Credit to Shutterstock
Journalists at FHN have earned numerous awards this spring.
This spring, students in the journalism program have been honored with numerous awards. The following is a list of some of those awards and the organizations the awards came from.
—
Quill and Scroll
announced the finalists in the 2025 Writing, Visual, Multimedia competition. More than 120 schools submitted entries to this year’s contest, for a total of more than 2,200 entries.FHN has the following finalists listed below. The winners will be announced April 26 at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle.
Category 8 — Sports Column Writing
- Olivia Graeser, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
Category 20 — Sports Action Photography
- Brianna Dunham, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
- Kiley Benskin-Wallace, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
- Mallory Barker, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
- Taylor Griffin, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
Category 31 — Features Page(s) Design, Two-Page Spread
- Naomi Vandyne, Michaela Manfull, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
Category 33 — Editorial Page(s) Design
- Violet Newton, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
Category 34 — Beginning Designer/Artist
- Lennon Sharp, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
Category 38 — Video DEI, Social Justice Reporting
- Vanessa Ng, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
Category 47 — Social Media: Team
- Owen Gonzalez, Braeden Kettinger, Austin Griffin, Kane Manfull, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
You can see the full list of categories and finalists here: https://quillandscroll.org/2025-writing-visual-multimedia-finalists/
—
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-America Chapter announced its Honorable Mentions and Winners in its 2025 contest.
Camden Blair earned an Honorable Mention in the Hard News Report category and Vanessa Ng earned an Honorable Mention in the Sports Story category.
You can read more about the contest and honorees here: https://emmymid-america.org/education/student-production-awards-honorable-mentions-winners/
—
The Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Organization announced its winners in the Missouri state journalism contest. The following students earned honors this year.
Earning Best of Show were:
- Live Sports Broadcast–Talent – Braeden Kettinger & Kane Manfull
- Artwork/Illustration – Lennon Sharp
- Newsmagazine Cover Page Design – Violet Newton & Michaela Manfull
- Indepth Feature – Michaela Manfull & Naomi Vandyne
- Social Media Reporting – Staff
- Sports–Action Schools A-J – Mallory Barker
Earning All-Missouri were:
- Artwork/Illustration – Brianna Taliaferro
- Editorial Cartoon – Cherry Clark
- Newspaper Inside Page Design – Addy Jones
- Sports Reporting – Drew Johnson
- Newscast/News Feature – Ben Bartels Sassy Garcia
- Social Media Reporting – Staff
- Student Life/Organization Photo – Austin Griffin
- Student Life/Organization Photo – Alayna Clement
- Traditional package–Sports – Madeline Hecht
- Traditional package–Student Life – Grace Fromme & Lilly Micka
Earning Superior were:
- Live Sports Broadcast–Team – Laney Quandt & Esther San
- Editorial Cartoon – Michaela Manfull
- Sports Reporting – Miranda Fabian
- Overall Drew Johnson – Laney Quandt
- Sports Feature/Reaction Photo – Taylor Griffin
- Yearbook Specialty Design -Staff
- Traditional package–Student Life – Sophia Manzella & Ellenna Forbes
- Traditional package–Student Life – Grace Fromme
Earning Excellent were:
- Overall–Announcements with Video – Nathan Smith & Riley Aldenderfer
- Sports Feature Story – Kane Manfull
- Sports News Story – Caden Ziha
- Artwork/Illustration – Moira Dustin
- Overall–Newspaper/News Magazine Schools A-J – Michaela Manfull & Violet Newton
- Sports–Action Schools A-J – Brianna Dunham
- Student Life/Organization Photo – Eashaan Patel
- Student Life/Organization Photo – Aubrey Henning
- Yearbook Specialty Design – Colin Smith
Earning Honorable Mentions were:
- Commercial/PSA – Alan Bautista
- Overall–Announcements Only – Ben Bartels & Riley Aldenderfer
- Artwork/Illustration – Cherry Clark
- DOUBLE TRUCK/CENTERSPREAD PAGE DESIGN – Violet Newton & Cherry Clark
- Editorial/Op-Ed -Gavin Swart
- Photo Illustration – Michaela Manfull
- Sportscast/Sports Feature – Ben Bartels
You can learn more about MIJA here: https://mipajournalism.com/
—
The Columbia Scholastic Press Association, based out of New York, recently announced some awards.
In the Hybrid News Category, the North Star and FHNtoday.com/FHNgameday.com earned a Gold Crown for their work. This is one of the highest scholastic honors a high school publication can earn.
Individually, a few students were honored in CSPA’s 2025 Gold Circle Awards as well.
Earning First Place was:
- Michaela Manfull in Cartoons
Earning Second Place was:
- McKenna Hudson in Informational Graphics
Earning Certificates of Merit were:
- Rhea Patel in Sports News Video
- Michaela Manfull in Single Sports Photograph
- Cherry Clark and Kaylee Priest in Informational Graphics
- Michaela Manfull in Alternative Story Presentation
- Michaela Manfull in Design Portfolio of Work
You can see the full list of Gold Circle winners here: https://precollege.sps.columbia.edu/news/cspa-2025-scholastic-gold-circle-winners-middle-and-high-school and the full list of Crown Award winners here: https://precollege.sps.columbia.edu/news/announcing-2025-silver-and-gold-crown-awardees
—
The National Federation of Press Women also announced honorees in their At-Large competition. First place winners advance to the national competition where winners will be announced in May.
Earning First Place was:
- Ben Bartels in Radio or Podcast Prepared Report
- Cherry Clark in Graphics/Photo Illustration
- Joey Ingracia in Radio/Television Interview or Talk Show
- Kane Manfull in Video Sports Story
- Esther San in Sports Writing
Earning Second Place was:
- Ben Bartels and Sassy Garcia in Radio/Television Interview or Talk Show
- Camden Blair, Harper Schneider and the FHNtodayTV Staff in Best Newscast
- Zoe Lobato in Video Feature Story
- Vanessa Ng in Video Sports Story
- Naomi Vandyne in Single Page Layout
- Michaela Manfull and Naomi Vandyne in Double-Truck Layout
Earning Third Place was:
- Camden Blair in Radio or Podcast Prepared Report
Earning an Honorable Mention was:
- Canyon Dubis in Opinion Writing
You can learn more about the National Federation of Press Women and their contests here: https://www.nfpw.org/high-school-contest
