BY EDITORIAL BOARD
After a year of work to reimagine the newspaper, The Lariat is proud to announce we have received awards we hadn’t previously thought possible.
The Lariat was named an All-Florida print publication by the Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA) this April, a distinction which went to eight newspapers in the state. The recognition designates The Lariat as one of the top papers in the state, with four special distinctions in reader aids, coverage, layout/design and graphics.
The Lariat website received a silver distinction for online media.
In the Spring Digital contests for FSPA, Lariat staff members Sabrine Brismeur, Kendyl Counts and Darian Sablon collectively earned four All-Floridas for individual articles. Counts’ profile feature, “Teaching from Experience,” earned a Best of the Best, a distinction given to the top entry in the state. Writers received 12 Excellent distinctions and and 12 Honorable Mention distinctions collectively.
Editor-in-Chief Charlie Blodnieks was named the third place Todd C. Smith Student Journalist of the Year and received a scholarship. Senior Saige Griffin earned an Honorable Mention distinction for her Tom Pierce portfolio for Photojournalist of the Year.
At the Broward County Sun Sentinel Awards for High School Journalism, The Lariat received 17 awards, including second place Best Overall, first place Website and third place Most Improved. Individual staff writers Kendyl Counts, Charlie Blodnieks and Noah Castagna received first place in Editorial Writer, Features Writer and News Writer respectively. These accomplishments are strides beyond the paper’s goals for this year, after receiving two awards at the very same ceremony this time last year.
As an editorial panel, we would like to thank the hard work of the staff, and not just those who submitted work to one of our awards ceremonies. We know that each of you worked hard to make this a possibility.
