Timberland HS Journalists Bring Home Top Honors

The Timberland High School Publications Department brought home multiple awards from this year’s Sponsors of School Publications of Greater St. Louis Conference and Competition. The overall 2011-12 Yearbook was rated excellent and the overall 2012-13 newspaper received an Honorable Mention. This year’s SSP convention featured numerous guest presenters from a variety of media outlets including the St. Louis Post Dispatch, KMOV-TV and School Tube. Workshops gave students the opportunity to move outside the classroom and interact with industry professionals in subjects such as column writing, iPhoneography, embracing multimedia, and increasing editorial leadership skills.

“The conference was beneficial, because it taught me a lot I didn’t know and showed me a new way to think about journalism,” said sophomore Savannah Summerlin. For many, the highlight of the conference was hearing keynote speaker Mary Beth Tinker discuss the Tinker vs. Des Moines Supreme Court case, which dealt with the issue of censorship in schools. “It was awesome listening to someone who recognized a problem with society and stood up for what they believed in,” said senior Madyson Young. “It was very inspiring, listening to her talk about the struggles and setbacks that she overcame and how she is still reaping the benefits of attaining that goal.”

Students from around Missouri and western Illinois also submitted pieces in a variety of categories to be judged. As the panel reviewed the pieces, they also provide written critiques and constructive criticism. Timberland journalists won the following awards:

Yearbook

•           Becca Wilson - Best in Show - People Design

•           Becca Wilson - Best in Show - Student Life Design

•           Emily Baltz - Superior - Sports Design

•           Reagan Snavely - Superior - Student Life Design

•           Becca Wilson and Megan Podhorsky - Excellent - Student Life Design 

•           Reagan Snavely - Excellent People Class Design

•           Becca Wilson - Honorable Mention - Sports Photography

•           Hannah Roeper and Becca Wilson - Honorable Mention - Sports 

               Design

•           Reagan Snavely - Honorable Mention - Sports Design

•           Staff - Honorable Mention- Overall Theme Development

Newspaper

•           Sarah Reed - Superior - Front Page Design

•           Kristen Kaestner, Maddie Nowling and Mady Young - Excellent - 

               Double Truck  Design

•           Chance Koch - Honorable Mention - Info Graphic

•           Lauren Wortman - Honorable Mention - Sports News

“I’m so proud of all my students have accomplished,” adviser and journalism teacher Ida Hoffmann said. “It’s important for students to see their hard work recognized amongst their peers.” Timberland High School produces a 250 page fall distribution book and eight monthly issues of the Wolf’s Howl Newspaper. The content is created entirely by students, with the exception of the people photos. For more information on the Sponsors of School Publications of Greater St. Louis, please visit www.ssp-stl.org.

From the Wentzville School District