By Sarah Arnold, Editor
Kaneland High School’s newsmagazine, the Kaneland Krier, was awarded a Quill and Scroll International First Place award this month, earning its highest score in several years.
“We had a very hardworking staff last year who put their whole heart into the Krier, and the judges saw that and rewarded them for it,” journalism teacher Cheryl Borrowdale said.
The judges commended the Krier, giving it high scores for policy guidelines, coverage, writing and editing, display and design and business practices.
“I think the judges saw the staff had good story topics, high quality in terms of writing and research and an attractive paper design,” Borrowdale said. “The Krier is a completely student-run paper and publishes without censorship or prior review, and the editorial board has set very high standards for itself, both in terms of production and ethics. They are perfectionists, and it shows.”
In the critique, the judges offered both praise and some constructive criticism.
“The judges commented they really liked our designs, ads and in-depth stories. It feels good because that is what we worked hard on last year. They want us to improve our captions and use our space wisely,” executive editor Maria Kernychny said.
The overall score of 950 placed the Krier in the superior achievement category, giving the staff the International First Place Award. The staff is very proud of the honor.
“It feels good to win Quill and Scroll because it goes to show the success of all of our staff’s time and effort throughout the year,” web editor Megan Nauert said.
Schools from 49 countries compete in Quill and Scroll, the largest of the journalism honor societies. Quill and Scroll, which is run by the University of Iowa’s Communications Department, has college journalism professors and professional journalists judge student newspapers from around the world each year. Over the Krier’s 37-year history, Quill and Scroll has distinguished the Krier many times.
The newsmagazine also received an International First Place Award last year and won the 2010 Golden Eagle from the Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association, which is given to the best student newspaper in its class.
The current Krier staff is working on making the judges’ suggested improvements to ensure another win next year.
“We are working to develop our layout even more, involve more Kaneland students, continue to make sound editorial board decisions, and maintain our journalistic integrity. Our goal is to receive an even higher score,” head copyeditor and advertising manager Jessica Corbett said.