Shield wins Scroggins Award for third straight year

Print newspaper defends title as Best in the South; Mac journalists earn 73 SIPA individual visual, writing awards

Shield staff reports
March 14, 2023

The good news coming out of Columbia, S.C., on Sunday March 5  was that the Shield had earned a 2023 Scroggins Award for its print newspaper. The announcement came as part of the awards ceremony that brought a close to the 2023 Southern Interscholastic Press Association annual convention.

SIPA, a press association whose members span 15 Southern states and the District of Columbia, bestows the Scroggins Award upon the single best high school publication in the association in five categories: broadcast, literary magazine, online newspaper, print newspaper and yearbook.

It’s the third year that SIPA has selected the Shield as a Scroggins Award winner. The Shield earned a Scroggins Award for its print newspaper in 2022 and for its online newspaper in 2021.

At the same awards ceremony, SIPA also announced the results of its two individual entry contests: the Best Visual Contest and the Best Writing Contest.

In those contests, McCallum journalists earned a total of 73 awards, including 23 first-place awards.

We are pleased to share the results below as a slightly self-celebratory Tuesday Top 10 this week.

2023 Scroggins Award: Best of South

Newsprint – The Shield

2023 SIPA’s Best Visual Contest

Art, graphics and illustration categories

Editorial cartoon

As the time between mass school shootings have passed and as the shootings become more and more part of our everyday reality, we have become desensitized to the fact that 20 children under the age of 8 were gunned down and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut almost 10 years ago. How have we not done more? (Evie Barnard)
  • First Place: Evie Barnard

Infographic

The Western zodiac with common traits associated with each star sign. While many assume that astrology restricts people to arbitrary stereotypes based on birthday, zodiac signs, star charts and horoscopes can help fans develop an identity that feels personal to them and understand their personalities in a more in-depth way. Traits and sign information from the New York Post. (Sophie Leung-Lieu )
  • Second Place: Sophie Leung-Lieu

Art portfolio (up to four examples from one individual)

01-Cover-EICS
01-Cover-EICS
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  • Second Place: Evie Barnard

Newsmagazine categories

Alternative Storytelling

  • Third Place: Sophie Leung-Lieu

Cover

  • Second Place: Evie Barnard

Entertainment package

  • Third Place: Sophie Leung-Lieu

Feature package

  • First Place: Sophie Leung-Lieu, Alice Scott & Naomi Di-Capua

In-depth cover story package

  • Second Place: Evie Barnard & Amaya Collier

News package

  • First Place: Evie Barnard

  • Second Place: Sophie Leung-Lieu

Op-ed package

  • First Place: Sophie Leung-Lieu

  • Second Place: Sophie Leung-Lieu

  • Third Place: JoJo Barnard

Sports package

  • Third Place: Charlie Partheymuller

Table of contents

  • Second Place: Evie Barnard & Alice Scott

Newsmagazine portfolio (up to four pieces from one individual)

NMP1_4_McCallumHS_DW
NMP1_4_McCallumHS_DW
« ‹ of 4 › »
  • Second Place: Sophie Leung-Lieu

Online categories

Computer Graphics

The Shield tracks down the best pumpkin spice latte in Austin, Texas. (Ingrid Smith)
Astrology may boil down to generalizations, but the guide of the night sky provides truths to the fans who look for it. (Josie Bradsby)

News package

Opinion Package

Photo Gallery

Photo Story

Podcast

Online portfolio

Photography categories

Creative Group Shot

KNIGHTS RUN TABLE TO WIN FIRST TITLE IN 17 YEARS: After cruising to a 52-20 victory over Ann Richards on Tuesday, the girls varsity basketball team not only captured its first district championship in 17 years but became the first girls basketball team in school history to complete an undefeated district season. The team’s record is 27-7 overall, 16-0 in District 24-5A. Head coach Carly Kehn said the team’s shared drive enabled its success.“I think their willingness to improve and take instruction throughout the year has been a huge thing for us,” Kehn said. “I think that that desire leads to them working for it, and that’s what led us here to becoming district champs on top of building up some mental toughness in close games.” Photo by Francie Wilhelm.
  • Second Place: Francie Wilhelm
Just before their 52-20 victory over Ann Richards on Tuesday, the girls fling their warm-ups skyward in a pregame ritual they perform every home game to hype themselves up before the opening tip. With the win Tuesday night, the team not only captured its first district championship in 17 years but became the first girls basketball team in school history to complete an undefeated district season. The team’s record is 27-7 overall, 16-0 in District 24-5A. Head coach Carly Kehn said the team’s shared drive enabled its success. “I think their willingness to improve and take instruction throughout the year has been a huge thing for us,” Kehn said. “I think that that desire leads to them working for it, and that’s what led us here to becoming district champs on top of building up some mental toughness in close games.” Photo by Lillian Gray.
  • Third Place: Lillian Gray

