After months of anticipation amongst The Feather staffers, they were ecstatic to hear they were Gold Crown winners at the 89th annual Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Spring Convention, March 22. Six members of the staff were there in New York to collect the award, as they hurried up the aisle to receive their Gold Crown.

The event was held at Columbia University and concluded with the awards ceremony, where Edmund J. Sullivan, executive director of the CSPA, announced the Crown winners; 77 Gold Crowns and 95 Silver Crowns. Once the publications received their awards, they posed for a picture with Bruce Watterson, Chair of the CSPAA Committee on Judging Practices.

The Gold Crown is the most prestigious award given by the CSPA, with the Silver Crown following second. Among the 1,344 entries to be judged, only 172 crowns were given out. The entrants included digital only, print magazine, print newspaper and print yearbook, as well as a new category–hybrid.

Out of 10 total crown winners for the digital publication category, The Feather is among five Gold Crown winners and five Silver Crown winners. This is the third Gold Crown for The Feather and fifth crown overall, including two Silver Crowns from past years.

For Editor-in-Chief Tynin Fries, ?14, more than just a sigh of relief overtook her when she heard The Feather was a Gold Crown winner. Flashbacks of the past months of journalism flooded her mind as she walked up to receive the award.

“I can’t even describe how proud and ecstatic I felt when they said The Feather won a Gold Crown,” Fries said. “I almost fainted, I started to cry and it was hard to breathe. I’ve never been so proud in my life. I was having flashbacks to all the late nights in the lab trying to get stuff published, all the times I wanted to pull my hair out and all the hours and hours of work that went into this year. That moment was perfect.”

First year writer John Dooman, ?15, realizes the magnitude of The Feather, after it won its third Gold Crown. He has enjoyed being a part of the staff and wants to work even harder to meet the high expectations that have been put in place after winning this award.

“It feels awesome to be able to work on such a prestigious paper,” Dooman said. “The fact that I can be part of something that is recognized throughout the nation is really cool. The expectations were already pretty high and now that The Feather has won another Gold Crown, it raises the bar even more. All in all joining The Feather, I think, was worth it once I found out that all our hard work had paid off with a Gold Crown.”

Many emotions were flowing through the room as everyone was waiting to hear the results. Senior Editor Maddie Yee, ?13, was overwhelmed with the amount of feelings coursing through her. Yee was unsure of how she would react to any news she was about to receive.

“I was anxious to say the least,” Yee said. “My legs were shaking and I couldn’t help but squeeze Tynin [Fries] and Viv’s [Hinojosa] hands as tight as I could. My mind was literally turning in circles. All I could think about was, ‘how am I going to react to the result?’ If we got a Silver, ‘was I going to walk up in disappointment?’ or, if we got a Gold, ‘would I scream in excitement?’ The build up was a little scary and thrilling all at once.”

Journalism Adviser Greg Stobbe focused on the retraining of a new staff in the beginning of the year. Stobbe wanted to better prepare students for the years to come, not expecting to win anything in the ?12-?13 school year. But the staff surprised him when they showed they could accomplish great things through their dedication and hard work.

“After meeting with two editors over the summer and talking about the increasing expectations of scholastic journalism, our discussion centered on the retraining of a new staff,” Stobbe said. “There are no hot shot or genius students on this staff. They are overachievers who refused to accept mediocrity or rely on excuses. This truly has become an example of how the team concept and willingness to outwork others can result in excellence.”

After being told over and over again that this year would be a rebuilding year for The Feather, Fries still did not get discouraged. She knew the staff could get to this point as long as they were motivated enough. Fries continued to work hard and set an example for the staff.

“When this year started everyone thought this would be a rebuilding year,” Fries said. “But I knew that no matter how many people were on my staff, we could pull it off if we were motivated enough. As Editor-in-Chief, if I didn’t show the staff by example, then I couldn’t expect them to do the work that they do. So winning the Gold Crown was a tangible way to show everyone who doubted us that we really could, and did, do it.”

Knowing none of this would be possible without the staff, Yee is very thankful they were willing to work as hard as they did. She is grateful to be an editor for The Feather as well as being able to work with students who have helped make her final year a great one.

“Winning a Gold Crown this year is very gratifying because the staff has truly put in so many hours of hard work,” Yee said. “It gives me joy to know that the students’ efforts are not going unnoticed. I feel so honored to be an editor for this publication; and I am so proud of each staff member who has contributed to the paper as a whole.”

Stobbe is proud of the work the staff put into making The Feather a Crown-winning digital newspaper, but he especially appreciates those who took on a leadership role. He saw the dedication some of the students had, when they stayed late after school to work on the paper and never excepted anything less than pure excellence.

“I know that some of The Feather staff are proud to accept any recognition for covering the events and issues of their world. However, others on staff work many hours outside of class, striving towards an ultimate goal like a Gold Crown or a Pacemaker. They know excellence never accepts anything less than their best each day. I think it was these leaders who added to the commitment of their graduated peers. They take my quip seriously: ‘What have you done for me lately.'”

For more information, check out the CSPA’s press release.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @viv_hinojosa.

For more news, read the March 22 article, Broadcasts in the Big Apple, Day 5.