After a two-year hiatus, the Feather Online is back in the running for the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Pacemaker award. The finalists that are competing for the prestigious award were named March 9. The Feather was one of 50 nominees.

The Pacemaker award has been dubbed the “Pulitzer Prize” of high school journalism. In 2013, the Feather took home an Online Pacemaker, along with a Best of Show award in San Francisco. The publication also won in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and was nominated for the award in 2007 and 2009.

In previous years, the competition was broken down into two categories — schools with a population more than 1500 students, and schools with less than 1500 students. If, in the future, these categories are implemented, The Feather will be listed in the small school sector. Fresno Christian currently has less than 180 students in the high school.

The Feather would like to congratulate fellow California nominees, including M-A Chronicle from Atherton; Scot Scoop News from Belmont; Highlights from Beverly Hills; The HUB from Davis; Harvard-Westlake Chronicle from North Hollywood; The Octagon from Sacramento; The Broadview from San Francisco; The Carillon from San Jose; Harker Aquila from San Jose; The Pearl Post from Van Nuys; and the Foothill Dragon Press from Foothill.

The finalists will be awarded their prizes at the NSPA/Journalism Education Association (JEA) National High School Journalism Convention in Los Angeles, taking place April 14-17. Feather staffers will be taking a trip to the convention, where Editors-in-Chief Rees Roggenstein and Chloe Mueller, alongside Senior Editor Josh Carter, will be teaching, along with adviser Greg Stobbe, a series of sessions to their fellow journalists. The photojournalism team, led by Kori Friesen and Kylie Bell, will also be leading a class centered on photography.

Editor-in-Chief, Roggenstein, is impressed with the passion that his staffers share, and their feat of garnering the award despite starting from scratch. He also thanks previous editors for the legacy they left behind.

“I am incredibly honored and humbled with the NSPA’s decision,” Roggenstein said. “We started off this year with no website, nothing at all really, and managed to secure a nomination. I do not believe that that The Feather could have succeeded without last year’s incredible staff. We owe much of our success this year to our previous editors, Sara Peterson and Tynin Fries, for keeping the Feather alive even when things were looking down.”

After The Feather Online crashed last year in spring, the editors knew a tremendous challenge lay before them. With the need for a complete overhaul of their online paper, not only did they need to help design a new format, but raise financing to move the data and make back end corrections as they surfaced. — Feather adviser Greg Stobbe

The Feather has also merited several Silver and Gold Crowns from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) over the years. In the fall semester of the 2015-’16 school year, the publication was named a Gold Medal finalist. In Nov. of 2015, the Feather received an All-American title from the NSPA, with four marks of distinction.

Senior Editor, Carter, reflects on the work put into the school year, and the perseverance of the staff.

“I am extremely excited at the chance to receive an Online Pacemaker from the NSPA,” Carter said. “Over the past school year, as a staff, we have worked to the best of our ability to reorganize and establish a newspaper worthy of recognition. We as The Feather will continue to publish and strive for excellence within the scholastic journalism world.”

Publications adviser, Stobbe, witnessed the group overcome challenges and make the necessary corrections.

“After The Feather Online crashed last year in spring, the editors knew a tremendous challenge lay before them,” Stobbe said. “With the need for a complete overhaul of their online paper, not only did they need to help design a new format, but raise financing to move the data and make back end corrections as they surfaced.”

Stobbe is proud of his staff, a group of students which he believes have overcome many obstacles and performed with excellence.

“I am most proud to be the adviser of this group of students who have weathered the start of a school year without a paper, encountered numbers slowdowns and sudden offline moments as the inevitable bugs many times derailed their efforts,” Stobbe said. “The staff and especially the editors, Chloe [Mueller], Josh [Carter] and Rees [Roggenstein], have earned my respect as they lead a small school newspaper into the digital age. They will leave behind them a work ethic and new Feather website countless peers will benefit from.”

Before attending the NSPA Convention, the Feather is actively participating in the CSPA Online Crown Award. A group of selected staffers are headed to New York City from March 12-19 to attend the Spring Scholastic Convention, which is hosted at Columbia University. The lead editorial staff, along with the lead photojournalists, will be giving a professional presentation at Columbia. There, The Feather will be given either a Silver or a Gold Crown award.

For more information on the Pacemaker Award, see the full list of finalists 2016 NSPA Online Pacemaker Finalists announced.

For more information on The Feather, read CSPA honors Feather with Gold Medal Critique and Feather wins NSPA Pacemaker, Best of Show.

For more news, read Kids Day to fundraise for local hospital, March 8.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @_chloemueller and via email: Chloe Mueller.