First-year student

In a battle between two middle hitters, McCallum’s Vaughn Vandegrift blocks a spike attempt to LASA’s Richa Kalari during the Knights sweep of the LASA Raptors on Tuesday in the large gym. While the set score was decisive, the score of each set was much closer with the Knights prevailing, 25-19, 25-15, 25-17. Senior Vaughn Vandegrift said the team was satisfied with the victory but still recognized room for improvement. “I think that we could have been more consistent on serve receive,” Vandegrift said. “We’ve [have] certainly played better [than we did on Tuesday], but we were able to come together for the win. This was a great step toward sweeping district.” With a rematch with rival Ann Richards on the horizon to close district play, the Knights know they need to stay on their toes if they want to keep a perfect record and sole possession of first place. “It feels good for sure,” Vaughn said, “but nothing is guaranteed. We will have to keep working hard.” The varsity Knights play Eastside at Eastside tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Photo by Julia Copas.
  • Second Place: Julia Copas

Illustration

  • Second Place: Evie Barnard

News

On Friday Dec. 16, advanced and AP biology teacher Gabriel Adame was honored as the 2023 Teacher of the Year. He was honored by principal Nicole Griffith and the assistant principals, as well as his fifth period students who were present for the surprise announcement. Photo by Gaby Esquivel.
  • Second Place: Gaby Esquivel

Sports

Senior Eli Benitez kicks the ball up into the air to maintain possession after an aggressive challenge from a Crockett High School on Feb. 25 at House Park. In the first half, Dash Levy scored on a penalty kick after drawing a foul in the box. Returning to the pitch after being sidelined several games with an injury, senior Eli Betton added a second-half insurance goal. Betton, in his first game back from an injury, said the team’s defense made the district win possible: “We defended better than we have earlier this season, which is key because we’ve conceded a lot of goals this season.” Photo by Camilla Vandegrift.
  • Second Place: Camilla Vandegrift

Sports reaction

Mark Sanchez is among the super sophs helping lead the Knights’ surge to second place in the district standings. Sanchez was key in helping the Knights respond to a disappointing loss to LBJ with dominant takedowns of Northeast and LASA. “Us Sophomores have been given the opportunity to play and we’ve all just capitalized,” said Sanchez who had his first varsity interception on defense and his first rushing touchdown on offense in the win against the Raptors. Photo by Charlie Partheymuller.
  • Third Place: Charlie Partheymuller

Social Media

Breaking News

Promotion

Sports Coverage

Portfolio

2023 SIPA’s Best Writing Contest

Audio Visual

Podcast script

Captions

Sports Captions

 

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Caption Portfolio

Newsprint

Editorial Column

Staff Editorial

Feature Story

Headline

Investigative Story

News Feature

News Story

Personality Profile

Sports Column

Sports Feature

Sports Story

Newsprint Portfolio

Online

Alternative Storytelling

Blog

Investigative Story

Personality Feature

Sports column

Sports feature

Online Portfolio

Yearbook

Academic Copy

Community Copy

Groups Copy

Sports Copy

More award-winning MacJournalism
EXCEDRIN HEADLOCK: McCallum may have lost decisively to Anderson in its opening wrestling match of the season, but there were some highlights to build on. Winning his match by pin, senior Corgan Berger said he was able to overcome his emotions and enjoy success. “I fought and I never gave up,” Berger said. “I went into the match, and I was terrified, but its not about being afraid: its about what you do when you are afraid.” Although Berger walked away with a win, he felt that he could have left more on the mat. “I think I couldve done a little bit better.” Berger said. ”I mean, some might say if you look at the scoreboard it was 11-4 some might say I was ‘killing it,’ but personally I think that there were a few things that I couldve done better.” Photo by Lillian Gray.
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