Kansas Scholastic Press Association
LAWRENCE - The Kansas Scholastic Press Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 KSPA State Contests, which awarded the best student journalism from nearly 1,300 entries gathered from around the state. Students were put to the test as they demonstrated their writing, design, illustration, photography, video and reporting skills.
In the State Contest, students from about 80 schools competed in 26 different categories, organized by school size classification. All qualified by placing in KSPA’s regional contest. More than 400 students earned recognition by placing in the top six in each contest. Results were announced via KSPA’s Instagram (@kspaonline) this week. A list of final results can be found on the KSPA website here.
From Hays High School, the following students won awards:
· First Place Lily Butler – Student Life Photography
· Second Place Eleanor Bittel, Tavia Wynn-Coffman – Video PSA
· Third Place Emmaline Leuschner – Yearbook Copy Writing
· Fifth Place Alijah Arias – Digital Illustration Caira Augustine, Jaynie Brooks, Maycie Holdeman, Marisa Wasinger – Multimedia Storytelling
· Sixth Place Lizzy Vajnar – Student Life Photography
In addition to individual placings, KSPA is proud to announce the sweepstakes winners — the top schools in 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A — based on points earned in each category.
The following schools earned sweepstakes honors in Class 5A:
· 1st Salina Central High School (28 points)
· 2nd Blue Valley Southwest High School (25 points)
· 3rd Hays High School (20 points)
“We know this is just part of the hard work students put in all year as they learn the craft of journalism,” KSPA president-elect Barbara Tholen said. “We love celebrating their work and seeing the creativity this generation of journalists brings to each contest.”
KSPA enlists the help of journalism teachers, professional journalists, university faculty members and other journalism experts to judge the entries. In addition to receiving feedback on their entries, students will also benefit from reviewing compilations of winning work.