Logan Aimone, executive director of the NSPA, said this honor is reserved for schools who receive 10 All American Awards in 11 years.
“Suffice to say, it is difficult to achieve in any year, and it’s especially difficult to maintain,” he said. “There’s a handful of publications around the country that are sort of setting the trends and doing the kind of top notch work that really is held up as a model,” he said.
“Spark,” he said, is one of them with its glossy pages and stand-out photography, design, editing, writing, graphics, art and leadership of staff.
“I just think that they do a really fantastic job, and it’s always really neat to see them at the conventions we hold,” Aimone said. “They are a classy group of people.”
Much of the credit, he said, should go to adviser Dean Hume, who has been leading “Spark” since 1993 and started entering this particular contest 10 years ago.
“Students come and go. To have that kind of sustained excellence over time really means there is a lot of support from the school, the parents and community and especially the adviser. He’s certainly a key player in that whole award.”
Hume credited student dedication for it’s success.
“Anybody can be good once in a while, but to have the consistency like that on a regular basis speaks well to the types of kids you are attracting.”
Like a winning football team that does well no matter who is the quarterback, he said students perform year after year.
“They don’t have losing seasons,” he said. “They’re teaching the kids below them. They’re recruiting the underclassmen to come to the program.”
Senior Sarah Wilkinson, design managing editor, said conference participants look to “Spark” for inspiration, and they often replicate designs and content ideas from the publication that is funded completely by advertising and circulation revenue and managed and produced by East students.
Senior Jill Bange, senior managing editor of news and lifestyle said nearly 15 schools nationally request subscriptions.
“I think we stand out, because we have a nice looking publication that kind of draws the audience in, but we still hold on to having compelling stories and research,” she said. “We emphasize strong coverage so much. We’re not going to settle for anything less than that.”
Senior Faiz Siddiqui, senior editor and chief said this award is bigger than one person, and is a celebration of 17 years of excellence.
“We’re all really excited, and we’re grateful to the other staffs for it. It is as much their award as ours.”
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