The Feather staff awoke to a misty haze in their last day at the 88th annual Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) conference, March 16. After a quick visit to nearby Starbucks or Eupopan Cafe, the team loaded onto the subway for a third day at Columbia University to continue to participate in sessions and anticipate the award ceremony for the CSPA Crown awards in the afternoon.
The staff supported seniors Brooke Stobbe and David Casuga, as well as Co-Editors-in-Chief Mary Hierholzer and Nick Avery, by attending their seminars entitled “Broadcast Your Voice: Learn How to Podcast” and “Relieving the Experience With The Feather Online.”
Following the presentations, the students split up to attend one final seminar. For lunch, the students walked three blocks to Toms Restaurant, which is known for its regular appearance in the television show Seinfeld.
Then, over 3,000 students, including 182 online publications and 25 online Crown finalists piled into the main lobby for the award ceremony. At approximately 2:45 p.m. Eastern, the doors opened and the live stream of the presentation began.
While there are now thousands of high school online newspapers and the number is growing each year, only member schools of the CSPA are eligible for their Crown awards.
Anxiously awaiting the results, the journalism staff listened as the announcer slowly made alphabetical progress to the letter ‘T’.
With breathes held, The Feather Online was declared a CSPA Silver Crown recipient for the 2011-12 school year. Hierholzer, Avery and Casuga accepted the award. Afterwards, the group posed with their plaque for pictures in front of Alma Mater on the steps of Columbia’s Low Library.
According to the CSPA website, “Publications were judged on writing/editing, design, content, concept, photography, art and graphics. Online news media were judged at Columbia in February 2012.Thirteen digital news, 16 magazines, 11 newspapers, 22 yearbooks received Gold Crown Awards while 122 other publications received the second highest CSPA award, known as the Silver Crown. Gold Crowns have been presented annually since 1983, and Silver Crowns have been given since 1984.
The Awards Convocation took place in the Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall, located at Columbia?s historic Morningside Heights campus.”
This is the fourth Crown overall for the FCHS journalism program after years of earning Gold or Silver Medalist award, which are the next tier below the Crown awards. The last two years The Feather Online won the Gold Crown award, and in 2009 another Silver Crown.
For the last seven years, a different editor-in-chief has led The Feather Online staff to national awards under the leadership of adviser Greg Stobbe.
Following awards, the staff returned to the hotel for a brief rest period and to prepare for the last musical on the trip, Mary Poppins. The team ate dinner together at Planet Holywood debriefing on the days events and spending time in fellowship for the final time in New York City.
For the previous day’s report, check out Newsies in New York, Day 4. Please return to this newspaper for a video on Day 5.
