The F.J. Reitz Journalism Department had a strong showing in the 60th Annual Southern Illinois School Press Association Spring Conference and Contests held March 3 on the campus of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

The Mirror Newspaper was named a Blue Banner Newspaper, recognizing it for overall excellence in reporting and design. Based on copies of this year’s paper submitted for judging, The Mirror was one of the best newspapers for a school its size. The judges commented on the strength of the reporting, the variety of topics covered and the depth in which they were dealt with. Design was also a strong point of The Mirror, according to the judging sheets. Marika Garrett is the Editor in Chief of The Mirror.

On the yearbook side, the 2009 Reflections Yearbook was awarded a Golden Dozen, meaning it was one of the top regional books for coverage, graphics, photography and writing. Along with the Golden Dozen, the 2009 book, titled “A Dash of Color”, was given a first place in Coverage (how well the book captures in writing the school year), a first in Layouts (how the book was designed), a second place in Dividers (the pages that separate the different sections of the book) and a second place for the cover design. The 2009 yearbook was edited by Audra Brandsasse.

Individually, several students were singled out for their work.

In yearbook competition based on submissions from the 2010 yearbook being produced this year, the 2010 Reflections staff was recognized in each of the 6 categories judged. The staff earned a first place in Feature Spread Design, a first in Theme Development, a second place in Cover Design and a Honorable Mention in Sports Spread Design. Reitz swept the photography categories when Amanda Breeze earned a first place in Feature Photography and Kyra Williams took the first place in Sports Photography.

For work on the newspaper, eight different journalists earned individual awards.

First places went to Grant Adcock in Original Artwork, Marika Garrett for Sports Writing and Nate Tinner for Feature Writing. Firsts were also awarded to the staff for Computer Generated Artwork and Overall Layout.

Second places went to Melody Hart for Photography with a Caption and Marika Garrett in Sports Feature Writing. Sierra King was also given a second place for her feature writing in the Cub Division.

Honorable Mentions went to Marika Garrett and Brian Adcock each for Editorial Writing, Kyra Williams for Photography with a Caption, Nate Tinner in Feature Writing and Shelby Daughtery for Review Writing.

In all, 10 different individuals won honors. Overall, the Reitz journalists took 19 awards from 38 entries in 20 categories.

SISPA is a regional scholastic press organization started in the late 20s, making it one of the oldest school press organizations in the United States. 60 years ago the organization began to host a conference to give students a chance to hone their skills with advice of experts, professionals and educators through workshops and classes. The contest portion was quickly added. Now students can compete in a live, on-site contest or by sending in their published works.

SISPA covers an area that stretches from St. Louis to Evansville, and Champaign, Illinois to Paducah, Kentucky. This year, almost 40 schools participated in the conference, on-site contests and mail-in judging.