Lions Roar staff wins 19th straight Star Award

The staff of the Lions Roar, the student newspaper forAlbany High School, won a 19th consecutive Star Award, as well as a record four Tops in Texas Awards during the annual Interscholastic League Press Conference (ILPC) in Austin last weekend.

The newspaper was awarded a Silver Star as an overall evaluation of the publication, in a contest that includes other school papersrangingfrommiddle school to Class 6A.

“We received Bronze Starsthelasttwoyears,but thekidsweredeterminedto get back to a Silver or Gold Star this year,” newspaper adviser Donnie Lucas said. “We sent off the first issue to have it independently critiqued to see what areas weneededtoimprovebefore the judging by ILPC.”

ILPC is the journalism division of the University Interscholastic League.

The state-level convention for middle and high school journalism students was held on the campus of the University of Texas and includes workshops and the announcing of awards for the current school year.

The Lions Roar was one of just 15 newspapers statewide to be awarded a Star, making it one of the top newspapers in the state among all classifications.

This year there were a total of five Gold Stars, four SilverStars,andsixBronze Stars presented.

“We were one of just two Class2Aschoolstoreceivea Star,” Lucas said. “The rest were 4A, 5A, or 6A.”

Over the past 19 years, thenewspaperhasreceived eight Gold Stars, eight Silvers, and three Bronze.

“Thekidswereexcitedto get back to Silver this year,” Lucas said. “The criteria was raised about three years ago, making it more difficult to earn a Star.”

Tops in Texas

The student newspaper also earned four Tops in Texas awards this year, which means those entries weretheverybestofentries received for a particular category among the 30 Individual Achievement Awards contests.

Albanywasplacedinthe Middle School through 3A division, winning 12 first places, 15 second places, 9 third places, and six honorable mentions.

“We submit entries in 30 individual contests such as news writing or sports photos that are judged against other entries in our division,” Lucas said. “However, they then take the first place winners from each division and judge them again against each other to pick the top winner in each for the entire state among all sizes of schools.”

Lucas said that the paper had set a record of three Tops in Texas last year, but improved that to four for 2024.

Senior Jaci Chapman earned Tops in Texas for News Writing for a story aboutthedistrictswitching more towards Chrome-BooksinsteadofMacBooks.

Gabby Lopez, a junior, and senior Sidney Russell co-wrote a news feature on students who participate in rodeo, which received the top award for the news feature category.

Also, senior Robyn Trail wonaTopsinTexasforfront page design, while senior Cambree Clegg brought home the top award for an entertainmentphotograph.

“It is a really big deal for students from the smallest category to compete with all the big schools and win,” Lucas said. “I am extremely proud of their efforts and the recognition they received.”

IAA Awards

AHS students earned Individual Achievement Awards in the Middle School-Class 3A division.

Newswriting –1.JaciChapman. 2. Jaci Chapman.

News feature – 1. Gabby Lopez, Sidney Russell. 3. Tyler Chapman.

Editorial Writing – HM. Avery Everitt.

Sports News Story – 2. Braylyn Abbate.

Sports Feature Story – 1. Landon Balliew. 2. Avery Everitt.

Feature Writing – 1. Landon Balliew. 3. Cambree Clegg.

Entertainment Review – 2. Braylyn Abbate.

EntertainmentFeature– 1.Cambree Clegg. 2. Cambree Clegg.

Photo Story – 3. Julia Vega, Braylyn Abbate. HM. Julia Vega, Brooklyn Abbate.

Personal Column – 2. Robyn Trail.

Personal Opinion Column – 2. Sidney Russell.

Sports Column – 1. Tyler Chapman. HM. Brooklyn Abbate.

In-Depth News/Feature Package – 1. Robyn Trail. Infographic/Sidebar – 3. Robyn Trail, Avery Everitt.

Cartoon – 2. Robyn Trail. Sports Page/Spread Design – 3. Tyler Chapman, Robyn Trail. HM.TylerChapman,RobynTrail.

Feature Page/Spread Design – 2. Robyn Trail, Avery Everitt. HM. Robyn Trail, Avery Everitt.

News Page/Spread Design – 2. Sidney Russell. 3. Braylyn Abbate.

Editorial Page/Spread Design – 2. Brooklyn Abbate. Page One Newspaper Design – 1. Robyn Trail. 2. Robyn Trail. News Photo – 1. Julia Vega. 2. Julia Vega.

Feature Photo – 3. Robyn Trail. Entertainment Photo – 1. Cambree Clegg. 3. Braylyn Abbate.

Sports Action Photo – 1. Julia Vega. 3. Julia Vega.

Sports Feature Photo – HM. Julia Vega.

Portrait – 2. Julia Vega. Photo Portfolio – 1. Julia Vega. Headlines – Staff.