Two Mississippi schools earned top recognition at the Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA) Convention, held on March 8th at the University of South Carolina. Competing against schools from across the Southeast, Tupelo High School received a significant share of the event’s top awards, while Jackson Preparatory School also secured multiple honors. The results highlight the success of both schools’ student journalism programs at a regional level, and paying off the hard work of students.
While the Tupelo students won many awards grouped into multiple categories, a major highlight came when adviser Katrina Berry-Ivy was also recognized individually at the event. She was nominated for and won the Elizabeth B. Dickey Distinguished Service Award, an honor that recognizes long-term contributions to scholastic journalism and reflects the leadership behind the program’s success. Berry-Ivy shared that she won unexpectedly, but is nevertheless thankful.
“I was really honored,” Ivy said. “I didn’t even know I had been nominated for it. Um, but it’s based on the service you were doing in scholastic journalism. And so it’s an honor, and I think one of the things I said there is teachers need other teachers, and I’m where I am because of my mentors.”
As for the students, their wins point to a broader culture within the program, emphasizing collaboration and consistent improvement, while also keeping themselves in check.
“These awards are signs of the growth,” Ivy said. “Our first semester in 2019, we were so excited when we got six awards at MSPA. Now with this past SIPA, we earned the most awards we have so far, which is a reflection of the students’ work. It was that team mentality, and truly they worked together, which is a credit to their teamwork.”
Berry-Ivy went on to say that while her students have built a reputation for their work, they must balance having confidence with humility in competition with other schools.
“A big goal for our students’ mindset is to stay humble and kind, clap for the other schools when they win, and then clap for yourself when you win,” Ivy said. “Another school could take it the wrong way and come off as cocky when they win. I want them to definitely be proud of their work, but stay humble.”
Student chair Jolen McKinzie said the awards served as validation for the group’s effort throughout the year. For these students, the recognition reflects back the time, dedication, and commitment put into their work.
“Once I heard my name of getting an award, I was very excited,” said McKinzie. “As for all of us, with the hard work we put in, we felt like we earned it, and that it was all worth it.”
Going into this school year, Berry-Ivy said she was expecting to build momentum for the future in a transition of her students and work. Instead, the group exceeded expectations, delivering a strong performance and surpassing even last year’s results to propel Tupelo’s progress.
“I thought we were gonna be setting the stage for next year, but it turned out this year’s group was actually stronger than last year’s,” Ivy said. “Next year may be the rebuilding one, you never know. Until then, we’ll just keep doing our best.”
While Tupelo saw continued success from an established program, Jackson Preparatory School made a strong impression in its first year competing in SIPA. The school’s performance demonstrated its ability to quickly adapt and compete at a high level against experienced programs. Jackson Prep adviser David Smith, who is in his first year overall at the school, said participating in SIPA provided valuable experience for his students and a big regional opportunity.
“This is our first year being a part of SIPA, and just seeing what kind of goes on behind the scenes and the people who run it, it’s an awesome thing to be a part of,” Smith said.
“Something that my students chase is that recognition, seeing all that hard work that they do pay off. Knowing that an organization like SIPA sees it and their judges think it’s awesome, makes them feel even better about what they’re doing and who they are.”
The awards also reinforce the school’s broader goal of maintaining a high standard, which stretches across both academics and extracurricular activities. Competing at SIPA allows Prep’s students to measure their work against a wider field, and supports the program’s pursuit of excellence.
“We pride ourselves here with both faculty and students being one of the best schools across the southeast,” Smith said. “I think that that backs it up when we’re doing it in course like student broadcast, where we are able to compete on a southeastern scale and win awards.”
Similarly to Tupelo, Smith explained this first year for him was an obvious ‘transition year’. That didn’t halt momentum though, as the media program showed significant progress in a short amount of time. This has helped generate increased interest and momentum, with student involvement playing a key role in building a strong foundation for the future.
“We knew coming into this year it was going to be a big time transition into building on what we are looking for in the future,” Smith said. And to be able to win awards in year one of this form of JPTV is incredible. We’ve had more students sign up for next year’s class than ever before. Doing things like competing for and winning awards in that pursuit for excellence just helps gain that student interest we can build on.”
“The students deserve all the credit for this, they’re the ones that go out and pursue the stories and come back with them,” Smith said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better group to get my first year started at Jackson Prep.”
Below is a link to the SIPA Convention awards, which includes both Tupelo and Jackson Prep’s winners.
https://schopressonline.org/showcase/2026/03/08/2026-convention-awards/#
