Several student publications from the 2019–2020 school year earned national acclaim from leading journalistic organizations. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) announced finalists for its prestigious Crown Awards, that included The ReMarker student newspaper, Focus special interest magazine, The Marque literary magazine, and The Scientific Marksman. The National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) named TheReMarker and Focus winners of the Pacemaker Award, its highest award. Only 25 newspapers and magazines were recognized with Pacemaker Awards nationally. The Scientific Marksman was also named a Pacemaker Finalist. Furthermore, the NSPA honored numerous Marksmen with individual acclaims:
Sam Ahmed ’20 — National Designer of the Year
Sam Ahmed, Colin Campbell ’20, Sid Vattamreddy ’20 — First Place, Newspaper Spread Design
Luke Piazza ’21 and Sai Thirunagari ’21 — Fourth Place, Feature Writing
Sam Ahmed, Colin Campbell ’20, Sid Vattamreddy ’20 — Honorable Mention, Feature Writing
The 2019–2020 school year presented unprecedented challenges, especially to journalistic publications that require intense collaboration. Between the tornado that struck campus in October 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic, students spent nearly half of the school year learning remotely. Utilizing online tools and with careful organization, all of the School’s major student publications managed to successfully publish their issues.
“There were moments where we wanted to quit, give up, and say that the situation was too difficult to work around, but everyone on the team was willing to put in however much work was necessary to produce the best issues we possibly could,” said Sam Ahmed ’20, editor of The ReMarker. “The hard work, dedication, and late hours that contribute to substantial newspapers that have challenged viewpoints and made unheard voices noticed is what it is all about.”
The other 2019–2020 publications editors include: Alam Alidina ’21 and Sai Thirunagari ’21 (Focus); Ishan Gupta ’20 and James Shiao ’20 (Scientific Marksman); and Kasen Roberson ’20 and Neal Reddy ’20 (The Marque).
Both the CSPA and NSPA reviewed hundreds of student publications from across the country, under the guidance of a panel of journalism educators and industry experts. The panel of judges considers each publication’s writing, design, photography, areas of coverage, and overall quality. In March 2021, the CSPA will reveal which of the Crown finalists will go on to receive Gold and Silver Crowns.
Click here the read the latest issues of these and other student publications.
St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.