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Congratulations to the 2024 March Monthly Contest Winners!

The KSPA March Monthly Contest showcased remarkable talent across various categories, with Bishop Miege High School seizing first place in Academics Photography, while Olathe South High School secured the second spot, and Marysville High School claimed third. Blue Valley Southwest High School excelled in Feature Writing, clinching the top position, closely followed by Lawrence Free State High School in both second and third places. Mill Valley High School demonstrated prowess in multiple areas, taking first place in Infographics, Multimedia Storytelling, News Page Design, News Writing, Opinion Writing, Sports Writing and Yearbook Layout. Additionally, Shawnee Mission East High School stood out in Opinion Writing, Video Production and Yearbook Copy categories, while Olathe South High School and Shawnee Mission Northwest H.S. showcased their skills in Photo Illustration and Sports Photography, respectively. The diversity and quality of submissions underscored the exceptional talent among participating schools in the KSPA contest.

Academics Photography

  • first place: Academics Photography: Maggie McCauley: Bishop Miege High School


Concentrated on the details, junior Clare Hansen builds upon the neck muscles of her model in Human Body Systems. This class is the more advanced course after students tak Biomedical Science, which allows students to take a deeper dive in the anatomy of the human body. “We get a dealtied map of a model that have nerves, muscles and brain nerves, and we put all the muscles on there to make a complete model,” Hansen said.

  • second place: Academics Photography: Audrey Stover: Olathe South High School


Senior Hayden Jensen works with an arc welder at Olathe Advanced Technical Center (OATC). Jensen is instructed to weld two pieces of metal together to practice the trade. “My favorite part of the OATC program is getting to learn new things,” Jensen said. “I’ve wanted to go into welding because I thought it was cool.”

  • third place: Academics Photography: Micaiah Urban: Marysville High School


John Johnson aims at the target during eighth-hour PE class on March 19. His form, three fingers below the nocked arrow, follow Mrs. Smith’s instruction. Johnson said he had previously practiced archery on Trail Life campouts.

Feature Writing

Infographics

Multimedia Storytelling

News Page Design

News Writing

Opinion Writing

Photo Illustration

  • first place: Photo Illustration: Kai Magaña: Olathe South High School


The cover depicts a Muslim woman sitting by a large plant pot with two cuttings of dieffenbachia growing from a glass vase. One cutting is supported by strings tied to a long wooden stake in the dirt as it grows in one direction, while the other curves over the edge and splits into leaves. The cuttings haven’t grown under the same conditions, and they’re growing in different ways, but because of their differences, they are given equal opportunity to thrive in the same vase. This represents how we’ve all grown in different ways and the “stakes” in place at South support creating equity among us.

Portrait Photography

  • first place: Portrait: Kaylin Bergeron: Blue Valley West High School

GET LOUD… While playing against their rivals on February 9, senior Connor Boudreaux of Blue Valley West passionately cheers on the basketball team. The Jaguars put up a good fight against the BV Northwest Huskies, unfortunately falling short with a final score of 79-47. “It was a big game,” said Boudreax. “I was hoping the boys would be able to pull through and push for a win.”

  • second place: Portrait: Grace Fisher: Gardner-Edgerton High School

Astrid Cooper, junior, in front of a Cessna 172 aircraft at New Century Air Service. Cooper received a scholarship to start training to earn her private pilot’s license from the airport she had been working at for more than two years.

  • third place: Portrait: Ava Madden: Trinity Catholic High School

Finishing their encore, Gabe Kirk (12) as Arthur and Michael Glenn (11) as Harry sing about what they like about girls during Trinity’s spring musical, Wonderland High. “I enjoyed really getting into the song. It’s been a lot of fan acting and singing with one of my closest friends for three years. That was probably one of my favorite times singing with Gabe, and I’m glad that that was how we ended our career together,” Glenn said.

Sports Photography

  • first place: Sports Photography: Ashley Broils: Shawnee Mission Northwest H.S.


Josia Taylor yells to junior Van Collins after the Boys Basketball team wins the state championship Mar. 9 in Charles Koch Arena. The SMNW Cougars won against the Wichita Heights Falcons 47-39. “I was so overcome with emotions and excited for the team,” Taylor said.

  • second place: Sports Photography: Kara Simpson: Shawnee Mission Northwest H.S.


Celebrating their 6A State Championship win, the Cougars pile on top of each other Mar. 9 at the Charles Koch Arena. The Cougars won the Boy’s Basketball 5A/6A Kansas State Championship title against Wichita Heights High School. “This win is everything,” junior Aiven Riley said. “I’ve been thinking about [winning state] since last year.”

  • third place: Sports Photography: Ellie Moilanen: Shawnee Mission East High School


During the first game of the season senior Teddy Saylor goes up for a layup. “I was thinking it [the ball] was going to go in, but ended up getting fouled,” Saylor said. Lancers won the game.

Sports Writing

Student Life Photography

  • first place: Student Life Photography: Anders Benson: Lawrence Free State High School


Out of nowhere, senior Sophie Racy is unveiled among a triangle of men in suits while performing “I Will Survive/Survivor” at the choir program’s “Encore” on March 20, 2024. Racy participated in 12 acts of the show and enjoyed being a part of the performance. “The most challenging part is certainly balancing time and also finding time to myself outside of Encore, just because each number has so many rehearsals,” Racy said, “but it all pays off at the end.”

  • second place: Student Life Photography: Brecken Dowsey: Trinity Catholic High School


Helping at the Sand Hills Saddle Club on Mar. 20, Key Club members Angelina Batista (11) and Asa Kirk (9) feed a hungry horse. As Batista struggles to contain her disgust at the horse, Kirk laughs at her trial.

  • third place: Student Life Photography: Samantha Atkins: Shawnee Mission East High School


Waving his rally towel, senior Sam Burns cheers on the JV starting lineup before the highly anticipated Rockhurst basketball game. The theme of the game was white out because of the saying “paper beats rock.””I forgot my white shirt actually, so John [Mendy] gave me his sweatshirt,” Burns said. JV defeated Rockhurst 56 to 48.

Video News

Video Production

Yearbook Copy

Yearbook Layout

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