The Powell High School journalism program walked off the bus after returning from Casper on Oct. 9 as five-time state champions. The high school newspaper, The Prowl, won the 3A/4A newspaper contest for the fifth straight year, continuing a legacy of excellence. 

As the editor-in-chief of The Prowl, I couldn’t have been prouder to earn the recognition. Year after year, our staff put in the work to make sure our paper lives up to the standards. We ensure that our reporting is truthful and matches the journalistic code of ethics. 

We proved our journalistic capabilities beyond the overall newspaper award, earning 14 individual awards on top of our team award. The most notable came from senior Lizzeth Bustamante-Varela, who earned first place in the 3A/4A Writing Portfolio. 

“Before they even called my name, I told Rowan [Borcher], ‘Imagine they called my name up there,’” Bustamante-Varela said. “Then before you know it, my name gets called up there. In the moment, I was really shocked … It made me feel noticed that all my hard work wasn’t just out there and no one paid attention to it … It made me feel like I was important and a part of something.” 

Junior Macie Velasco also earned State Runner-up in the 3A/4A Writing Portfolio, coming in just behind Bustamante-Varela. Velasco was not able to attend state, but was informed of the news later. 

“When I got the news, I was very surprised because I did not know I would do that well,” Velasco said.

I also received State Runner-up in 3A/4A Photography. This was something I decided to enter at the last minute with a push from our adviser, Amy Moore. I personally did not think that my pictures were good enough to enter, so it would be a waste of time. I quickly scrounged up five images, all from track, that I thought would be OK. 

When I didn’t hear my name for the lower awards, I was very confused. Then I heard them call my name for runner-up. I couldn’t have been more astonished. The award was one of the biggest compliments I could have received.

We did not expect to leave this year's competition with as many awards as we did. Though we have much confidence in our program, nerves were still high. 

“Going into this year’s state journalism, the pressure was on to maintain our title and defend it,” Moore said. “So we were more than a little bit nervous, especially with other schools voicing that they wanted to come after our title.”

No worries were needed, though, with many more Prowl journalists receiving recognition for their writing portfolios. Wesson Warren, Taylor Peters, Ben Smith, and Ryah Easum earned a Golden Pony, the next highest award given after runner-up. Brooke Talmadge, Noelle Leighton, Reina Hansen, and myself all earned a Silver Spur. Alyssa Wantulock and Autumn Kidd earned a Bronze Star. 

“In all the years that I have been doing this, I have never seen so many people get accolades for their writing, and that was so exciting and so encouraging,” Moore said. “It was just fun to cheer for everyone that got a certificate and everybody that got a trophy.”

Overall, the Wyoming Student Media Association Convention, held at Casper College, was met with some changes this year, which the board handled well. 

“I really appreciate all the effort that the state board went to put this together,” Moore said. “The person who has historically been in charge of this, Anita Wertz… suddenly [passed] away in the summer… so that our president and vice president of the Wyoming Student Media Association put this together, just the two of them… a lot of recognition needs to go to their efforts for saving state journalism this year.”

All of the behind-the-scenes effort that was put into the convention paid off. Keynote speaker Steven Kiggins led off the day's events with his message titled, “Ask questions, be curious: that’s your job.” With a vast array of experience working at USA Today and now as the Wyoming Press Association executive director, Kiggins brought engaging insight into how student journalists can improve their writing with the right use of curiosity. 

The rest of the conference included four breakout sessions where students could choose between five different activities that interested them. One of which included an opportunity to tour the college campus. The other four breakout activities included lessons on various journalistic topics taught by a mix of journalists from around the state. 

Altogether, the conference provided the Powell High School journalism program with an excellent opportunity to bring home awards and new knowledge to help improve our capabilities and hopefully return as champions once again.