Cinco Ranch Student Media Staff Wins Awards
The Cinco Ranch High School County Line student media staff was recently recognized with an Award of Distinguished Merit and presented a Bronze Star Award by the UIL-Interscholastic League Press Conference at the Texas state ILPC Convention in Austin. This award recognizes the top scholastic newspapers in the state based on a master teacher critique and rating. The County Line staff is led by senior co-editors Michelle Chong and Jesse Sparks, and the student publications adviser is Ed Larsen.
Other section editors and staff include seniors Maddie Brisson, Francesca Crichton, Gabi Deckelman, Ana Gutierrez, Elizabeth Hale, Trevor Nichols; juniors Jamie Bynum, Rachel Childress, Camryn Fuller, Joe Goodwin, Victor Huerta, Shiva Mirzahaidar, Molly Wade; sophomores Emily Burleson, Sofia Guevara, Kelsy McMeans, and Snovia Moiz.
Texas scholastic student publications, both print and online, are critiqued using a comprehensive grade rubric and assigned ratings by publications specialists. ILPC judges are master teachers who have advised national award-winning publications and who know the nuances of student publications. Certificates are awarded to those publications which earn the following ratings:
- Award of Distinguished Merit – The association’s highest rating.
- Award of Achievement
- Award of Honor
- Award of Merit
The top publications receiving Award of Distinguished Merit are also entered into competition for ILPC’s prestigious Gold, Silver and Bronze Star awards. Recipients of the Star Awards represent the top 10 percent of student newspapers and yearbooks in Texas.
In addition to the publication rating, staff members earned a total of ten medals and six honorable mentions in the ILPC 1-AA individual Achievement Awards categories for writing, design, and photojournalism.
The County Line student publications staff produces six issues of the news magazine each school year and maintains an online news presence with weekly coverage on the staff website.
