Mount Vernon High School’s yearbook, The Centaur, won the Class A yearbook award for the second year in a row at the Iowa High School Press association’s fall conference.
“I was so lucky to work with these incredibly creative individuals who were detail-oriented and diligent, covering many events outside of the school day and often requiring travel,” said Joann Gage, yearbook advisor. “They were dedicated to getting every student into the yearbook and showcasing all our school has to offer.”
A record number of 868 students from 44 high schools attended the conference. Keynote speaker Brandee Britt, director of social media and digital strategy at University of Iowa Athletics, opened the conference sharing her experiences covering the Hawkeye women’s basketball team’s dramatic rise from obscurity to prominence over the past several years. She discussed key players she’s helped to highlight, ending with celebrity and phenomenon Caitlin Clark. Britt graduated from the UI’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2015.
Student participants attended 40 breakouts during three different sessions, learning skills and information they can bring back to their schools to help support their high school journalism work.
On top of the yearbook of the year award, The Centaur staff also picked up numerous other awards. Those included: Abigail Morf — first place sports feature photo/ caption, second place sports feature photo/caption, second place cover, second place sports story, second place photo illustration, third place design January to June events, honorable mention theme, honorable mention infograph/ mod; Dallas Olberding — first place sports story, first place design Summer to December events, first place design January to June events, second place environmental photo/caption, second place infograph/ mod, second place sports action photo/ caption; Lily Rechkemmer — first place total package, first place sports action photo/ caption, first place sports feature photo/ caption, second place environmental portrait, third place photo story, honorable mention sports story, honorable mention sports action photo/ caption, honorable mention sports action photo/ caption; Tori Oelrich — first place feature photo with caption- student life school related, second place design January to June events, third place feature photo with caption — student life — out of school related; Elizabeth Barns — first place environmental photo/ caption, first place photo illustration; Nora Weiland — first place story/student life-school related; Kade Kaiser — honorable mention story/ student life-school related, honorable mention story/ student life-school related