Writing Prompts will be available at 6 a.m. on Monday, April 15.
WHAT ARE THE STATE CONTESTS?
VISUAL CATEGORIES
Seventeen categories allow students to work on creating photographs, videos, multimedia, illustrations and designs in advance of the February submission deadline. Using a prompt provided below by KSPA, the students create their journalism and then submit it online. Comments from judges are returned to advisers via email after the contest results are final.
WRITING CONTESTS
Nine additional contests of writing include categories like feature writing, copyediting and cutline writing. Using notes or prompts provided by KSPA in February, students have a couple of days to craft stories, editorials and cutlines that are judged by local professionals. Students receive feedback through rubrics and notes on their writing.
DEADLINES
Please note that the number of days between the writing prompts opening and the writing entry deadline. We are providing one extra day because Easter Sunday is the first day that prompts are available.
Release of Visual Contest prompts: March 8, 2024
Deadline for contest registration: April 10, 2024
Submissions of Visual category entries begin: April 1, 2024
Writing prompts available: 6 a.m. on April 15, 2024
Writing entries due: 11 p.m. on April 18, 2024
Visual entries due: 11 p.m. on April 18, 2024
Results of Regional Contest posted: at KSPA State Celebration at the University of Kansas on May 4, 2024
RECENT CHANGES
ONE DEADLINE
All entries, whether Writing or Visual, will be due at the same time on the same day. In the past, these dates have been separate. Please note the deadline (posted above) on your calendars. And please remind students of the deadline.
ONE UNIFIED SUBMISSION LOCATION
All entries — for Visual and Writing categories — will be submitted to the same submission platform.
BOTH VISUAL AND WRITING DIVISIONS will use BNC (Better Newspaper Contests) for contest submission. When that system is open for submission, we will email all participating schools with login details. This is the same contest software that we have used for years at KSPA for Regionals and State digital submissions.
THE CHANGE? All contest entries, including Writing categories, will use BNC for the 2024 State Contest.
NO ADDITIONAL “WILD CARD” ENTRIES
The Regional Contest allowed for “Wild Card” entries again this year. All “Wild Card” entries that placed at Regionals have advanced to State. However, for the State Contest, there will be no additional “Wild Card” entries. All entries for the State Contest must have qualified through the Regional Contest.
A STATE CELEBRATION!
KSPA is excited to host a State Celebration at the University of Kansas on May 4, 2023 at the Kansas Union. Stay tuned for more details on the event. But block your calendar now for a day of celebrating State Contest winners, a chance for advisers to gather and a chance to learn from some featured speakers.
At this event, KSPA will also be celebrating its 50th anniversary with an luncheon for advisers, former advisers and friends of KSPA. We hope that you can join us!
VISUAL CATEGORIES
Contest V01
Academics Photography
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V02
Advertising Design
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V03
Digital Illustration
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V04
Editorial Cartoon
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V05
Headline Writing & Design
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V06
Infographic Design
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V07
Multimedia Storytelling
Who:
- individual competitors or in a group of up to four
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V08
News Page Design
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V09
Social Media
Who:
- individual competitors, in a group of up to four or as an entire staff
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V10
Sports Action Photography
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V11
Sports Feature Photography
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V12
Student Life Photography
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V13
Video News
Who:
- individual competitors or in a group of up to four
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V14
Video PSA
Who:
- individual competitors or in a group of up to four
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V15
Video Sports Promo
Who:
- individual competitors or in a group of up to four
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V16
Yearbook Design
Who:
- individual competitors
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
Contest V17
Yearbook Theme & Graphics
Who:
- individual competitors or in a group of two
- two entries per school (or three, with a “Wild Card” entry)
WRITING CATEGORIES
COMMON CONTEST QUESTIONS
Policy on contests entries from school districts with academies
Some Kansas school districts allow students to enroll at their high school and a school district academy, often to learn specialized skills. In those circumstances, for the purposes of state and regional contests KSPA will require:
- Each institution that submits entries must have a KSPA member adviser as a teacher at the school. It is not sufficient to have a membership for only the high school but not the academy – or vice versa.
- If a student participates in a publication, club or curricular class at one institution, the student should enter KSPA contests as a student at that same institution. (For instance, if Pat is editor of the high school yearbook, Pat should enter the contest on behalf of the high school – not the academy.)
- If a student participates in a publication(s), club(s) or curricular class(es) at both institutions, that student may choose which institution to compete for. (For instance, if Sam is a newspaper photographer at the high school, but runs social media at the academy, Sam can choose to submit entries for either the high school or the academy.)
- The KSHSAA classification of the school district academy will be determined by the combined enrollment of all high schools that send students to the academy.
