By Lauren Peller
For the first time in recent years, the Thunderbird won a second place designation in a high school newspaper competition hosted by the American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA). This honor was awarded as part of a competitive national competition that considered all aspects of quality high school newspapers. As part of this submission, the ASPA also provided detailed feedback so the newspaper staff can address areas that can be improved and work toward a first place designation next year.
In addition, the Thunderbird won a total of 20 awards, triple the amount received last year, at the 2016 Long Island Press Journalism Awards on Monday, May 23rd. This included awards for both the print paper and the newly implemented online edition. The Long Island Press Journalism Awards honored the very best journalism produced by students throughout Long Island. With nearly 2,000 entries from high schools across Long Island, the judges acknowledged that this year’s competition was “unprecedented in its scope and quality of submissions.” Congratulations to all of our winners!
The awards listed below cover a wide range of categories including the works of twelve students on the Thunderbird staff:
Arts Review – Theater: 1st Place – Lauren Peller, “The Ten Dollar Founding Father Without a Father”
Arts Review – Live Performance: 1st Place – Rachel Penzer, “Carly Rae Jepsen: Gimme Love Tour”
Education – National Issues: 2nd Place – Gibran Boyce, “From ABCs to A2 + B2 + C2: When Academic Pressure Comes to Kindergarten”
Food – Restaurant Review: 1st Place – Rachel Rosenstein, “Run to Roast: It’s a Rare Find”
Headline – News: 2nd Place – Lauren Peller, “Orange You Glad It’s Apple Season”
Headline – News: 3rd Place – Alexa Grill, “Go Green, Eat Clean!”
Opinion – General: 1st Place – Gibran Boyce, “Girls in STEM: When You Criticize Them, They Do Not Cry!”
Opinion – National: 1st Place – Gibran Boyce, “The Power of An Image: A Raft, A Boy, and The European Migrant Crisis”
Political – Local Feature: 1st Place – Andrew Yanover, “A Tale of Two Rallies”
Q&A School: 3rd Place – Lauren Peller, “Showcasing Thunderbird Talent: Art Day 2016”
Travel: 2nd Place – Rachel Rosenstein, “A Western Adventure”
Online – Arts & Entertainment: 3rd Place – Lauren Hochheiser, “Why Does Fashion Repeat Itself?”
Online – Arts & Entertainment: 2nd Place – Emily Disman, “May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor: Mockingjay Part 2”
Online – Arts & Entertainment: 1st Place – Alexa Grill, “2016 Oscars Did Not Disappoint”
Online – Photo Series: 1st Place – Maryanne Mahoney, “A Journey Through the Arts: 2015-2016 Edition”
Online – Feature: 3rd Place – Lauren Peller, “Black is the New Brown”
Online – Editorial: 1st Place – Gibran Boyce, “Justice Antonin Scalia’s Death – A Fork in the Road for SCOTUS?”
Online – News: 3rd Place – Morgan Fishbein & Nicole Shanker, “How Secure is Too Secure? FBI Vs. Apple”
Online – News: 2nd Place – Anish Pisipati, “Gravitational Waves Exist!”
Online – News: 1st Place – Gibran Boyce, “We The People Constitution Team Places Second in State Finals”
As Editor-In-Chief, I would like to congratulate to the Thunderbird staff on a very successful year and thank its advisors, Mrs. Dalton and Mrs. Davis. It will be hard to say goodbye to our seniors, Gibran Boyce, Shelby Gosset, Jacob Broxmeyer, and Zach Leff, but we wish them all the best in their future endeavors. Thank you all for your contributions to The Thunderbird over the past four years.
