SCN honored for excellent work

by Agnes Geiger

“If I could give an award for hard work and dedication, you and SCN’s volunteers would win. Outstanding efforts. Please keep up the great work,” a judge wrote. “Talk about lots of work and dedication. Community news is so important and you are doing just that. Hats off for all your team’s hard work and efforts.”

These were among judges’ comments in which the Stockbridge Community News earned nine awards in statewide competitions in the annual National Federation of Press Women’s Communications Contest.

In the At-Large division of the contest, Stockbridge Community News writers competed against entries from about 16 other states that do not have NFPW chapters. Columnist Eric Rasmussen earned an award in the Colorado Press Association’s contest.

SCN, a monthly newspaper that marked its second year of operation in November, was awarded five first-place awards, three second-place awards and one honorable mention.

This is the second year that SCN was recognized by the nationwide organization. Last year SCN took home nine At-Large awards.

SCN writers Patrice Johnson, Eric Rasmussen, Hope Salyer and Judy Williams all received awards.

Contest entries were judged and ranked by professional communications experts from throughout the United States, according to Teri Ehresman, of Idaho, NFPW contest director, and Michele Cook, of Virginia, contest manager.

Patrice Johnson, SCN president and editor-in-chief, was surprised and pleased that NFPW recognized the newspaper for the second straight year. She credited the hard work and dedication of the entire SCN team for the paper’s success.

“More than 35 volunteers devote untold hours each month to providing local news and information—all as a public service to build a stronger, healthier local community. It means a great deal when readers express appreciation and journalism professionals recognize our efforts.”

All first-place contest entries will continue on to the national contest and compete with other first-place entries from across the country. National winners will be honored at an awards dinner during the NFPW National Conference on Saturday, June 29 in Baton Rouge, La.

Winning first-place entries were: 

SCN board member Judy Williams

• Judy Williams, In-Depth Reporting for “Thank You Veterans.” The judge said, “It was a very nice story about an event worthy of recognition.”
• Patrice Johnson, News story, print-based newspaper for “Michigan Department of Education visits Stockbridge Schools.” “Nice use of adjectives to make what could be a routine story come to life,” the judge said.
  

  SCN board member Patrice Johnson

• Patrice Johnson, Continuing coverage or unfolding news for “Consultant calls for immediate evacuation of downtown Stockbridge retail building.”
• Patrice Johnson, Personality profile more than 500 words for “Staff Spotlight: Michelle Burke adds STEAM to STEM at Smith Elementary.” The judge wrote, “Solid story with lots of quotes and background.”
• Patrice Johnson, Specialty articles, education for “Stockbridge Township’s property tax valuations rise 25 percent last year.” “Property taxes, valuations and money stories are tough to write about and difficult for the average reader to understand. You did a good job of making the information understandable and explaining why district taxpayers should care,” the judge said.

The entries winning second-place awards were:

SCN Columnist Eric Rasmussen

• Eric Rasmussen, Informational Column, online news and information for “A Gene Mutates in the Forest, and We See Red.” Colorado chapter of NFPW.
• Hope Salyer, Feature Story, print-based newspaper for “Therapy dogs ease stress at Stockbridge High School.”  “Good story and well written with lots of references,” the judge said.
• Hope Salyer, Videos for the Web, non-profit or government organizations for the Ann Arbor Electrical JATC “A Day in the Life of an Apprentice” series. ”I was happy to see women interviewed since that was also a part of the
  

  SCN board member Hope Salyer

  target audience you wanted to reach,” the judge said. “The videos get the message across and are very informative.”

• Patrice Johnson, Public Service for the Stockbridge Community News publication. (Judge’s comments up top.)

The entry awarded an honorable mention was:

• Patrice Johnson, Feature story for “A butterfly’s wings: S.A.E.S.A.’s move to cause ripple effects.” The judge said the story was well-researched.

NFPW is a nationwide organization of women and men pursuing careers across the communications spectrum, including print and electronic journalism, freelancing, new media, books, public relations, marketing, graphic design, photography, advertising, radio and television.