West High Pioneers Clean-Up at KSPA Regional Competitions

State Champs Returning to Defend Their Title

By Pilar Pedraza, Advisor

Destiny Reicher's entry in Yearbook Layout.

     The Wichita West High Journalism Team turned in an incredible performance at Regionals despite an uphill battle, turning in 26 performances that did well enough to move on to the State competitions in May.
     The returning champs had to face not only an inexperienced advisor, but also the unexpected cancellation of their scheduled competition at Wichita State due to cold and potentially icy weather.  The weather cancellation and last minute nature of the make-up competition meant some students didn't find out what categories they would be competing in until half an hour before the start. They also had only a small core of returning members and had to rely on a team mainly made up of newcomers.
     In the face of these difficulties, the team rallied turned in 26 placing performances.  Last year, when they won State, they only had 16 placers. 
     "That's freaking outstanding," said last year's Journalism Advisor Spencer O'Daniel.
      "WOW! Wow.  Wow.  WOW! WOOOOOOOOW!  WOW!" exclaimed Yearbook Editor Destiny Reicher after seeing the results.

Brianna Thompson's entry for Student Life
Photography - Hands On Learning.

     Due to scheduling difficulties, the advertising team of Jayme Turner and Nakeena Buffalohead ended up with only about 45 minutes to put together their entries.  They got a 2nd and Honorable Mention finish.
     "Those girls are talented," O'Daniel said.  "(I'm) not surprised at all!"
     Newspaper Co-Editor Gabrielle Hazen led the pack with a first place finish in Editorial Writing.  
     Turning in 2nd Place performances were Elisa "Mo" Smith - Yearbook Copywriting, Esperansa Arellano - Cutline Writing, Destiny Reicher - Academic Photography and Yearbook Layout and Jayme Turner - Advertising Design.
     Our 3rd Place finishers were Newspaper Co-Editor Zavier Barrow - Copy Editing, Jackeline Garcia-Blex - Yearbook Copywriting, Destiny Reicher - Cutline Writing, Esperansa Arellano - Yearbook Sports Writing and Lesly Velasco - News Page Design.

Skyler Meyer's entry for Sports Photography - Off the Court.

     Rounding out the team performance with Honorable Mentions were Gabrielle Hazen - Copy Editing, Kylee Hinkle - Sports Writing and Editorial Writing, Juliana Casillas - Editorial Cartoon, Karleigh Johnson - Feature Writing and News Writing, Faith Reicher - Yearbook Sports Writing, Nakeena Buffalohead - Advertising Design, Esperansa Arellano - Headline Writing and Design, Itzel Salas - Headline Writing and Design, Zavier Barrow - Infographic Design, Avery Gossage - Infographic Design and Photo Illustration, Chief Photographer Skyler Meyer - Sports Photography, Briana Thompson - Student Life Photography.
     "I'm so proud of these kids, I could burst!" I told the students when announcing the wins on Friday morning.  "You did this all on your own. I had no idea what I was doing. You went out and took care of business!"
     Preparations for State Championships begin after Spring Break.  The competition is May 5th at KU starting at 8:00am.

Lesly Velasco's entry for News Page Design.