TKS Student Newspaper Wins Awards in State Contest

The staff of The Knox Student earned 18 awards, the most in its division, in the annual Illinois College Press Association contest. The awards were announced at the 2012 Illinois College Press Association Convention February 17-18 in Chicago, Illinois.

TKS, Knox College's weekly campus newspaper, competes in the division for non-dailies under 4,000 circulation in the state contest.

With one category still undecided this year -- opinion page -- due to a contest mix-up with entries, TKS's 18 awards are the most in its division. Elmhurst College received 17 awards, while Augustana College received 12.

While TKS did not place in the general excellence category this year, it did win the category for the first time in recent history in 2010 and placed second in 2011. This year, Elmhurst College won general excellence, which judges all aspects of a newspaper.

"This was a strong showing for the students," said Tom Martin, TKS advisor. "I know they were a little upset at not placing in general excellence, but clearly their work held up against that of their peers."

"This is another group of students dedicated to putting out a strong campus newspaper," Martin added. "They take it seriously, and it shows. I'm very proud of them."

Winning first-place awards were John Williams, editor-in-chief; Matt McKinney, co-sports editor; and Matt Barry, discourse editor. The other first-place finish was a photo page by the staff. (Photo above: John Williams hands out copies of TKS.)

Attending the two-day convention in Chicago were Williams; Sheena Leano, managing editor; Charlie Gorney, co-news editor; Katy Sutcliffe, co-Mosaic editor; Paige Anderson, co-Mosaic editor; Barry; Michelle Orr, co-photo editor; Carina Tran, co-photo editor; copy editors Gretchen Walljasper, Samantha Paul and Elizabeth Schult; and Martin.

Students attended workshops and heard a keynote address given by Mark Konkol, a Chicago Sun-Times reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2011. Tran and Orr participated in a Shoot Chicago event in which students photographed the city and had their pictures critiqued by professionals.

The Knox Student was founded in 1878 by S.S. McClure who, after graduating from Knox, created McClure's Magazine, one of the first publications in the field of American investigative journalism.

Here is a rundown of the TKS awards.

First Place

• Feature Photo, John Williams
• Photo Story, staff
• Sports Game Story, Matt McKinney
• Opinion Column, Matt Barry

Second Place

• Cartoon (strip or panel), Elizabeth Shult
• Sports Page Design, Jackson White
• Sports Photo, John Williams
• Photo Story, John Williams, Michelle Orr
• Sports Feature Story, Colin Davis
• News Story, Charlie Gorney and Ben Reeves
• In-depth Reporting, Anna Meier

Third Place

• Front Page Layout, Charlie Gorney and John Williams
• Sports Photo, John Williams
• News Photo, Carina Tran
• Sports Game Story, Jackson White

Honorable Mention

• Sports Feature Story, Katy Sutcliffe
• Sports News Story, Colin Davis
• News Story, Anna Meier