The Image Newsmagazine tied for first place for the National Scholastic Press Association’s (NSPA) 2020 Best of Show award in the newsmagazine category.

“Receiving this award is a big deal for us,” editor-in-chief Delaney Stulce said. “Although we work hard whether awards are involved or not, this is a great incentive to keep doing what we are doing and work even harder.”

The annual award was presented digitally from Minneapolis on April 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Image and the Scout, a newsmagazine from Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana, were both awarded first place. It is the first time the Image has won the award, adviser Nancy Smith said.

“As soon as I got the news that the staff had won Best of Show, I immediately went back to the NSPA stream to make sure I had heard it correctly,” Smith said. 

Since the NSPA’s spring convention was canceled due to COVID-19, the group decided to allow any member school to enter the competition, rather than just those who attended the convention, Smith said. The rule change led to about twice as many publications being eligible for awards, making winning the competition more difficult, Smith said.

“Winning this year was absolutely amazing and definitely a very special recognition for this unbelievably hard-working group of students,” Smith said. “I’m just also so sad that we were not there in person to get the trophy and then bring it back to LHS to celebrate together as a staff, but as soon as we can, there will definitely be cake involved.”

Though the coronavirus pandemic caused Missouri Governor Mike Parson to cancel physical schooling across the state, the Image was still able to digitally publish its fifth issue of the year, and staff members have still been publishing content on their website the Lancer Feed.

“Deadlines can be extremely stressful, and the deadline for Issue 5 was no exception,” editor-in-chief Kayla Carpenter said. “We worked until the very last day before Spring Break editing, adding to and altering pages and stories, and we even had to work over Spring Break to perfect the magazine. Despite the stress, we were able to produce a high-quality, award-winning magazine, which is only slightly indicative of how much this staff is capable of.”

For the newsmagazine’s seniors like Carpenter who will not return to Lafayette, the award represents the conclusion to years of dedication.

“While it definitely stinks that I can’t celebrate this award with the staff in person, in a way, it provides some much-needed closure on all of the seniors’ high school careers,” Carpenter said. “We had no idea our last time in Room 137A would actually be our last in time there as an entire staff, so this award gives us an amazing and positive last memory to celebrate.”

Carpenter said she will remember her time on the Image fondly.

“I love everyone on this staff, and they will always have a special place in my heart,” Carpenter said.