The Feather Online has been a daily newspaper since 2001, covering Fresno Christian High School community's news, features, sports, opinions and entertainment. During the FC's 2012-2013 fall semester, 35 staff members have already written 432 articles by Dec. 14, not including sports coverage of each varsity game.
The staff won its fourth National Scholastic Press Association Online Pacemaker in 2012 (2006, 2008 and 2010 ). The Feather Online won its fourth Crown from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association: a Silver Crown in 2012. Previously, The Feather won Gold Crowns in 2010 and 2011 as one of CSPA's top seven high school newspapers in the United States. Last year the staff won its first Silver Crown (2009).
The Feather Online has won numerous awards over the past eight years, including Pacemaker finalists six years in a row as one of the NSPA's top online papers in the United States.
With dawn breaking over the Fresno Water Tower in downtown Fresno, most of the 2012-13 staff met photographer Tom Milne for the annual yearbook photo in early November 2012.
About us
The Feather Online is a daily publication produced by the students of Fresno Christian High School in Fresno, California, since October 2001 (www.thefeather.com). The print edition of The Feather originated in 1982 and was in publication until May 2010. The Feather Online serves as a voice and a forum for students and the Fresno Christian community. Community submissions like letters to the editor, columns, blog and article comments and guest articles are also welcomed. For more information on The Feather Online or to make submissions, contact The Feather's email address or send a request to adviser Greg Stobbe's email.
During their existence, both Feather publications, the editors and staff have won numerous local and national awards.
History
Freshman Dalton Cowin takes over the reigns of webmaster for the 2012-13 school year. While he is not expected to add additional features or change the looks of The Feather, he will pursue learning the languages needed to do so in the years to come.
The Feather Online staff has numbered 20+ staff members each year since 2001. Before the online paper existed, the staff often hovered around 5-10 members. Currently there are 34 staff members for the 2012-13 fall semester.
The current version of The Feather Online originated in the summer of 2004 when adviser Greg Stobbe charged senior Doug DenHartog to rewrite the code and redesign the paper. The editors wanted to make better use of newer technology available since the original online design created using FileMaker Pro in 2001.
The rewrite was handed off to junior Matthew Shattuck in June 2005, and continued through the 2006-07 school year. However, after Shattuck graduated, the staff determined The Feather Online needed a third revision in order to restructure the PHP scripting using a more modular design. The webmaster, junior Andrew Rurik, chose to change the HTML structure from a tables-based design to a layers base. This version of The Feather Online launched in January 2008.
Sophomore David Casuga accepted the position of webmaster after Rurik graduated in May 2009. Cauga added new features, including audio and visual slideshows, expanded comic and podcasting sections and new media capabilities to The Feather Online.
Philosophy
The goal of the staff is to reflect, represent, inform and entertain the student body through the campus news, features, profiles and sports activities. The staff also seeks to provide a forum for editorials, columns and letters to the editor.
Additionally, community events and places of interest will be covered when found applicable to student concerns. The newspaper will not cover city, state, national or international news unless there is a tie to current students and their activities. This is one area the paper seeks to improve.
The Feather Online will strive to add more media and social media to its offerings in the 2012-13 school year. In the past, slideshows, audio slideshows, videos, podcasts, Twitter, Facebook were extras but are now seen as mainstream parts of the daily edition.
ONLINE EDITION AWARDS
NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION (NSPA)
Traditionally high school journalism's most decorated honor, the NSPA awarded The Feather Online a Pacemaker in the spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle, WA, April 14, 2012. The Feather Online has won four Pacemakers in the last seven years of competition and was one of four California schools to do so in 2012.
The NSPA awarded its only Online Pacemaker in California in the 2010 NSPA online competition, April 17, in Portland, OR. Two years earlier, The Feather Online was awarded in the 2008 NSPA online competition as one of the best high school newspapers in the country, April 19, in Anaheim, CA. The Feather Online also won an Online Pacemaker award in 2006 in San Francisco, CA. The paper was named a finalist in the 2009 NSPA Online Pacemaker contest and the 2007 NSPA Online Pacemaker contest.
For the third year in a row, the National Scholastic Press Association honored The Feather Online as an All-American online newspaper in November 2012. The campus paper earned Marks of Distinction in four out of five categories. The previous year, the NSPA awarded The Feather Online as an All-American online newspaper a second time in September 2011. And for the first time in school history, The Feather earned distinctions in all five scoring categories.
The NSPA awarded The Feather Online the honor of "All-American" in November 2010 for the first time in school history. The Feather earned 3,998 out of 4,300 points and earned Marks of Distinction in 4/5 categories.
COLUMBIA SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION (CSPA)
The Feather Online has earned a Crown from CSPA for the fifth year in a row in 2013. A couple of editors will travel to Columbia University in NYC to accept either a Silver or Gold Crown, during the 89th annual Scholastic Convention, March 22, 2013. Please return after that date; The Feather will update this page at that time.
Additionally, The Feather Online earned a Gold Medalist designation, Feb. 27, 2013, from CSPA's Scholastic News Digital Critique. The Feather received 973/1,000 points and was awarded All-Columbian honors in all three categories: Essentials, verbal and visual.
The CSPA announced its top awards for scholastic publications at the 88th annual Scholastic Convention in Columbia University's Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall, March 16, 2012. For the fourth straight year, The Feather Online was awarded a Crown: Silver Crown.
On March 18, 2011, Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) honored The Feather Online its highest journalistic honor: a Gold Crown--The Feather's second--one of only two awarded to California high schools.
The CSPA gave The Feather Online its first Gold Crown at Columbia University in New York City, March 19, 2010. Columbia Scholastic Press Association honored The Feather Online with a Silver Crown during its annual spring convention in New York City, March 18, 2009. This is the first time the CSPA gave this award.
PRINT EDITION AWARDS
The Feather print edition under the direction of current adviser, Greg Stobbe:*
San Joaquin Valley Scholastic Press Association
Superior rating -- 2009, 2008
First Place-Sweepstakes winner -- 2008
All-Valley Newspaper -- 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
Gold Medal -- 2009, 2008, 2006
Silver Medal -- 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2000, 1999
National Scholastic Press Association
First Place with marks of distinction -- 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2000
International Quill & Scroll
First Place -- 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2003, 2000
*The print edition of The Feather ceased operations during the 2009-10 school year. However, the editions can be viewed in the archived section.
Last updated: Feb. 27, 2013
