Caney Creek High School’s Student Media has been recognized on the national stage for its excellence in journalism. 

The program’s Creek Compass website and The Creek yearbook have earned finalist honors in two of the most prestigious scholastic journalism competitions in the United States: the Crown Award and Pacemaker Award. For high school journalism, this is comparable to the Emmys, Tonys, Oscars or Grammys in the entertainment world.

“It’s hard to overstate how difficult this competition is because you’re not only facing Texas schools, but the best of the best from around the country and some international schools,” said Stephen Green, who advises both publications alongside Leigh Anne Treistman. “This is a testament to the drive and passion by the Caney Creek Student Media staff members who toil away behind the scenes.”

Green said students spend hours documenting the school’s history through photography, design and reporting, as well as bootstrapping a $30,000 business. 

Treistman echoes those sentiments — noting that staff members dedicate hours and hours of time outside of school simply to make a better place for their peers.

“Staff members are the kind of journalists who will shoot for five hours, write for three, edit for an hour and then offer to help someone learning how to photograph a campus event for the first time,” she said. “They are scrappy, tenacious, and resourceful. When the whole world is complaining about poor work ethics, all I can think about is a group of high school kids up all night, producing meaningful stories and quality spreads.” 

CCHSCOMPASS.COM NEWS WEBSITE

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association named the Creek Compass website a Crown Award finalist on Friday, Dec. 13. This places the site among the top 21 high school digital news outlets out of approximately 5,000 across the country. All finalists are award winners and will receive either a Gold or Silver Crown designation in March.

The Creek Compass website is the first-ever Conroe ISD news website to receive this recognition and the first CISD journalism program to earn a Crown Award finalist spot for any publication type since 2000.

The website is managed by the 57 individuals on the student-led staff including editors-in-chief Jorge Ventura and Logan Day.

“It’s crazy that our staff has achieved something like this; I’m proud for them and want to thank them,” said Ventura, who has been a staff photojournalist and a CISD photography intern as well. “As their editor, it hasn’t been easy the entire time and I’ve tried to put my best effort, but feel like I’m letting them down sometimes. But I’m glad that, even with this feeling, we were able to achieve something fantastic and hope that this is only the start of a great run for us. 

Day joined as a co-editor-in-chief in December, but has served as a photographer and reporter.

“I’m proud of my whole team, everyone on our student media crew contributed. It hasn’t been easy the whole way, but in the end, as an editor, I always try my best to ensure the stuff we publish is quality,” Day said. “It still feels unreal that we even got this award. I can’t wait to see how far we go with this. 

The Crown Awards are the highest recognition given by the CSPA to a student print or digital medium for overall excellence, according to the group’s website.

No set number of Crown Awards is required; the awards are discretionary, based on the evaluation by the Crown judges. They consider all aspects of value to the reader or viewer: content, design or presentation, coverage, photography as well as writing and editing.

Gold Crown Awards were first presented in 1982 and Silver Crown Awards were added in 1984.

THE CREEK YEARBOOK

The National Scholastic Press Association announced that the 2023 edition of The Creek yearbook was named a Pacemaker Award finalist Tuesday, Dec. 17. 

This places The Creek among the top 59 yearbooks nationwide — including the top 47 high school yearbooks out of an estimated 17,000 produced annually across the United States.  The Pacemaker Award, often described as “the Pulitzer Prize of scholastic journalism.” 

“The Pacemaker is the association’s preeminent award,” Executive Director Laura Widmer said. “NSPA is honored to recognize the best of the best.”

The Creek yearbook is the first Pacemaker finalist from Conroe ISD since The Woodlands High School earned the honor in 2003. It marks only the fourth Pacemaker finalist nomination for Conroe ISD in the district’s history.

Finalists will be honored and will receive plaques during a special recognition ceremony on Friday, April 25, at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle. Pacemaker winners will be announced for the first time on Saturday, April 26 at the convention’s awards ceremony.

In Pacemaker competition, the yearbooks compete against each other and are not scored on a rubric.  The high school yearbooks competed in categories based on the number of pages — 340 or more pages, 337-288 pages, 286-235 pages, 232 or fewer pages. Two teams of three judges devoted three days to the judging and studied every entry, discussing its strengths. The status of each entry was agreed upon by at least two of the three judges.

The Pacemaker, one of the oldest awards for scholastic journalism, has a rich tradition. The association started presenting the prestigious award to high school newspapers soon after the organization was founded in 1921. Throughout the years, yearbooks, magazines, online sites, broadcast programs and innovation were added to the competition. 

In addition to national recognition, The Creek yearbook is also in the running for a Star Award from the University Interscholastic League’s Interscholastic League Press Conference . After receiving a Bronze Star in 2023, the program will learn its Star Award designation at the ILPC convention in April.