Many members of The Oracle staff have been recognized this year for several award-winning stories.
The PA Press Club hosts a state-wide high school Journalism contest sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women, recognizing high school journalism from across Pennsylvania. Submissions were judged by working and retired journalists associated with the club or its members.
Junior Jackson Waruszewski was awarded 2nd place for “Sustainability students contribute to another land conservation project” in the Environmental category. Senior Emma Conway won 3rd place in that same category for “Shaler Area student contribute to shape Rainbow Raccoon Park”
In the Sports category, 2024 grad Brady McGuire won 2nd place for his story from late last year on Shaler alumnus Bryan Rincon and his baseball career, “Chasing the Big League Dream: Byran Rincon’s Journey to Professional Baseball“.
Additionally, Shaler Area is a member of the Digital Media Arts Consortium (DMAC), a high school media group hosted by Robert Morris University, that hosts an annual spring high school media contest where dozens of high schools from all over the area enter. There are four print journalism categories (news, sports, features and opinions). The Oracle took “Best in Category” in 2 of those 4.
Junior Rylin Kinzel won the Feature Story Best in Category for her story on Heather Martin, a survivor of the Columbine massacre in 1999, “Columbine survivor’s journey includes becoming a teacher and founding a trauma support group” and Waruszewski won the Sports Story Best in Category for his piece on Greg Kampe, Oakland University men’s basketball coach, after the Golden Grizzlies’ success in the 2024 NCAA basketball tournament, “Oakland’s Kampe reflects on March Madness and college basketball“.
“At first, I thought that Heather Martin was never going to respond, but eventually she agreed to do the interview. I was terrified because I had never interviewed someone before and I wanted to make sure that it went perfectly, which it did. Heather was so sweet and kind. She was so willing to help me out with my story and answer all the questions I had. Interviewing her and hearing her incredible story is something that I will never forget,” Kinzel said.
In addition to the DMAC recognition, both Waruszewski and Kinzel’s stories were give Honorable Mentions in the PA Press Club competition.
“Talking to Greg Kampe was a really cool experience. I was a little nervous going into it just because it was my first time interviewing someone by myself. Coach Kampe couldn’t have been nicer. He was really down to earth, and that really helped for the interview. Being able to interview him, and then for that story to get recognized was an unforgettable experience,” Waruszewski said.
Finally, Best of SNO (School Newspapers Online), an organization in which 576 high school and colleges participate, recognizes the best stories published on their site. This school year, over 15,000 stories have been submitted and only 15 percent of those stories were recognized as Best of SNO stories.
Senior Elliott Inscho’s story “Shaler grade and his son win WWE t-shirt design contest” was given Best of SNO distinction.
“We really had a lot of great content this year and some of that wasn’t recognized,” advisor Mr. Eric Schott said. “The staff really did a great job telling a lot of different stories this year and these awards reflect just a little bit of those.”
