‘The Youngtown Edition’ Takes Home Seven Overall at NJCPA Ceremony – Posted 4/13/15
“The Youngtown Edition,” the student newspaper at County College of Morris (CCM), continues its run of success on the state level.
The publication once again garnered several top-level honors from the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association (NJCPA), this year winning first place awards in news writing, sports writing and overall website in the 2014-15 College Newspaper Contest. A luncheon recognizing award winners, presented by the New Jersey Press Foundation, took place on Saturday, April 11.
“’The Youngtown Edition’ is a tremendous source of pride for the CCM community,” said Russ Crespolini, adjunct professor at CCM and the paper’s faculty advisor. “‘The Youngtown’ is put together, stem to stern, by student volunteers who are dedicated to honing their writing skills and producing high-quality work. To see their hard work pay off in a near-sweep of the news writing category is particularly gratifying. Their unflinching approach to tough issues like the CCM budget makes them a credit to the school. These awards are well-deserved and it is gratifying to see their efforts honored.”
Editor-in-Chief Chelsea Lauren Cattano, of Denville, was honored with first place for her news story “CCM faces $4M budget crisis.” Cattano also took top prize for overall website and third prize for feature writing for her “County College of Morris director wins award” profile. Senior Managing Editor Tayah Grace Swedlund, of Randolph, picked up a second-place prize for news writing for her story “Students seek grading system parity.” Swedlund also picked up a pair of third-place nods for her sports piece “1,000 points: No hassle for Ryan Harris” and her entertainment feature “‘Jekyll and Hyde’ cast transforms expectations.” Staff writer Stephanie Brady, of Long Valley, rounded out the victories with a first-place win in sports writing for her story “Gender equality extends to lacrosse at CCM.”
For her part, Cattano took home several awards from the luncheon, but was most pleased with the first place win in the news writing category.
“It was the biggest story I have ever written and I was able to interview the president of the college which was a heavy responsibility,” Cattano said. “It took more on my part to make sure I had all the facts and they were assembled in a responsible way, and I am proud that my efforts were recognized.”
Brady’s piece on women joining the traditionally male lacrosse team came to the writer through a friend.
“My friend Sarah Majerscack was one of the women who joined the squad,” Brady said. “I was really proud of the article because gender equality is something that is important. Not just to me, but it is an important issue.”
The competition includes two-year colleges throughout the state. The newspaper won six awards in last year’s competition, and seven the year before that.
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Photo 1: From left, “The Youngtown Edition” adviser Russ Crespolini, Editor-in-Chief Chelsea Cattano, Managing Editor Derek Allen and Staff Writer Stephanie Brady celebrate the newspaper’s seven wins at the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association Awards on Saturday, April 11.
Photo 2: Editor-in-Chief Chelsea Cattano and Staff Writer Stephanie Brady display their first place prizes at the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association Awards.
