About Us, Awards, Advertising and Applications

Nixa Journalism

EDITORIAL POLICY

Nixa Journalism operates as a designated open forum, with the intent of accurately and fairly reporting and responding to the needs of readers. Student editors make all content decisions. Staff members take responsibility for reporting honestly and without bias, for running the news magazine as a business and for printing material that is not legally considered obscene, libelous or private.
Content in Nixa Journalism publications does not necessarily represent the viewpoint of Nixa Public Schools administration. Nixa Journalism does not support any political campaign or candidate.
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS POLICY
Requests for corrections or clarifications should be made to the editor-in-chief. Corrections and clarifications will appear at NixaJournalism.net and will be printed in the next Wingspan.
ADVERTISING POLICY
Advertisements that appear in Nixa Journalism publications do not necessarily represent the beliefs or viewpoints of the publication. Wingspan does not sell ads promoting drugs or alcohol. Ad prices begin at $35. Contact the advertising manager for details. Click here for more information about advertising.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR POLICY
Nixa Journalism encourages the submission of ideas, comments, questions or concerns from readers. Letters to the editor should be 500 words or less and should be signed and delivered to room 221. Nixa Journalism reserves the right to edit submissions for grammatical and spelling errors and for space limitations. Opinions expressed in letters to the editor reflect opinions of the writers, not that of the Nixa Journalism staff.

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Click here to apply for Advanced Journalism. NOTE: Intro to Journalism is a prerequisite for Advanced Journalism classes. See course descriptions by clicking on this link.

Awards won during the 2023-24 school year

Quill and Scroll International Honor Society

Nixa High School’s Wingspan magazine earned a top George H. Gallup Award from the Quill & School International Honor Society for High School Journalists. Wingspan is one of eight student news publications in the United States to earn this honor. The 2022-23 publication was judged on the categories of general practices, coverage, writing and editing, and visuals.

The contest included a critique of the publication and judge’s feedback. Among the judge’s comments: “Your stories are thoroughly, deeply sourced. It’s hard work, but it pays off when it makes your content irrefutable. Each time you have a story with more than two sources, you’re putting a stake in the ground to establish your credibility and pounding it in. Bravo!”  

Columbia Scholastic Press Association:

Yearbook won a Silver Medalist Award

Wingspan and NixaJournalism.net won a Silver Medalist Award

JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism convention in Kansas City:

Nixa Journalism students attend the National High School Journalism Convention April 4-6 in Kansas City. Wingspan won Second Place in the convention’s newsmagazine Best of Show competition. EagleAir ranked 10th place in the Broadcast category. In addition, the Quill and Scroll International Honor Society awarded senior Chloe Fischer an Honorable Mention award for her sports reaction photo. During the convention, students took part in a wide variety of presentations, including newsgathering, interviewing, photography, videography, design, editing and more. The convention was organized by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association.

Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Association’s J-Day:

Nixa High School Journalism students took home more than 30 awards and recognitions at the 2024 Journalism Day event hosted by the Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Association. Among the awards were two Best of Show winners and five All Missouri winners. The event took place March 27 at the University of Missouri campus. More details can be found by clicking on this link.

Congrats to the Nixa Journalism students!

Best of Show

Radio/Podcast, Newscast/ News Feature: Hannah Schiman (9) and Sadie Peters (9), “The Story Behind Spirit Themes”

Photography/ Graphics, Sports Feature/Reaction Photo: Chloe Fischer (12), “Whiteout Football Fans”

All Missouri

Newspaper/Newsmagazine, Overall: 2023-24 Wingspan

Photography/Graphics, Portrait: Courtney Seiner (10), “Guitar”

Online/Print News Feature: Deliliah Neff (12), “Reducing Holiday Waste”

Online/Print: Olivia McCully (12), Brycen Osborne (12), “School, community leaders reach out to Gen Z voters”

Photography/Graphics, Student Life/Organization Photo: Kendall Bourbon (10), “Singing at the Aetos”

Superior

Broadcasting, Overall — Announcements with Video: EagleAir TV, Jan. 30, 2024

Yearbook, Overall: 2023 Eagle yearbook 

Photography/Graphics, Academic Photo: Bronwyn Long (10), “Art in the Classroom”

Online/Print, In-depth Feature: Madison McCrea (12), Chloe Fischer (11), Glennis Woosley (10), ” AI: A Double-Edged Sword”

Online/Print, Editorial/op-ed: Brycen Osborne, “I’m joining the military; Here’s why”

Excellent

Onsite Broadcast: Emorie York (11), Hendrix Trott (12), “Newsrooms use social media to reach audiences”

