The Wessex Wire staff won several awards at a statewide journalism conference, including First Place in Overall Excellence in Print for its division, at Rutgers University on Monday, Oct. 27.
The Wire attends the Garden State Scholastic Press Association’s Fall Press Day annually, and its work is judged over the summer for the previous school year’s print and online reporting. For the fourth time in the Wire’s history, and the first time since 2019, the Wire took home the first place award for Overall Excellent in Print for Division A, beating out nine other publications for the honor. This award demonstrates The Wessex Wire’s overall quality and merit, leaving the staff and advisor proud. The Wire staff also won a shared first place award for its social media account, tying with Cherry Hill High School East.
Many individual students also won first place awards, all in Division A. News and Features Editor Ila Eisenstein and Sports Editor Grace McGovern won first place for Features Writing with the piece “Generations of Giampapas Give Back”. Senior Opinion Editor Naya AIZarabili’s piece “Course Waiver Forms Quietly Reshape Academic Culture” placed first for Opinion Writing. Wessex Wire alumna Ella Hermans, Class of ‘25, swept the Columns Writing competition. Her pieces, “Socratic Seminars Turn Classrooms into Battlegrounds,” placed first, “Just Five Extra Minutes Can Omit Senior Lot Chaos” placed second and “Society Loves to Hate on Women, and it Shows” placed third.
West Essex alumna Maddie DeVita, Class of ‘25, placed second in Artwork/Illustration for her hand-drawn illustration for the story “Hidden Dangers of Caffeine Lurk in Teens’ Favorite Drinks”. The Wire staff editorial “National Teacher Shortage Hits Home with Class Changes” received an honorable mention in the category of Editorial Writing. Junior correspondent Mina Wakeshima received an honorable mention for her story “Two W.E. Students Taste Victory in Cooking Contest” in the Newswriting category.
