Blustery winds and snow flurries in New York City failed to dampen the spirits of Paly journalism members who visited the city last week on their annual trip to the Columbia Scholastic Press Association convention.

Members of the The Campanile and Verde had reason to celebrate after being recognized as two of the best high school newspapers in the nation last Friday during the 83rd annual Scholastic Convention in New York City. Verde was one of 11 Gold Crown awardees in the High School Newspaper category, while The Campanile was one of 32 publications honored with a Silver Crown award in the same category, according to the CSPA Web site at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa/index.html.

The CSPA, an “international student press association uniting student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges,” according to its Web site, chose to honor Verde and The Campanile with the Gold and Silver Crown awards out of a pool of 1,860 eligible CSPA members this year. Judging for the awards that were distributed last week took place from Dec. 16-18, 2006, while submissions were graded on their overall achievement in “writing/editing, design, concept, photography, art and graphics,” according to the CSPA Web site. The best publications received awards for their general accomplishments during the 2005-2006 school year.

In addition to the Gold Crown award given to Verde as a staff, individual members also received Gold Circle awards for their individual achievements. Verde design editor senior Joyce Lee received a first place award in Art/Illustration in two or more colors for her work in “Media Bias: Fact or Fiction”; Verde photographer senior Kaela Fox received a certificate of merit for her portfolio of work; while Verde editor-in-chief senior Ruth Vinson won a certificate of merit for her writing in “Keep It To Yourself.” The staff won third place in the Newsmagazine Design category.

Verde editor-in-chief senior Hannah Purkey said she is pleased with Verde‘s awards.

“We’re very excited,” Purkey said. “I’m glad to see that everyone’s hard work has paid off. It’s a very prestigious award, so we’re glad that Verde was honored with it.”

The Campanile reporter senior Zev Karlin-Neumann said he also appreciates how the Silver Crown award reflects the staff’s hard work and dedication.

“The award recognizes that there are a lot of people willing to and wanting to put in the time to produce such a high quality publication,” Karlin-Neumann said. “Everyone wants to write, and the award affirms that we all do a good job.”

According to The Campanile adviser Esther Wojcicki, The Campanile has won two Gold Crowns in the past 10 years, was recognized by Time magazine as one of the best high school newspapers in the country for its work during the 2002-2003 school year, and was given a spot on the National Scholastic Press Hall of Fame in 2004. Verde also has its list of accomplishments, having received the High School Newspaper Gold Crown award in 2006, 2005 and 2003 and a High School Magazine Gold Crown award in 2002.

Lee seems to believe that teamwork is a main aspect of her publication’s success.

“We’re cozy,” Lee said, describing the Verde staff. “We’re cohesive, really open with each other, and there’s a lot of communication.”

Purkey notices the Verde staff’s well-rounded talents as a factor in its accomplishments.

“We have a really great mix of juniors and seniors with good writing skills and good layout skills,” Purkey said. “There are really big dynamics between everybody.”

Karlin-Neumann credits The Campanile‘s award, in part, to the staff’s ability to create a unique publication that covers a wide array of topics.

“[The Campanile] has a good staff,” Karlin-Neumann said. “There’s a lot of people with good ideas and an interesting range of stories.”

While the awards ceremony was no doubt one of the more major events that occurred during their trip to New York, Paly students’ time in the city was not strictly spent on attending the ceremony and CSPA conferences. Students were given the opportunity to embark on exclusive visits inside the offices of some of the more well-known publications of today such as Google, Sports Illustrated, and Time.

“We talked to officials of the organizations, main reporters and managers,” said Verde copy editor senior Zack Kousnetz, who was one of the few non-Campanile students who visited New York. “They told us what it’s like to work there, how they operated, and what it’s like to be a professional journalist.”

For Karlin-Neumann, one of the best parts of visiting these famous publications was receiving admiration and respect from them.

“We went to visit Time and some other places that usually don’t give tours,” Karlin-Neumann said. “They were even [recognizing us as] some of the best high school newspapers in the country.”

While Paly’s journalism program continues to receive many honors and praises, it seems well on its way to creating an even more prominent and renowned reputation for itself.

“The number of awards that Paly journalism gets speaks for itself about how great our program is,” Purkey said.