Renton High journalism students receive national awards

Student journalists and Renton High School's ARROW news magazine, received top honors at a national competition in San Francisco last weekend.

Student journalists and Renton High School’s ARROW news magazine, received top honors at a national competition in San Francisco last weekend.

The student publication won third and fourth place in the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association “Best in Show” competition, a release from RHS stated.ARROW received third place in the literary magazine category and fourth place in the special edition category.

Six reporters earned individual awards at the conference:

• Alicia Quarles, Honorable Mention – Literary Magazine: Poetry

• Banyon McBrayer, Honorable Mention – News Editing / Headline Writing

• Ksenia Ivanova, Excellent – Computer Design: Art Illustration

• Mirjam Amstutz, Excellent – Computer Design: Advertising

• Vy Nguyen, Excellent – Commentary Writing• Alex Kalinin, Superior – Editorial Cartooning

More than 4,000 high school journalists attended the convention.

“When judges announced us as winners in the literary magazine category, I almost cried. I was so happy to have won something, I started taking photos with the award,” said Vanessa Abenojar. She is the editor-in-chief. “But when they announced that we placed in the special edition category as well, I couldn’t breathe.”

She felt the judges liked the diversity of Renton High’s population and perspectives presented, she said.

“Our work is produced by individuals who care about their community,” Abenojar said. “We go outside of our circles of friends for stories and even outside our own school.”