For the fifth year in a row The Feather recieved an All-American rating and five out five marks of distinction from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) who released their annual web critique for 2014, Feb. 23.

The Feather scored the top in all five essential categories: Coverage and Content, Interactivity and Community, Breaking News, Design and Navigation and Rich Media along with scores from Student Work Credit and Frequencie of Update Credit.

With the combination of the five high score in all five categories and the two extra sections, The Feather receives NSPA All-American rating and a score of 3,992/4,300 points.

Feather adviser Greg Stobbe expresses his gratitude for the nomination, but acknowledges that there is still more work to come for staffers.

“While earning another All-American nod demonstrates The Feather staff’s proficiency,” Stobbe said, “I’m fully aware of the weaknesses and realities of producing a daily online paper. This award is just a step to honor first semester’s work, and it’s nice to know the things I’m pushing the staff to do have been pointed out by an independent judge. I’m thankful for the review, but the season is not over.”

Starr Sackstein, World Journalism Prep School, critiqued The Feather and shared her thoughts of the website.

“It was an absolute pleasure navigating though your website,” Sackstein said. “I’m hoping to share it with my students as I feel they can learn a lot from what you guys are doing.”

Chloe Mueller, Editor-in-Chief, shares her opinion on the review and how it has affected her motivation to carry out the rest of the semester.

“Here at the lab, we’ve been awaiting this review for awhile,” Mueller said. “I was very excited to receive the critique and more than satisfied with the results of our work. This is my first year serving as Editor-in-Chief, and this just goes to show that what we do here pays off. This is definitely a motivator for us – and myself – to continue striving through the year.”

FC’s web site critique scoresheet:

Coverage and Content: 900/1000
Interactivity and Community: 950/1000
Breaking News:450/500
Design and Navigation: 900/1000
Rich Media: 500/500
Student work credit: 92/100
Frequency of update: 200/200

Total score: 3992/4300

Follow The Feather via Twitter and Instagram: @thefeather and @thefeatheronlilne. This writer can be reached via Twitter: @_sarapeterson.

For more news, read the Feb. 23 article, BRIEF: Scholastic Journalism Week, Feb. 22-28 .