Community College Paper Brings Home Awards

Provided by Bucks County Community College:

Four dozen awards now grace the walls of the newsroom at the Centurion, Bucks County Community College’s student newspaper, after the staff took home another 12 Student Keystone Press Awards this year from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation.

This year’s accolades include six first-place finishes, the most top awards in one year for the newspaper, according to Professor Tony Rogers, faculty advisor. The Centurion had won a dozen Keystone Press Awards in 2012, 11 in 2011, and 13 in 2010 in the two-year college division of the statewide contest.

“These awards are a testament to the tireless work and dedication of the Centurion staff members,” said Rogers, who is the coordinator of the journalism program at Bucks. “They work long hours at the paper despite the fact that most of them have outside jobs and a full load of course credits. They have a real passion for producing the best paper possible. It’s a competitive drive that will serve them well when they work in the professional world.”

The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation says its Student Keystone Press Awards contest recognizes high school and college journalism that provides relevance, integrity, and initiative in serving readers. The winners were honored at an awards luncheon during the America East Technology and Operations conference in Hershey April 10.

First-place finishes were scored in the categories of general news, public service/enterprise package, personality profile, sports story, cartoon/graphic illustration, and website. The Centurion also won second place in public service/enterprise package, second place and honorable mention for feature story, and second place in sports story, review, and feature photo.

To learn more about the Centurion newspaper, visit www.bucks-news.com.  For more about the two-year associate degree journalism program at Bucks, visit bucks.edu/journalism, e-mail journalism@bucks.edu, or call Professor Rogers at 215-968-8165.

The following awards were won by Bucks County Community College’s Centurion student newspaper in the 2013 Student Keystone Press Awards Contest, two-year college division, presented by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation.

General News 

First place: stories on new college president – Greg Probst, Anthony DiMattia, Craig Miller.

Public Service/Enterprise Package

First place: “Tech troubles” – Diane Davies-Dixon and the Centurion staff.

Second place: Stephanie Shanblatt stories – Craig Miller, Anthony DiMattia, Greg Probst. 

Feature Story

Second place: “Obstacles lie ahead for Shanblatt” – Anthony DiMattia

Honorable mention: “Middle class hit hard by rough economy” – Anthony DiMattia

Personality Profile

First place: “Mario Berrios is an up-and-coming coach in Philadelphia” – Stephen Godwin, Jr.

Sports Story

First place: “Tri-captains hoping for trifecta” – Seth Canata

Second place: “Centurions shake off rust against Luzerne” – Stephen Godwin, Jr.

Review

Second place – “New James Bond movie explodes into theaters” – Seth Canata

Cartoon/Graphic Illustration

First place – Cartoons by Dallas Luce

Feature Photo

Second place – “A hometown left devastated” – Craig Miller

Website

First Place – the Centurion website – Centurion staff