In the National High School Journalism Convention’s “Best of Show” competition, the Coat of Arms (CoA) news website won fourth place among schools of 1500 students or fewer. This was CoA’s first entry, at least in the past decade, in a national competition. “I think for CoA to receive fourth place nationally is a big deal,” says faculty advisor Tripp Robbins. “We’re ranking with literally the best student journalism programs in the country.” 

He adds, “This recognition highlights the work of editors over the last five or so years who have worked to improve the CoA site. This year’s online editor, Emily Han, gets the biggest chunk of the credit; she’s worked super hard to raise the bar and improve the site. And I know that she has other ideas for future growth.” 

Shortly thereafter, Coat of Arms took home five awards in the Journalism Education Association of Northern California’s annual contest, including landing third place in the “Best of the West” category for print newspapers. The Best of the West award honors the strength of a newspaper’s overall work throughout the year. 

Four Coat of Arms journalists were also recognized by JEANC for their coverage:

• Sophia Artandi: Honorable Mention, Digital Media Feature Package
• Laura Artandi: First Place, Digital Media News Video
• Tatum Herrin: Honorable Mention, News Publication Infographic Design
• Erica Fenyo: Second Place, News Publication Sports Story

“While we see the names of four individuals above, we know that our work on CoA is a team effort,” Tripp says. “Editors help writers, and we all make each other better by doing strong work.”

Want to know more? Read the announcements from the National High School Journalism Convention and the Journalism Education Association of Northern California.