By Juliet Becker and Connor Faust, Online Feature Editor and Print Feature Editor
// This year, Blueprint received 21 awards from the county-wide Dean S. Lesher Foundation, nationwide Quill and Scroll, and the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW).
For the fourth consecutive year, the Lesher Foundation awarded Blueprint first place for Overall Excellence in Contra Costa County.
In addition to the organization-wide award, several individuals won awards as well, including sophomore Marisa Guerra-Echeverria, who won two awards and an honorable mention in News Writing, Sports Writing, and Editorial Writing. Former Blueprint Editors-in-Chief and seniors Binti Sohn and Jamie Lattin won the first-place award for the Investigative Journalism category, and senior Lue Van Handel won first-place for the Photography Portfolio category.
Marking Blueprint’s talk show, Bluepers’, first award, junior Keith Johnson won second place in the “Radio-TV Interview or Talk Show” category for “Bluepers: Season 2 Episode 2” from California Press Women.
“I think [Bluepers] just gives Blueprint Online this new feature where it’s a way that Blueprint doesn’t have to be taken as seriously… It gives us the opportunity to kind of have a more fun and entertaining way to go through current events,” Johnson said.
Blueprint also entered the Quill and Scroll Writing, Photo, and Multimedia Contest, which gave honorable mentions to Lattin, Sohn, and senior Noah Glosson. The contest recognized Lattin and Sohn for their Feature writing, and Glosson for his Column writing.
Blueprint advisor Natalie Moore praised the students’ hard work and dedication throughout the school year.
“Blueprint’s not about awards. It’s about the family that we create and the family we have. Awards are a lovely way to recognize the power of those things,” Blueprint advisor Natalie Moore said.”
Here is a complete list of awards:
Lesher Foundation:
- Overall Publication Excellence, First Place (fourth year in a row)
- Overall Website Design Excellence, Second Place, Stella Heo and Kayli Harley
- Photo of the Year, Honorable Mention, Anna Yiannikos
- Photography Portfolio, First Place, Lue Van Handel
- Investigative Journalism, First Place, Jamie Lattin and Binti Sohn
- Editorial Writing, Second Place, Leda Abkenari
- Opinion Writing, Second Place, Erin Hambidge
- Graphic Cover Design, Second Place, Zoe Edelman and Anna Yiannikos
- Podcasts, Second Place, Zack Lara
- Editorial Cartoon, Second Place, Sabrina Agazzi
- Feature Writing, Third Place, Jacque Peacock, Haley Rurka, and Asher Meklin
- News Writing, Third Place, Marisa Guerra Echeverria and Lyanne Wang
- Sports Writing, Third Place, Marisa Guerra Echeverria and Daniel Adri
- Arts, Honorable Mention, Marisa Guerra Echeverria, Haley Rurka, and Lyanne Wang
NFPW:
- Columns, Second Place, Lizzy Xie,
- News Writing, Second Place, Sabrina Agazzi and Julia Poole
- News Writing, Second Place, Editorial Staff
- Opinion Writing, Second Place, Erin Hambidge
- Radio-TV Interview or Talk Show, Second Place, Keith Johnson
- Opinion Writing, Honorable Mention, Emerson Brown
Quill and Scroll:
- Column Writing, Honorable Mention, Noah Glosson
- Feature Writing, Honorable Mention, Jamie Lattin and Binti Sohn