The student-run newspaper at West Chicago Community High School, Wildcat Chronicle, earned a Golden Eagle Award at the Northern Illinois School Press Association (NISPA) conference on April 10 at the College of DuPage, placing it among the top publications in the region.
The Golden Eagle is a coveted award, and one that eluded the Chronicle in the previous year.
“Once they called out our name, I never felt such a huge relief,” co-editor-in-chief Gabriella Castro said. “I feel so grateful for everyone in the newspaper. We’re still growing as a newspaper and I think that Golden Eagle showed we can face challenges.”
High schools throughout northern Illinois competed in various newspaper and yearbook categories at the annual conference, bringing together student journalists and publications to receive results and critique on their work.
The Chronicle staff submitted pieces from both Journalism and Journalism Production classes across writing, multimedia, and photography categories.
Blue ribbons are awarded to students who earn first-place scoring, and several Wildcat Chronicle staff members earned top finishes across categories including feature writing, sports feature, profile writing, news writing, graphics, and photography.
In addition to blue ribbons, WEGO students also earned honorable mentions in categories such as breaking news, opinion writing, and sports game story, gaining recognition on other pieces submitted.
“I was really excited and proud of the work I did on ‘their piece,’” junior Ana Hurtado said. “I not usually used to writing pieces about profiles so it was really cool to broaden my horizons in writing and get an award for something like that.”
While individual achievements stood out, the staff’s overall performance reflected consistent growth across the program.
“What stands out more is not just the number of awards, but the range of categories where students are succeeding,” journalism teacher and Wildcat Chronicle adviser Leslie Fireman said.