Number of awards
KSPA will urge judges in all contests and classifications to award 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place.
However, some judges will decide to award fewer than six places. In the past, some judges have cited these reasons for not awarding all six places:
- a small number of entries in a specific category and division
- entries that did not follow instructions
- lack of quality from entries
This circumstance — with fewer than six award winners — is more common in Regional Contests than the State Contest. Advisers should be aware that it is possible and that we will follow up with judges to request they submit six award winners unless one of bullet points above applies to the category they are judging.
Authentic Coverage
Regarding all photography, video and multimedia contests: you are permitted to mention the name of your school in your coverage. For instance, when writing captions for images or completing the multimedia coverage, there is no need to change the name of the school or people to make the entry anonymous. Jerseys, t-shirts and signs in footage and photos often make it obvious to the judge what school is entering the contest. Students: please write the coverage and captions as you would for your publication. Also, students and advisers should know that captions are part of the judging criteria.
State Contest contact information
click on arrow for more infoQuestions about the contest?
Please mail checks to:
- KSPA, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Dole Human Development Center 2067, Lawrence KS 66045
And you can reach executive director Eric Thomas and administrative assistant Haylee Hedge by phone at (785) 864-0605 or via email at staff@kspaonline.org.
Getting organized
click on arrow for more infoThis sheet is not a required step in the registration process, but should help advisers in gathering — whether on paper or digitally — the information needed to organize for the KSPA Regional Contest. Advisers do not need to communicate the names and email addresses of their students upon registration. Students will provide their names upon submission of their entry. Gathering email addresses will be helpful if advisers want to add students as authorized entrants to the digital submission contest system at BetterBNC.com.
Writing Categories
click on arrow for more infoNine writing Categories will be offered.
Submission of Writing category entries will occur through BNC. This is a change from previous State and Regional Contests. The system will allow for secure submissions, quick judging and high-quality feedback. This document provides in-depth instructions, including video tutorials.
- Category W1: Copyediting
- Category W2: Sports Writing
- Category W3: Yearbook Copy
- Category W4: Feature Writing
- Category W5: News Writing
- Category W6: Cutline Writing
- Category W7: Editorial Writing
- Category W8: Yearbook Sports Writing
- Category W9: Review Writing
Visual Categories
click on arrow for more infoSeventeen Visual categories will be offered.
- Category V01: Academics Photography
- Category V02: Advertising Design
- Category V03: Digital Illustration
- Category V04: Editorial Cartoon
- Category V05: Headline Writing & Design
- Category V06: Infographic Design
- Category V07: Multimedia Storytelling
- Category V08: News Page Design
- Category V09: Social Media (only one entry per school; can be a team of up to four, or an entire staff)
- Category V10: Sports Action Photography
- Category V11: Sports Feature Photography
- Category V12: Student Life Photography
- Category V13: Video News (can be a team of up to four)
- Category V14: Video PSA (can be a team of up to four)
- Category V15: Video Sports Promo (can be a team of up to four)
- Category V16: Yearbook Design
- Category V17: Yearbook Theme & Graphics (can be team of up to two)
Entries to Visual Categories are submitted using BetterBNC Media Awards Platform. The system will allow for secure submissions, quick judging and high-quality feedback. This document provides in-depth instructions, including video tutorials.
Judging Criteria
click on arrow for more infoStudents can reference the rubrics to see the qualities that judges usually seek. Here are rubrics and some comments that judges often make. (Please note that some rubrics are still being developed for newly added categories.)
Entry limit
click on arrow for more infoA particular student may only participate in five total categories, whether individually or as a team.
Each Regional Contest award winner (first through sixth place) is eligible to participate in the State Contest.
Fees & Costs
click on arrow for more info
- Payment may be made online by credit card at the time of registration.
- For payment by check, please make checks payable to “KSPA” and send the check to KSPA, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Dole Human Development Center 2067, Lawrence KS 66045.
No partial refunds can be issued for unused registrations.
Past Regional & State Prompts
click on arrow for more infoWant a preview of what the Writing Category prompts will be like? Want a classroom activity for your students? Need an emergency lesson plan?
KSPA has a page of prompts from previous state and regional contests for you. We will continue to add to the collection as we search through our archives.
ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: please notice that some of the rules and formats for the contests have changed (most recently for the News Page Design Contest). Be sure to read all directions for this year’s contest for guidance.
Simply Better
click on arrow for more infoCheck out our “Simply Better” page, a showcase of the award-winning entries from previous Regional and State competitions. These examples can be used as classroom examples for students who will compete in State.
Thanks for participating in the 2024 KSPA State Contest!
Sincerely,
Your KSPA Staff!