Yearbook, Yearbook Writing: Paige Oyler (12), “Sports Talk”

Photography/Graphics, Student Life/Organization Photo: Chloe Fischer (12), “Skateboarding in Nixa”

Online/Print, Double truck/Center spread Page Design: Mira Weiss (10), “Politics Gone Viral” 

Online/Print, Editorial/Op-Ed: Kadence Darrah (11), “Something New”

Honorable Mention

Yearbook, Traditional Package — Clubs/Organizations: Grace Dillard (11) and Chloe Fischer (12), “Goal Achieved”

Yearbook, Yearbook Specialty Design: Eagle Yearbook Staff, “Branching Out”

Online/Print, News Writing: Delilah Neff (12), “Homelessness in the Ozarks”

Online/Print, News Writing: Glennis Woosley (10), Mira Weiss (10), “Politics Gone Viral”

Broadcasting, News Story: Olivia McCully (12), “Voting encouraged”

Online/Print, Newspaper Inside Page Design: Kaitlyn Witt’s (12), “Powerlifting”

Online/Print, News Feature: Laurel Latimer (10), “Sugarcoated” 

Photography/Graphics, Student Life/Organization Photo: Chloe Fischer (12), “Wizard of Oz”

MIJA Honor Roll

• Emma Hoffman (12)
• Paige Oyler (12)
• Chloe Fischer (12) 
• Chloe Kitttell (12)
• Maddie Morgan (12)
• Aydia Lancaster (11)
• Madison McCrea (12)
• Deliliah Neff (12)

Missouri Southern State University’s Media Showcase:

Nixa Journalism won the top Journalism Sweepstakes award at Missouri Southern State University’s Media Showcase event on April 10. The awards are based on work completed in the Journalism’s four publications: Wingspan magazine, EagleAir TV broadcast news, the Eagle Yearbook and NixaJournalism.net.

Journalism Sweepstakes: Nixa Journalism Staff

First Place, Yearbook Overall, Nixa High School Yearbook Staff, Eagle Yearbook

First Place, YouTube Star, EagleAir Staff, EagleAir TV

First Place, Editorial/Column Writing, Nixa Editorial Staff, AI Requires Careful Use

First Place, News Package, Olivia McCully, Mock Crash

First Place, Newswriting, Deliliah Neff, Homelessness

First Place, Sports Writing, Maddie McCrea, Moving On Up

First Place, Sports Feature Photography, Chloe Fischer, Season Kickoff photo

Second Place, Newspaper/Newsmagazine (online), Nixa Journalism Staff, NixaJournalism.net

Second Place, Instagram Royalty Nixa Journalism Staff, @nhsjournalism

Second Place News Writing, Glennis Woosley and Mira Weiss, Politics Gone Viral

Second Place, Sports Writing, Paige Oyler, Welcome to the Red Kingdom

Second Place, Feature Photography, Chloe Fischer, Skateboarding photo

Second Place, Feature Writing, Laurel Latimer, Sugarcoated (Toxic Positivity)

Second Place, News Package, Olivia McCully, Voting

Third Place, Newswriting, Maddie McCrea, Chloe Fischer, Glennis Woosley, AI: A Double-Edged Sword

Third Place, Feature Photography, Chloe Fischer, Wizard of Oz photo

Awards won during the 2022-23 school year:

Quill and Scroll International Honor Society

• Wingspan: International First Place 
• News Show: 3rd Place to EagleAir TV
• Honorable Mention to Justice Jones for her story “Restricted Readings”

Columbia Scholastic Press Association:

Wingspan was named a Silver Crown Winner by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. 

JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism convention in St. Louis Nov. 10-12:

 EagleAir TV won 8th place Best of Show  Best of Show awards from the National Scholastic Press Association. The Oct. 16 edition of EagleAir TV won 8th place for Broadcast News Program. 

Wingspan magazine won 6th place Best of Show for its fall issue.
Best of Show awards from the National Scholastic Press Association. 

Nathaniel Viscioni earned an Honorable Mention award for Video Package Editing during the Journalism Education Association’s On-Site competition.

Missouri Interscholastic Jouranlism Education, J-Day:

Nixa Journalism students brought home 22 awards from the Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Association’s annual Journalism Day event at the University of Missouri. Madison McCrea won a Best of Show award for her news story called “Crackdown on Content.” Wingspan and EagleAir Podcasts both won All Missouri awards.

