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The December-January monthly contest had 152 entries submitted. The school earning the most awards is Maize Career Academy High School with a total of seven awards.  Bishop Miege High School, Blue Valley Northwest High School, Lawrence High School and Mill Valley High School finished with a four-way tie with five awards each.

Video News

• 1st Place: Abby Lee, Calen Domingues, Ryder Hendon, Luke Beil from Shawnee Mission East High School
• 2nd Place: Hayden Houts from Lawrence High School
• 3rd Place: Haley Barnard, Sydney Lampkin, Stahley Sears from Maize Career Academy

Video Production

• 1st Place: Isaiah Adcox from Bonner Springs High School
• 2nd Place: Kenna Ellis, Ian Twist from Maize Career Academy
• 3rd Place: Abby Jamison from Blue Valley Northwest

News Page Design

• 1st Place: Sophie Lindberg from Shawnee Mission East High School

• 2nd Place: Nathan Wituk, Sydney Endicott, Ainsley Cramer from Maize Career Academy

• 3rd Place: Julia Shumaker from Mill Valley High School

Academics Photography

• 1st Place: Tamia Cunningham from Maize Career Academy

Maize High sophomore Felix Zilbershteyn prepares to play Jenga in 21st Century Journalism class, but was nervous to take his turn due to the tower possibly collapsing. Students in 21st Century Journalism were taking turns going through stations, playing different games while other students worked on taking photos of their classmates playing the games on Friday, Jan. 20. The purpose of the lesson was to give students taking photos action and people in order to understand how to edit using different Adobe editing programs.

• 2nd Place: Madison Glaser from DeSoto High School

During a student-directed one act play Bad Auditions by Bad Actors, Brodie Breckenridge’s character uses method acting to audition for the role of Romeo. Director Christian Nelson, senior, took this performance to compete at ThesCon. “It was super exciting because by placing at ThesCon meant that we had the second best one act out of the whole state of Kansas, so I was really proud of my cast and it felt really good knowing I can trust in my abilities and ideas as a director,” Nelson said.

• 3rd Place: Meredith Cohee from Blue Valley West High School

Cello Phrases. Performing with the Symphonic Orchestra on Dec. 13, senior David Han plays the cello. Han and the other cellists performed music from Sonuscore that combined expressivity and emotionality with a unique combination. “The cello is so expressive,” Han said. “It’s cool that it can be used in classical and modern music.”

News Writing

• 1st Place: Jack Ritter from Lawrence High School
• 2nd Place: Adelyn Cellio from Blue Valley Southwest High School
• 3rd Place: Luke Frenzel from Bishop Miege High School

Photo Illustration

• 1st Place: Chloe Miller from Mill Valley High School

• 2nd Place: Elliott McCurdy from Maize Career Academy

• 3rd Place: Mary-Kathryn Wert from Bishop Miege High School

Sports Writing

• 1st Place: Addie Moore from Shawnee Mission East High School
• 2nd Place: Alexis Purdy from Olathe West High School
• 3rd Place: Josie Lynn from Bishop Miege High School

Sports Photography

• 1st Place: Sydney Jackson from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Leaping, senior Piper Denning performs her solo “Golden Hour” Jan. 20 at Lee’s Summit North. Denning chose to use the song “Golden Hour” by JVKE for her solo. “The mood of my solo is idyllic. It’s supposed to be a breath of fresh air or a realization of, ‘I just got out of a rough place and now I have found my light, my golden hour’,” Denning said. “When I perform, all I can think about is the bright future to come after high school.”

• 2nd Place: Lila Vancrum from Blue Valley Northwest

Senior James Bi competes in the Husky Invitational against Lawrence High School, Jan. 21. “I will miss the people the most,” Bi said. “After four years in the program, I have built great relationships with my teammates and my coaches.”

• Third Place: Isabelle Prô from Lawrence Free State High School

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Infographics

• 1st Place: Liz Coenen from DeSoto High School

• 2nd Place: Carter Smith from Maize Career Academy

• 3rd Place: No award given

Multimedia Storytelling

• 1st Place: Avery Gathright, Luci Guess, Emma Clement, Julia Shumaker from Mill Valley High School
• 2nd Place: No award given
• 3rd Place: No award given

Yearbook Layout

• 1st Place: Evan Schotland, Danie Eaves from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

• 2nd Place: Ally Sul from Mill Valley High School

• 3rd Place: Maya Smith from Lawrence High School

Yearbook Copy

• 1st Place: Sophia Connolly from Blue Valley Northwest
• 2nd Place: Kylie Hess from Blue Valley Northwest
• 3rd Place: Claire Wicker from Bishop Miege High School

Portrait

• 1st Place: Sydney Endicott from Maize Career Academy

Maize South class of 2022 grad, Axie Sanchez, loves doing make-up. “I strive to enhance everyone’s natural beauty and provide a relaxing and calming experience,” said Sanchez.

• 2nd Place: Melanie Maya from Trinity Catholic High School

As part of her junior high photography II class, Melanie Maya (8) practices portrait photography while babysitting her baby cousin. “I liked how the directional light was drawing attention to her,” Maya said.

• 3rd Place: Rebeca Flores-Luna from Blue Valley West High School

Rainbow Girl. Performing at the Chamber Choir’s Italian Dinner on Jan. 24, senior Faith Krizek sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The choir was raising funds to defray travel costs for the 2024 trip to California. “I’ve always wanted to perform that song,” Krizek said. “Singing it to raise money for next year’s trip made it even more special.”

Feature Writing

• 1st Place: Saraphina Wambi, Sydney Barnett from Blue Valley Northwest
• 2nd Place: Josie Lynn from Bishop Miege High School
• 3rd Place: Nick Sprecker from Lawrence Free State High School

Student Life Photography

• 1st Place: Alex Guajardo from Trinity Catholic High School

Trinity senior Taitlyn Heimerman asks Bishop Carl Kemme for an autograph while marching at the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. Jan. 20. The Diocese of Wichita makes the pilgrimage each year bringing youth from the various Catholic high schools and parishes, and this was Heimerman’s third time traveling to D.C. to participate in the March. “Abby Zipprich really wanted to get her pro-life sign autographed by Bishop Kemme, but she was scared, so I offered to help. After 3 attempts to get a pen to work, we were finally able to get the Bishop’s autograph,” Heimerman said.

• 2nd Place: Laurisa Rooney from Derby High School

A group of freshmen huddle together to take selfies as big snowflakes start to fall during lunch on Jan. 24. It was the first time snow fell this year during a school day. “The snow just makes me happy. When I was around five years old me and my dad built around a six foot tall snowman,” freshman Faith Kick said. The students are (clockwise from left) Faith Kick, Terrian Hallowell, Grace Phelps, Delainey Stephenson and Eden Peck.

• 3rd Place: Maison Flory from Lawrence High School

Dancing a contemporary Fancy Shawl dance, junior Sara Bointy celebrates at the 2022 Native American Heritage Night. “I think it holds really great importance to indigenous people, especially this dance, because it was inspired by the men’s fancy dance,” she says. “The women, we wanted to dance like the men. It’s just as fast and just as hard, we created our own style from it.”

Opinion Writing

• 1st Place: Miranda Elgin from Olathe West High School
• 2nd Place: Jackson Green from Lawrence High School
• 3rd Place: JagWire staff from Mill Valley High School