On Tuesday, The Howler staff attended Oklahoma Scholastic Media’s (OSM) 110th Annual Spring Media Day at the University of Oklahoma. The day was filled with awards, workshops and more. 

OSM brings together student journalists from all over Oklahoma to compete in different categories, including previously published work and on-the-spot contests. This year, our staff showed up and delivered.

In the previously published categories, several students placed for their work. Tristan Haley earned third place in Opinion Column, and Caiden Newlin got an honorable mention for Opinion Column – Music. Valentina Gomez placed third in News Reporting – Student Life and also earned an honorable mention in Feature Writing – Profile. Ellery Tran placed third in Feature Writing – Culture and received an honorable mention for Comic.

In sports and blogging, Newlin placed second in Sports Reporting and also earned an honorable mention for Blog Entry. Emmie Vasquez received an honorable mention for Blog Entry as well.

The On-Deadline competitions, where students have to create pieces in a short amount of time, were just as successful. Haley placed first in Feature – Personality Profile and 2nd in Sports Column. Tristain Moran earned 2nd place in Feature – Other Than Personality and an honorable mention in Feature – Personality Profile.

For On-Deadline blog writing, Newlin placed second, and Vasquez earned another honorable mention. Marley Lenoir took first place in Opinion Column – Film and TV.

To top it all off, Haley was named Editor-of-the-Year, one of the biggest awards of the event.

Outside of awards, The Howler staff had the opportunity to visit various workshops from OU professors and other individuals involved in journalism. These workshops covered a multitude of topics ranging from editorials and opinion columns to how E-Sports can pair well with journalism.

Overall, the Howler’s trip was a huge success and showcases how much work our school’s journalism program has put in throughout the school year.