• Best of Show, Newspaper/Newsmagazine News Writing: Crackdown on Content, by Madison McCrea
• All Missouri, Newspaper/Newsmagazine: Wingspan 
• All Missouri, Radio/Podcast Overall: EagleAir Podcasts 
• All Missouri, Newspaper/Newsmagazine News Feature: Ukraine to Nixa, by Eli Dean
• All Missouri, Newspaper/Newsmagazine News Writing: Cost of Progress, by Justice Jones
• Superior, Newspaper/Newsmagazine, News Feature: Heated Holidays/Crisis Lifeline, by Kaitlyn Witts and Olivia Hartman
• Superior, Newspaper/Newsmagazine News Feature: Hometown Heroes, by Deliliah Neff
• Superior, Photography Student Life/Organization Photo: Lola Simmons 
• Excellent, Overall Yearbook (fall release): Eagle Yearbook
• Excellent, Broadcasting Overall—Newsmagazine: EagleAir TV
• Excellent, Broadcasting News Feature: Sleep Deprivation, by Olivia McCully 
• Excellent, Broadcasting News Feature: New dance class at NHS, by  Abigail Coburn
• Excellent, Broadcasting, Mini-Documentary, Nixa Journalism at St. Louis, by Elle Justice and Olivia McCully
•  Excellent, Broadcasting, Sports Feature Story, Kickin’ it With Kaleb, by Mirielle Strobel, Grace Dillard
• Excellent, Yearbook Overall Theme/Concept: Full Circle, by Lexie Ehly and Justice Jones
• Honorable Mention, Online Overall: Nixa Journalism Staff 
• Honorable Mention, On-site Contest, Strategic Communications (onsite competition): Paige Oyler and Elle Justice 
• Honorable Mention,  Broadcasting News Feature: FFA at Nixa, by Kayla Bare and Eris Eyberg
• Honorable Mention, Broadcasting Sports Feature Story: Friday Night Lights, by Phoebe Gardner and Lily Maggard 
• Honorable Mention, Broadcasting Sports Feature Story: Nixa-Ozark Rivalry, by Hendrix Trott and Ryan Viscioni, Eli Dean and Nathaniel Viscioni
• Honorable Mention, Newspaper/Newsmagazine News Feature: Podcasts Rising, by Emma Jelinek
• Honorable Mention, Newspaper/Newsmagazine News Writing: AETOS, by Paige Oyler

Missouri Southern State University’s Media Showcase winners:

• Chloe Fischer: First Place for Sports Action Photography – With Seconds to Spare
• Paige Oyler: First Place Newsmagazine Layout for Aetos
• Eli Dean: First Place for Photoshop Battle – Million Dollar Dog
• Nathaniel Viscioni:
  • Second Place for Broadcast Feature – Sweethearts at the Sweetheart Enduro
  • Second Place for YouTube Star – Full Track TV
  • Second Place for Design Logo – Full Track TV
  • Third Place for TikTok Star – Full Track TV
• Lexi Ehly: Third Place for her Advanced Portfolio
• Lydia Cheek: Third Place for Sports Action Photography – Varsity Player Garrett Hines
• Kayla Bare and Eris Eyberg: Honorable Mention for Sports Package – Nixa High School Wrestling

Awards won during the 2021-22 school year:

Quill and Scroll International Honor Society

Wingspan: International First Place 

EagleAir: Second Place for News Show for Web or TV

Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Yearbook: Gold Medalist Award

Judge’s comments: “You and your dedicated staff did a professional job of responding to the previous judge’s suggestions and handling publication challenges, especially considering the uniqueness of the 2020-2021 year. Exemplary aspects of ‘Eagle’ included interviewing skills, photography techniques and layout design.”

Wingspan: Silver Medalist Award and Silver Crown Award winner 

Journalism Day, Missouri Interscholastic Press Association/Missouri Journalism Education Association:

Judge’s comments about EagleAir: 

Overall nicely done, good variety of packages, nice enthusiasm for school spirit.

Judge’s comments about Wingspan coverage:

“I’m going to make this short and sweet. Your coverage is simply amazing. When going through your publication, it just kept going and going and I was just amazing. Wonderful job. … What a beautiful, beautiful publication. From start to finish, the three editions you supplied for this contest really shocked me with how professional and engaging it was. Well done.”

Missouri Southern State University, Media Showcase Awards 2021

PUBLICATION

Awards won during the 2020-21 School Year:

Quill and Scroll:

Wingspan magazine earned a top George H. Gallup award from the Quill and Scroll International Honor Society. Even amid a pandemic and stay-at-home orders, the Wingspan students continued to complete top-notch work, and it shows. 

