Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Sun Prairie Star Entry Title: Board apportionment fails; police to cite some for walkout; 198 homeless students Entry Credit: Christopher Mertes Judge Comment: A great reporting/writing performance with the apportionment story. Terrific quotes and an understanding narrative of the outcome. Sexual-assault-awareness demonstration story has limited sourcing, and no students comments or parental response.Homeless students story exceptional, though limited to mostly "official" sources; those directly involved, such as the students, are not represented here. The writing/reporting remains excellent considering the primary story focus.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Sun Prairie Star Entry Title: Sun Prairie teachers ask school board for pay increase; Sun Prairie School Board approves referendum question on November ballot; Federal court rejects Sun Prairie families’ claims over Patrick Marsh slavery assignment Entry Credit: Jeromey Hodsdon Judge Comment: While "depth" is shallow in some areas of these stories, the reporting is clear and relevant. Especially noted is the story on court review of a classroom assignment on slavery: excellent writing leads to clear understanding of unerlying issue and the court's decision. Not many comments from those affected by these stories, but the writing/reporting remains contextually solid.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout Entry Title: North Crawford pursues referendum; Board discusses developing referenda for fall election; Referendum survey presented to board Entry Credit: Gillian Pomplun Judge Comment: Detailed account of proposed maintenance and upgrade projects for looming school district referendum vote. Project details, but no comments from/by those affected. Another comprehensive account of school board discussion and review of proposed referenda; lots of quotes; none from community. Third story reveals results of community survey. Again lots of project detail and revealed survey results, but no direct community engagement or comments. These stories are packed with detail.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Crawford County Independent & The Kickapoo Scout Entry Title: Drone team competes in Milwaukee; Error is made on the ballot; Mask policies are changed Entry Credit: Charley Preusser Judge Comment: A refreshing, casual account of a student drone-making competition. Heavy descriptions lightened by reporter's adjectives (subjective, but readably creative and on point). Student comments included. School board meeting story recounts mascot name selection and COVID-19 mask policy. Good writing/reporting. Masking issues packed this school board story. Anonymous comments were unattributed--reporter should have secured commentators' names. Lots of detail packed this story.
Competition Comment: In this judge"s view, several entries focused on political/administrative stories rather than the accomplishments of students and the education process. Even stories focused on the latter missed opportunity to include related students', teachers', parents' and general community responses/comments. Writing/reporting ranged from exceptional to adequate. Generally, we looked for stories that engaged readers. These were mostly absent.
