Hen Hud School Newspaper Honored by National Press Association
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Hendrick Hudson High School’s school newspaper has been nationally recognized.
The Anchor, which published online throughout the school years and also published four print editions, was honored as “First Class with One Mark of Distinction,” by the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA).
NSPA is an organization that provides education, training and recognition programs for members while promoting the standards and ethics of good journalism.
“I think it confirmed for a lot of students what we thought about ourselves,” said Matthew Codner, an English teacher at the high school and advisor of The Anchor. “We as an organization had a good feeling. We were proud of our work. But getting an official organization telling us we’re doing a great job helped confirm that we had real pride in the product we created.”
More than 20 students contributed as writers throughout the school year. Codner credited the effort of his student journalists. Codner said Senior Quinn Muller, who was in charge of the layout and is a summer intern with Examiner Media, was “obsessed with small details,” and Muller’s fellow Editor-in-Chief Hayden Bouza, who was also a senior, provided strong leadership. He said Anchor veterans Kacie Burns and Francisco Aguirre-Ghiso, who were both juniors, proved they knew how to report stories.
“I wanted to put the right people in the right places, give them a goal and see what they can do,” Codner said. “And across the board, the students really blew me away in terms of what they were capable of.”
The NSPA’s critique praised the progress made by The Anchor from the fall to the spring, writing, “First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you for making such great strides over the course of the year. … I truly believe if you continue taking the positive strides you’ve shown from your fall publication to your spring publication into 2023-24, you’re going to find that you will soar.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
