By Addison Loveless, Cypress Woods High School (A High School Journalism Network Collaboration)

Three Cypress Woods High School students placed at the Journalism Education Association’s (JEA) National Student Media Contest during the organization’s national convention Nov. 13-16 in Nashville. 

Awards are given on three levels: Honorable Mention, Excellent and Superior. Of the approximately 1,700 students entered in the contest, 684 earned some level of recognition.

Cypress Woods senior Vanessa Tolino received a Superior rating, the top award in the News/Editing/Headline/Current Events category. Only 10% of entries received a Superior rating.

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“The competition was really insane because it was a combination of two different UIL categories that I already do here at Cy Woods,” Tolino said. “I didn’t know how good other people did, but then, when they were announcing awards and they did Honorable Mention and I didn’t get it, I was like ‘oh shoot!’”

Andrea Negri, Cypress Woods journalism adviser, said she feels fortunate when any student earns recognition at the national level.

“I was especially surprised when Vanessa got a Superior – not because I didn’t think she could do it, but because I’ve never had a student get that before,” Negri said.

In addition to Tolino’s awards, Cypress Woods juniors Bailey Bishop and Janell Cruz received Excellent ratings in Feature Writing and First-Year Photo, respectively.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Addison Loveless, a student at Cypress Woods High School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, through a partnership between My Neighborhood News and the District as part of an established high school journalism network collaboration. My Neighborhood News is a proud supporter of local youth and warmly welcomes the opportunity to provide a platform for students to share their work.