On Monday, October 30, 2023, the Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA), hosted their Fall Press Day at Rutgers University’s Busch Campus Center. The GSSPA welcomes high school newspaper and yearbook staff members, as well as advisors, for a day of learning and networking.
The day’s schedule was filled with sessions hosted by professionals in the journalism and publications field, spanning topics ranging from media ethics to NBA coverage.
During the first session, both students and advisors were invited to attend the award ceremony for submissions made in the spring of 2023. The Crimson staff received 13 honors in Division B for overall excellence, individual categories, and media awards. The Crimson was awarded Second Place Overall Print Excellence in, and an honorable mention for Online Excellence.
The Bernardian received a First Place Gold Award for the 2022-2023 yearbook, “Under the Surface.”
This year marked the first time The Crimson staff submitted to the GSSPA’s photography contest, with sports editor and photographer, Ari Rosen ‘25, winning the Second Place award.
“It’s pretty cool that I got recognized in a field where there was a lot of talented people and I feel like I have come a long way,” Rosen noted.
The previous year’s conference highlighted New Voices, a law protecting student journalists and their advisors freedom to report on topics that may be deemed controversial. With New Jersey being the 15th to pass this law, the GSSPA introduced the “New Voices” category for the individual contest. Lucinda Putnam ‘25 received an honorable mention for her article, “State of NJ passes New Voices Law.”
Receiving The Crimson’s highest honor in individual article awards was Morgan Sikes ‘24. Sikes received Third Place in Review Writing, for a review of Tim Burton’s “Wednesday.”
“I am stoked to have won 3rd in the review writing division” Sikes said, “The GSSPA awards have given students like me the chance to be taken seriously as journalists and to know what we have done well and how we can improve.”
After often reporting on district policies, updates, and news, Sydney Kaul ‘23 received two honors in News Writing: 4th place for, “Board of Education meets to discuss February agenda and actionable items” and 5th place for, “Interim superintendent begins stint at SHSD.”
In the final individual article categories, The Crimson received two awards in Sports Writing and Opinion Writing. Finn Vaccaro ‘25 was awarded 5th place for, “Three juniors commit to D1 colleges for lacrosse” and Ava Highland ‘24 received 4th place for, “Schools and libraries deserve greater freedoms with book selections” Bernards High School.
After taking a strong focus on the visual aspect of the paper, two staff members were awarded in the layout and design category, with Jane Holmes ‘23 winning 5th place and Ava Highland ‘24 receiving 6th place.
The staff also delved deeper into the media aspect of journalism, and received honorable mentions for podcasts (Matt Lesnik ‘23, Spencer Saltz ‘24, Matt Mariani ‘24, and Ari Rosen ‘25) and social media presence.
Not only did staff members of the Crimson and Bernardian return with over a dozen incredible honors, they also brought back new insight into improving their publications.
The GSSPA also hosts a panel of keynote speakers, this year’s discussion centered around the topic, “Where Can Journalism Take You.” Moderated by each speaker discussed the journalistic skills they learned as students that have been crucial to their current career.
“It was a great experience that I would recommend 100% for people to go to learn about the news world and how as students we are affected by the media,” Claire Taylor ‘25 noted.