Sacred Hearts Academy wins journalism award 3 years in a row

The student journalists at Sacred Hearts Academy won their third consecutive Best in State award at the 56th Hawaii High School Journalism Awards held this month in the University of Hawaii at Manoa Campus Center ballroom.

The annual awards recognize the best writing, photography, design and online production of Hawaii’s high school publications. This year, the theme of the contest was “Journalists Change the World.”

Hawaii Publishers Association President Jay Hartwell said that five more schools entered the competition than last year, which “indicates a growth in journalism.”

“The time has never been more important for people who are trained to ask questions and seek truths, to help our country,” Hartwell said. “The more journalists who can get that training and encouragement in high school, the better.”

‘Iolani School was the runner-­up in the Best in State division, followed by Moana­lua, McKinley and Hawaii Baptist Academy, which all topped the field of 15 schools.

The judges of the 21 categories included professionals from Hawaii news organizations including Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser and Honolulu Civil Beat, and members of the Society of Professional Journalists. The competition was co-sponsored by the Hawaii Publishers Association, the Star- Advertiser, and Ka Leo student media program at UH-Manoa.

Ka Leo, Sacred Hearts Academy’s newspaper, swept the writing division and also received recognition for a cartoon and its overall website.

The awards made the school’s journalism teacher Alyssa Myers a “proud mama.”

“After so much work that they put in to the pieces that were entered, I just sat back and watched them enjoy and celebrate and hug each other,” Myers said. “I know how they feel, being a former student journalist at my high school and then going out into the industry — I know how much work goes into that one page story.”

Hawaii Baptist Academy topped the photo division and ‘Iolani School won overall in the design and online categories.

Individually, ‘Iolani School senior Kaelyn Pacpaco won the Journalism Education Association’s award for Hawaii Journalist of the Year, which came with a $250 cash prize from the Asian American Journalists Association of Hawaii.

Pacpaco served as the print editor-in-chief for ‘Iolani’s Imua, the school’s print and online newspaper, and led the staff to produce its 100th issue.

She gave the student address at the awards luncheon, and while she said she does not plan to pursue journalism in college, she recalls her entry to Imua as a “happy accident.”

“As student journalists, we hold one of the most unique responsibilities imaginable,” Pacpaco said in her address. “We’re documenting the voices of our generation and that’s an incredible responsibility to carry.”

The April 17 award ceremony also recognized the best staffer at each of the 15 high school publications that entered. Recognized students served roles from sports editor and designer to editor in chief.

That included ‘Iolani junior Madeline Lucy Nicolas, Imua’s media editor, who said that being the best staffer is a culmination of teamwork.

“It’s just a product of having everyone knowing each other’s strengths and lesser strengths,” Nicolas said. “I strongly believe that everyone should not sleep on high school journalism because students are going to be the ones running the world one day.”

Myers said that Sacred Hearts Academy has produced journalists in the past, some students moving on to study communications in college. She said Ka Leo has helped students land a job at the National Football League as a social media editor and a summer internship at Vogue magazine in New York.

“It has been really encouraging to see the different voices that come through and see the program really grow,” Myers said.