Devil All the Time.”

Ruhi Gulati, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Opinion, “Stop Putting Politicians on Pedestals.”

Sarah Janito, Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Illinois; Double-Truck Layout, “ Are Students Too Materialistic?”

Victoria Feng, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; News Story, “What it’s like being a Bay Area high schooler right now.”

Kelly Liu, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Graphics / Photo Illustration, “Pushing and Pulling.”

Humza Qazi, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Feature Story, “Students for Change.”

Aayushi Wadhawan, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Sports Story, “Out of Contact.”

Kelly Liu, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; News or Feature Photo, “Pushing and Pulling.”

Bayarmaa Bat-erdene, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Sports Photo, “Chants, Choreography & Covid.”

 

Honorable Mention

Ari Sline, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Best Newscast, “WHFH News Update.”

Austin Smailes, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Radio Prepared Report, “Student Jobs.”

Austin Smailes, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Radio / Television Interview or Talk Show, “Quarentine.”

Eric Dedo, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Radio / Television Interview or Talk Show, “Fireman.”

Joe Sullivan, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Flossmoor, Illinois; Video Sports Story, “Fall Sports Update.”

Nicholas Pratt, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Layout, “This is Our House.”

Kayla Yakimisky, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Yearbook Layout, “Our True Colors..”

Ellie Armstrong, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Editorial, “Reconsider Hybrid Plan.”

Ellie Armstrong, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Editorial, “Inclusivity of Pronouns.”

Amelia Pozniak, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Opinion, “Guidelines Create Frustration.”

Kate Alvarado, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Feature Story, “Senior Activist Spreads Love.”

Maggie Kirwin, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Sports Story, “COVID had nothing on LAX.”

Amelia Pozniak, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Feature Story, “Behind the Scenes of Cosplay.”

Annaliese Harper, Huntley High School, Huntley, Illinois; Opinion, “A Day of Great Importance.”

Becky Arendarczyk, McHenry High School, McHenry, Illnois; Feature Story, “The doctor is in.”

Ayaana Pradhan, Metea Valley High School, Aurora, Illunois; Graphics / Photo Illustration, “Courage of Conviction.”

Krystal Nava, Saint Viator High School, Arlington Heights, Illinois; Opinion, “COVID vaccine offers new hope worldwide.”

Victoria Feng, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Opinion, “I’m a high school student. Sending kids back to school is a mistake for kids, their families, and the country.”

Victoria Feng, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Opinion, “What It’s Like Being An Asian American Student During The Pandemic.”

Victoria Feng, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; Sports Story, “Quaranteamwork.”

Kelly Liu, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois; News Story, “Pushing and Pulling for In-Person Learning.”

Kyla Henige, McHenry High Shool, McHenry, Illinois;  News or Feature Photo, “District 156 dashboard reports COVID cases.”