Eighteen students from the Timberland newspaper and yearbook staffs traveled to Washington, D.C. for the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association (JEA/NSPA) national high school journalism convention.

The students spent Nov. 12 – 15 in the nation’s capital and attended workshops, toured the city, and took part in competitions and award assemblies as well.

Dean Kelly, a 2009 graduate of Timberland, won first place in the nation for his newspaper page design on a local concert venue. The design was published in the 2008-2009 Wolf’s Howl newspaper, and as part of his award he wins a software package from Adobe Systems. Kelly is now an engineering physics major at Southeast Missouri State University.

“I am proud and want to work harder in the future in my design work,” Kelly said. “(Newspaper) was the best place in high school for me to realize the potential that I didn’t know I had.”

Senior Nikki McGee won an honorable mention in the Story of the Year competition for her feature story on a fellow student’s road to recovery after a car accident. Her story was printed in the 2008-2009 Wolf’s Howl newspaper. Her feature article was awarded a national honorable mention award.

“The story was especially emotionally appealing to me because I had just seen a boy who was able to pull through a life-threatening situation. I was able to report that he was alive. It was such a touching story,” McGee said. “I was honored to be a finalist. I put a lot of work into it and it paid off.”

The Wolf’s Howl newspaper, published on Nov. 11, placed third in the nation in its division in the ‘Best of Show’ competition. All the publications that are represented at the convention are eligible to enter this contest. Timberland’s paper was in the 9-12 page category.

“Winning third place was amazing because I know we’ve worked hard on our paper. Winning at a national level is something because I know we’ve worked hard on our paper. Winning at a national level is something I did not expect. I was very, very proud that I was able to contribute to making our paper a national award-winning paper,” senior Cara Eckert said.

Several students placed in a write-off competition held on Nov. 13. Senior Ashley McCaffrey received an excellent in Computer Design—Photoshop Art, Junior Danielle Grapes, received an excellent in sports writing, and McGee received another honorable mention, this time in review writing.