The Kingwood Park High School journalism program for a second-straight year is the best in the state of Texas.
At the annual Texas Association of Journalism Educators Fall Fiesta Contest held in San Antonio, the Kingwood Park journalism/yearbook programs brought home the Sweepstakes Award – given to the school with the most points earned from awards – for a second-straight year.
“There is really great high school journalism around the state of Texas – some of the best in the nation. And while my students study great high school programs and professional publications while working hard to tell the stories of Kingwood Park, they don’t always see themselves as being among the elite journalism programs in the state,” Kingwood Park High School student publications adviser Megan Ortiz said. “I can tell them all year that I am proud of them and that what they are doing matters, but to hear their name called in front of everyone else at the state conference really means so much to them. I have a number of seniors who have been in this program for four years, and there is nothing they wanted more than to earn that plaque in their final Fall Fiesta.”
More than 600 students from 60 schools across the state competed in the event.
Kingwood Park brought home first place overall in yearbook (books with 0-260 pages) and second place overall in print newspaper (small school category) and online newsite (all school sizes).
“Winning Best in Show in yearbook feels like the best win I could ever have asked for,” Kingwood Park senior yearbook editor Arleigh Doehring said. “I’ve put all of my time into the yearbook/journalism program over the past four years and this is when I knew it paid off – when everyone sees how amazing I know it is. As soon as we won, I texted the editors from last year to let them know they made an impact even after they graduated. And that’s what I want – to make a lasting impact on this program.”
Individually, 25 awards were won by Kingwood Park students.
Senior newspaper editor Maya Ortiz brought home seven individual awards – infographic (Superior), photo portfolio (Superior), feature photo (Excellent), sports action photo (Superior), and contrast (Excellent), convention (Honorable Mention) and reflection (Honorable Mention) as part of the on-site digital photo competition.
“It was my senior year, so I loved that I could end my final Fall Fiesta on a high note,” Maya said. “And I am really proud of the staff for maintaining the momentum.”
Kingwood Park students James Phan (yearbook editor), Doehring and Maya also presented their session “10 Tips to Improve Your Staff's Sports Photos” to a room with roughly 60 students in attendance at Fall Fiesta.
“I was able to share my passion of photography with a group of like minded individuals in hopes of spreading the passion of sports photojournalism to make an impact in communities all over Texas,” Maya said about presenting.
With all the awards, being the best high school journalism program in Texas, and having students present at the conference, Megan beams with joy about her student’s accomplishments.
But what she is most proud of this year, in fact, was that her students gave up part of their summer break to give back to the next generation of writers, photographers and journalists at the Kingwood Park Summer Media Camp.
Ramiro Hernandez jokes around with his group of campers at the Summer Media Workshop at Kingwood Park this summer. Hernandez volunteered all three days and attended his second Fall Fiesta in San Antonio. (Photo by Maya Ortiz)
“They were camp counselors for some really great kids and had so much fun teaching. In turn, most of those counselors were able to use the proceeds from the camp to attend the state conference for free,” Megan said. “Not all of them would have been able to afford the three-day trip otherwise. So, I’m proud of them for helping create the summer camp and make it so successful in the first year, and then for sacrificing part of their fall break to spend three days learning more in San Antonio.
“They have come back so energized and with some great ideas to take this program to the next level.”
Full List of Awards
Pre-submitted awards*:
Infographic (Superior): Maya Ortiz
Photo Portfolio (Superior): Maya Ortiz
Feature Photo (Honorable Mention): Fallon Head
Feature Photo (Excellent): Maya Ortiz
Feature Photo (Superior): Morgan Dozier
First-Year Photo (Honorable Mention): Victoria Anisi
First-Year Photo (Excellent): Grace Darcy
News Photo (Excellent): Shelby Townsend
News Photo (Superior): Arleigh Doehring
Sports Action Photo (Honorable Mention): Arleigh Doehring
Sports Action Photo (Superior): Maya Ortiz
Marketing (Superior): Kaitlyn Sitton
Advanced Yearbook Design (Honorable Mention): Arleigh Doehring
Beginning Yearbook Design (Excellent): James Pham
Public Service Announcement Video (Excellent): Victoria Anisi, Amy Helton, Bella Barajas & Precious Solomon-Rhor
On-Site Writing/Design Competition
News Writing (Superior): Fallon Head
Newspaper Design (Excellent): Kaitlyn Sitton
On-site Digital Photo Competition:
Taste of San Antonio (Superior): Sydney Ortiz
Taste of San Antonio (Excellent): Arleigh Doehring
Taste of San Antonio (Excellent): Maddie Glenn
Contrast (Superior): Sydney Ortiz
Contrast (Excellent): Maya Ortiz
Convention (Honorable Mention): Maya Ortiz
Lines (Honorable Mention): Arleigh Doehring
Reflection (Honorable Mention): Maya Ortiz