The journalism staff competed in the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) contest this year, hosted by Michigan State University. Combined, the classes won 27 awards. With Newspaper getting 24 and Yearbook earning three respectively.
Teacher Kaitlin Edgerton is new to her role at Stevenson this year but not new to advising. She worked to provide the skills and entrance to the contest that the staff needed to succeed.
Edgerton said she feels the awards are a good way to end the year and that they are something students can take away to know they’ve grown.
“A lot of times in other classes you’re just turning in your paper to your teacher, and it gets graded,” Edgerton said. “However, in the journalism classroom students produce something that’s tangible. Awards help to let us know that we’re doing something right in meeting good standards of journalism, and I feel that’s important.”
To the student staff, like staff writer Luke Grunow ’26, the four honorable mentions and one third place he won made him feel confident and happy for himself and his skills.
“When I heard I won anything I was honestly a little surprised, not because I don’t think I’m a good writer,” Grunow said. “I didn’t realize I was actually pretty good at it for all sides. I’m more than happy.”
Other members of the student staff such as Associate Editor Ebunoluwa Festus ’25 said it was important to work together this year to improve other’s writing while also improving her own skills. Festus was excited to win two honorable mentions and a first-place award.
“Last year I was just a staff writer, but this year I’m Associate Editor. It’s good to have responsibilities, and I get to help other people with their writing,” Festus said. “I can also improve my writing with edits from other people too.”
They both had one thing in common though, they attributed their success to Edgerton’s guidance and help.
“Mrs. Edgerton is definitely a good role model and teacher,” Festus said. “She gives good edits on my stories, helps me come up with better ideas for my story, and pushes me to be more personal with my stories if I’m writing something like a feature.”
Edgerton said she is proud of her first group of students at Stevenson and their accomplishments, as they all worked hard through the challenges put on them.
“We had a small staff this year, and everybody worked extremely hard to get a website going and to put out four different print editions of the newspaper,” Edgerton said. “We have this small and mighty crew that’s going to grow each year. I feel like I’ll always look back and remember this year, being my first at Stevenson, and working with this staff means a lot to me.”
