Texans Earn Top Awards at National Convention

By Jeanne Acton | Tuesday, December 02, 2008 9:56 AM

Texas has a few things to celebrate after the JEA/NSPA fall convention in St. Louis last month.

Former ILPC director and journalism adviser Randy Vonderheid was awarded JEA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given to retirees for lifetime dedication to journalism education.

Two Texas newspapers and one broadcast program earned Pacemakers — The Stampede of Burges High School in El Paso and The Liberator of Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin. MHS-1 from McKinney High School won a Pacemaker in broadcast division.

Texas publications and broadcasts also did well in the Best of Show contests on site in St. Louis. The Lion yearbook from McKinney High School won first place Best of Show in the 275-324 category. El Paisano yearbook from Westlake High School in Austin took fifth place Best of Show  in the 325+ category, and The Stetson from the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) in Austin won sixth place Best of Show in the 1-224 category.

LASA and Westlake also took home newspaper Best of Show awards. The Liberator won fourth place in the 13-16 page category, and the Featherduster from Westlake won third place in the newsmagazine category. The Featherduster Online won sixth place Best of Show for the publication Web site category.

In broadcast program Best of Show, MHS-1 from McKinney High School took second place.