On April 23, The Roar attended the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) spring awards at the Lansing Center.
The MIPA contest received over 4,000 entries but only 300 articles were rewarded. The award ceremony took up the better part of the morning and The Roar took away three honorable mentions.
Co-editors Mary Holohan and Morgan King received one in the editorial category for their article, “Editorial: How long should one’s actions follow them?”
Holohan also received another in the personal narrative category with her article “Screen-free week.”
“They were articles that I was passionate about and they had a message I wanted to share,” Holohan said.
Staff member Kaytlyn Gannon was awarded for her article “Dressember” in the human interest category.
“The topic was powerful and the fact that I had four girls featured in it showed different sides of the story,” Gannon said.
In addition to the individual awards, The Roar was also evaluated by an independent judge based on five categories: coverage and content, design and navigation, rich media, and site effectiveness.
The staff celebrated the things they did well such as “Being personal and friendly” and having “A wide range of topics.” They also took suggestions into consideration to help further better the publication. They received a Silver rating with a score of 725/1000.
“You all are creating some wonderful pieces of journalism for your school and should be proud of the work you’re doing,” judge Ben Reed said. “I think there is a bright future for The Roar.”
