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Trail staff travels to UGA and returns with Georgia Scholastic Press Association awards

Lily Johnson, Social Media

Mar 28, 2024

Photo via GSPA Conference

Georgia Scholastic Press Association (GSPA) hosts an annual Spring Convention and Awards ceremony at the University of Georgia’s Center of Education and Hotel. Each year, the McIntosh Trail Newspaper staff sends in submission for the various categories available for awards.

On March 25, 2024, the Trail attended the convention and received multiple Superior and All-Georgia titles. All-Georgia awards are the number one in the state and Superiors are the runner-ups.

The following are the awards the Trail brought home:

All-Georgia

Rebekah Bushmire and Lulu Vitulo: Opposing Viewpoints

Rebekah Bushmire: Social Media Breaking News

Lulu Vitulo: Information Graphic

Luke Soule: Critical Review

Savannah Hayes: InDepth News Story

Superior

Ryan Levan: Feature Photograph

Rebekah Bushmire: News Photograph

August Moss: Sports Photograph

Connor Lafontant: Sports Feature Story

Rebekah Bushmire: Commentary

Nyla Kerr: Commentary

Luke Soule: Feature Story

Nyla Kerr: Health Reporting

Luke Soule: Environmental Reporting

The Trail recieved a Superior overall.

“The sessions were very informational and I learned a lot to become a better staffer for next year. I was able to learn about the importance of journalism,” first year staff writer Nyla Kërr said.

Slideshow of all awards can be viewed on YouTube here.

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About the Contributors

Lily Johnson, Social Media

Lily Johnson is a sophomore at McIntosh High School and is currently serving her second year on the Trail. Johnson was in Beta Club during middle school at J.C. Booth. She played for the McIntosh women’s lacrosse team. Johnson played for both Varsity and Junior Varsity. She was awarded the Offensive Player of the Year award for Junior Varsity. During Johnson’s free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors. She loves going on long golf cart rides, watching the sunset and playing lacrosse. She enjoys listening to music and spending time with her friends and family. “I think spending time with family is very important so I try to spend as much time with them as I can.”

Shanon Woolf, CJE, Adviser

Shanon Woolf, Certified Journalism Educator, advises two award-winning journalism programs at McIntosh: the online news site The Trail and the Legend yearbook. Woolf is the Georgia Scholastic Press Association's Adviser of the year for 2022. She earned her Certified Journalism Educator credential in April 2021 and was Awarded Star Teacher at McIntosh High School in May 2021. Woolf was named a Journalism Education Association (JEA) Rising Star in 2020. She was also the Georgia Scholastic Press Association's First Year Adviser of the Year in 2019 and has been a member of the JEA's Scholastic Journalism Week committee since 2019. Woolf judges online news and yearbooks for several other states, and has presented at many scholastic journalism conventions, including the National Scholastic Press Association, Georgia Scholastic Press Association and Jostens Adviser University. Woolf loves two things: Coke Zero and helping student journalists and photographers hone their craft. She collects smushy pennies from her travels and polydactyl cats who need adopting.