Among the judge’s comments:

“The staff and adviser are to be commended for all the hard work that was put into the publications. … This was a difficult year for the staff, but the quality of the news magazine and media site stayed strong.

Congratulations! You are among the world’s top student journalism programs!”

Columbia Scholastic Press Association:

Gold Medalist Award for the 2020 Yearbook

Silver Medalist Award for the 2020 Yearbook

Missouri Interscholastic Press Association’s J-Challenges:

September: Sophomore Eli Dean won a third place award for his photo of the Nixa vs. Joplin football game.

September: Junior Grace Kut won an Honorable Mention for her photo of Nixa football player Steven Ward II.

October: Senior Myah Snider won an Honorable Mention for her cheerleading photo.

November: Mia Paladino won first place for her swim photo.

Braden Dennis won Honorable Mention for his mountain bike photo.

First Place, Audio and Podcast Feature Story: Evan Hirsch, freshman, for his podcast “Teaching and Learning in a Quarantine World“

First Place, Feature Article Story: Nadia May, senior, for her story “Learning Behind the Screen“

Second Place, Broadcast Feature Story: Phoebe Gardner and Lily Maggard, sophomores, for their story “Adjusting to Masks at Nixa High School“

QUILL & SCROLL INDIVIDUAL CONTEST:

Congratulations to Mia Paladino and Gracie Schwarz for winning national awards in the Quill & Scroll International Honor Society’s 2021 news gathering competition. 

Senior Mia Paladino won third place in the Sports Action Photography category for her boys swim photo. 

Junior Gracie Schwarz won an Honorable Mention in the News Writing category for her story “Debating the Protests.”

Missouri Interscholastic Press Association:

Madalyn Tuning (12), editor-in-chief, and the Wingspan magazine staff: All Missouri Award for overall magazine.

Madalyn Tuning (12), editor-in-chief, and the Wingspan magazine staff: All Missouri Award in the In-Depth Feature category for the magazine’s pandemic coverage.

Darby Allen (11): All Missouri Award in the News Magazine Design category for her spread “Ramping Up.”

Braden Dennis (11): All Missouri Award in the Newsmagazine/Newspaper News Writing category for his story “The Butler Didn’t Do It.”

Nadia May (12): All Missouri Award in the Editorial Cartoon category for her drawing “Give it up and mask up.”

Gracie Schwarz (11): All Missouri Award in the Newsmagazine/Newspaper News Writing category for her story “Debating the Protests.”

Mia Paladino (12), Editor-in-Chief and Yearbook staff (11): Superior Award for Overall Yearbook (2019-20 school year).

Elizabeth Carr (9) and Olivia McCully (9): Superior Award  in the Broadcasting News Feature category for their story “Winter Musical Revue.”

Grace Kut (11): Superior Award in the Sports Feature Photography category for her photo “Cheer Football.”

Ellie Sorgenfrei (10): Superior Award  in the Broadcasting News Feature category for her story “Artists visit D.C.”

Mia Paladino (12), editor-in-chief, and Yearbook Staff: Excellent Award for Yearbook Theme “Timeless.”

Maleah Bays (11): Excellent Award in the Portrait Photography category for her photo “Vigil.”

Eli Dean (10): Excellent Award in the Newsmagazine/Newspaper Sports Reporting category for his story “Football Rebirth.”

Braden Dennis (11): Excellent Award in the Sports Photography category for his photo “Mountain Air.”

Abigail Coburn (10): Excellent Award in the Broadcasting News Feature category for her story “For the Love of K9s.”

Phoebe Gardner (10) and Lily Maggard (10): Excellent Award in the Broadcasting News Feature category for their story “Cold Stone TikTok.”

Lucas Finger (11): Excellent Award in the Broadcasting News Story category for his story “COVID Variants.”

Lucas Finger (11): Excellent Award in the Broadcasting News Story category for his story “Biden administration.”

Evan Hirsch (9): Excellent Award in the Radio/Podcast Newscast/News Feature category for his podcast “Teaching and Learning in a Quarantine World.”

T.J. Sorgenfrei (12) and Eli Dean (10): Honorable Mention Award in the Online Sports Package category for their story “Football Rebirth.”

Katelynn Gibson (11): Honorable Mention in the Newsmagazine/Newspaper News Feature category for her story “Reaching Above and Beyond.”

Grace Kut (11): Honorable Mention Award in the Student Life Photography category for her photo “Football Fans.”

Mia Paladino (12): Honorable Mention Award in the Sports Photography category for her photo “Swim Underwater.”

Dr. David Kelly, 2021 Administrator of the Year