The Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced its Finalists for their Crown Awards. Both Cactus Shadows “Shadows” Literary Magazine and the student run newspaper, CS Press have won Crown Awards. They will find out in March if they are Silver or Gold.
CSHS’ Literary Magazine has won a total of six Crown awards since 2012, and the CS Press has won a Crown every year since 2011 except for 2017.
The Crown Awards honor top student publications chosen from CSPA’s members. Crowns are selected for overall excellence in a head-to-head comparison. Student publishing in news, magazine, yearbook or digital (online) formats are all eligible. During Crown consideration, publications are judged on their excellence as shown by their design, photography, concept, coverage and writing. A total of 1,145 publications were eligible for judging.
Jim Swetter, Principal of Cactus Shadows said, “I am very proud of our CSHS Newspaper and the Shadows Literary Magazine! Year after year they continue to be nationally recognized. I think this recognition says a lot about our wonderful students and their teacher and sponsor, Lori Hart!”
Crown Finalists are actual winners, not nominees. Some will be announced as Gold Crowns; the rest are Silver Crowns. Final results will be announced and presented at the CSPA ceremonies in March 2020.
The CSPA offers three annual competitions to honor excellence in student publishing: Medalist Critiques for written evaluation, Crown Awards for overall excellence and Gold Circle Awards for individual student recognition.
Dr. Debbi Burdick said, “The “Shadows” Literary Magazine and CS Press have a legacy of excellence. Congratulations to all the students and staff who have contributed to its success.”
Crown Awards summarize overall excellence in the entire publication while Medalist Critiques compare each publication against a printed set of standards. In contrast, Medalist Critiques are the work of a single adviser-judge.
Crown Awards function as a “top-down” view of general excellence; Medalist Critiques offer a “bottom-up” perspective, noting specific strengths and weaknesses.
