Mississippi schools attend, recognized at SIPA convention

Mississippi+schools+attend%2C+recognized+at+SIPA+convention

Mississippi’s journalism programs had a great showing this weekend at the Southern Interscholastic Press Association convention in Columbia, South Carolina.

A total of 36 students (25 from Oxford High School and 11 from Lafayette High School) attended the annual convention.

The Oxford High journalism staffs enjoyed a successful weekend with The Charger newspaper receiving a Superior Rating and Gracyn Ashmore being named the best individual anchor at the on-site anchoring competition.

Tupelo High School’s Hi-Times newspaper won its first-ever SIPA awards with Meredith Beasley taking home first place in the Sports Story category and second place in the Sports Column category.

Oxford High’s top finishers in the 2016 SIPA Writing Contest newspaper category were: Owen Barnard (Third Place, Editorial/Column); Molly Archer (Third Place, Sports Story); and Mia Sinha (Honorable Mention, News Story).

The Charger newspaper and online staff’s 2016 SIPA’s Best Visual Contest honorees are: Christie Forgette (Best in Show, Infographic; Best in Show, News Page), Drake Logan (Award of Merit, Op/Ed Page); Davis McCool (Honorable Mention, Sports Page); Margie Morgan (Award of Merit (tie), Entertainment Page); and Zoe Scruggs (Honorable Mention, Front Page).

In the videography category (2 minutes, 30 seconds maximum length), the Oxford High Sports Production tandem of Andrew Gardner and Merrick McCool received both the “Best in Show” and “Award of Merit” honors.