Congratulations to all students, advisers and scholastic journalism programs in Nebraska who submitted entries to the Winter 2025 JEA Nebraska Contest.
At the end of December, 32 Nebraska high schools whose advisers are members of the Journalism Education Association (JEA) entered this contest with 775 entries. The top 10% of the entries were honored with Superior ratings. The next 15.4% were named Excellent and another 22.6% were named Honorable Mentions.
This contest makes no distinction of school size or enrollment. Judges ideally used the NSAA State Journalism Rubrics and their own classroom and professional experience for making final decisions. Students winning awards are truly to be commended. They will have a good chance at qualifying for the NSAA State Journalism Contest and have a good chance of earning recognition in other contests.
For the NSAA State contest, Marian opts up for classification and is in Class A even though the enrollment would classify the program in the smaller half of the Class B schools. See the 2025 classification here: https://nsaa-static.s3.amazonaws.com/textfile/journ/joclass.pdf
Marian Student Journalist Winners include:
| Category | Rank | Student/Staff | Description or Link to the work: |
| Literary Magazine | Superior | Burn Magazine, December 2024 Edition | Find a copy of the Fall 2024 Burn! |
| Yearbook Theme Copy Writing | Superior | Chloe Quinn | Wait for the 2025 Yearbook! (pages 2-3) the opening explanation |
| Newswriting | Superior | Dominika Kouassi | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/11/13/new-research-in-period-products-raises-awareness-for-menstrual-health/ |
| Newspaper Layout | Superior | Isabel Campie | Page 8-9 of the December Network! |
| NP Sports News | Superior | Natalie Else | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/11/13/softball-season-wrap-up-swinging-upward/ |
| Photo Artistic Illustration | Excellent | Abby McGuire | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/09/25/why-you-should-care-about-politics/ |
| Column writing | Excellent | Coventry Thompson | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/09/25/why-you-should-care-about-politics/ |
| Entertainment Review Writing | Excellent | Coventry Thompson | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/12/18/moana-sequel-unimpressive-but-cute/ |
| Broadcast PSA | Excellent | Julia Walenz & Caroline Keating | https://youtu.be/kZpYUldB4kQ?si=1rdf4NP4ya5u3Bhr |
| Broadcast Feature | Excellent | Maeve McGill & Piper Albers | https://youtu.be/Chws-1Upa2U?si=CBUNe-PpvsdGFa5Q |
| Broadcast Program | Excellent | Marian M-Beat (Oct 16) (anchors were Alena Kehm & Sophia Shillcut, producer was Kelsey Bragg, segments by Ashley Bialas, Avery Driml, Piper Albers, Alena Kehm, Sophia Shillcutt, Maeve McGill, Kate Efaw, Kelsey Bragg, Gianna Sitti & Riley Newman) | https://youtu.be/ZW4TLj0IK1g?si=IPV-AksYUGAedCJo |
| Yearbook Theme Package | Excellent | Omaha Marian: Memories in the Making | Wait for the 2025 Yearbook! |
| Broadcast PSA | Excellent | Reese Eggers & Cleo Washington & Kamryn Wray | https://youtu.be/42X1HLmAcO0?si=YhSmk9WHfBn1s3CQ |
| Yearbook Theme Copy Writing | Excellent | Shelby Woodard | Wait for the 2025 Yearbook! (pages 4-5) the activities division page |
| Broadcast News | Honorable Mention | Abby McGuire | https://youtu.be/J_pAOWLYT0A?si=pIGhL-Ft_beYaYuE |
| Editorial Cartooning | Honorable Mention | Abby McGuire | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/12/15/what-is-the-meaning-of-life-not-capitalism/ |
| Info graphic | Honorable Mention | Abby McGuire | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/11/13/new-research-in-period-products-raises-awareness-for-menstrual-health/ |
| Newswriting | Honorable Mention | Abby McGuire | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/11/26/adventures-in-activism-the-2024-election-gives-students-opportunities-to-learn/ |
| NP Feature Writing | Honorable Mention | Abby McGuire | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/10/31/working-with-wires-a-sr-peggy-story/ |
| Headline Writing | Honorable Mention | Clare Eckert | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/12/19/holiday-tunes-jolly-or-just-downright-annoying/ |
| Entertainment Review Writing | Honorable Mention | Dominika Kouassi | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/12/18/dear-wicked-you-are-just-too-good/ |
| Newspaper Layout | Honorable Mention | Dominika Kouassi | Page 1 of the December Network! |
| NP Feature Writing | Honorable Mention | Elena Burt | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/09/26/senior-soars-through-the-summer-sky/ |
| Yearbook Feature Writing | Honorable Mention | Elizabeth Buescher | Wait for the 2025 Yearbook! (pages 10-11) a story on the Dominican Republic trip |
| Yearbook Layout | Honorable Mention | Elizabeth Buescher | Wait for the 2025 Yearbook! (pages 70-71) a spread on fine arts |
| Indepth Newspaper Coverage | Honorable Mention | Isabel Campie & Rowan Hamm | Pages 8-9 of the September Network! |
| Advertising | Honorable Mention | Karis Simon | The poster that advertised Grease! |
| Yearbook Sports Feature Writing | Honorable Mention | Katie Hansen | Wait for the 2025 Yearbook! (pages 132-133) a story on theh varsity volleyball team |
| Broadcast Program | Honorable Mention | Marian High School (Oct 25) (anchors were Zariyah Boyd, Ella Thibodeau & Grace Tynan, segments by Viv Siedlik, Molly Regan, Ella Montgomery, Grace Tynan, Layla Wilke-Conant, Leyla Zier, Aubrey Prouse, Slaine Regan, Cleo Washington, Reese Eggers & Sophia Losole.) | https://youtu.be/okEBFwTr4lY?si=xmj11LhD6M7UhmHb |
| Headline Writing | Honorable Mention | Mary McKay | https://mariandigitalnetwork.com/2024/10/29/grit-growth-and-grass-cross-country-ends-at-state/ |
| Broadcast News | Honorable Mention | Slaine Regan & Ella Thibodeau | https://youtu.be/lSP-HMCreas?si=rRsP_tgwbbdChk3O |
The entire yearbook and newspaper staffs are featured in the photos because ALL of them have a hand in creating the published work. They just don’t all have a byline. It takes an entire staff to be an award-winning publication.
Full contest results for the state of Nebraska are found here: http://omahamarian.org/nhspa/2025/JEANEB25results.htm
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