KSPA
LAWRENCE — The Kansas Scholastic Press Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 KSPA Regional Contests, which awarded the best student journalism from nearly 1,800 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 regional contest, students from 82 different schools competed in 26 different categories in 11 different regionals organized by geography and school size.
From Hays High School, the following students won awards:
First Place
Avery Augustine – Video Sports Promo
Eleanor Bittel – Editorial Cartoon
Jaynie Brooks – Advertising
Khandi Guzman, Emmaline Leuschner, Haley Roth, Katelyn Willemsen – Multimedia Storytelling
Tavia Wynn-Coffman – Headline Writing & Design
Second Place
Caira Augustine, Jaynie Brooks, Maycie Holdeman, Marisa Wasinger – Multimedia Storytelling
Eleanor Bittel & Tavia Wynn-Coffman – Video PSA
Lily Butler & Rylen Harrington – Yearbook Theme & Graphics
Maycie Holdeman – Yearbook Design
Haley Roth – Infographic Design
Clare Tholstrup – Copyediting
Clare Tholstrup – Review Writing
Lizzy Vajnar – Cutline (Caption) Writing
Lizzy Vajnar – Student Life Photography
Third Place
Alijah Arias – Social Media
Alijah Arias & Cason Grezaszak – Video News
Alijah Arias & Khandi Guzman – Yearbook Theme & Graphics
Avery Augustine – Editorial Cartoon
Reagan Bates, Delia Dixon, Kennedi Fischer, Clare Tholstrup – Multimedia Storytelling
Lily Butler – Student Life Photography
Emmaline Leuschner – Yearbook Design
Kale Schwien – Headline Writing & Design
Fourth Place
Caira Augustine – Social Media
Reagan Bates – Copyediting
Eleanor Bittel – Digital Illustration
Jordan Breinig – Infographic Design
Lily Butler – Yearbook Copy Writing
Marisa Wasinger – Advertising
Katelyn Willemsen – Editorial Writing
Fifth Place
Alijah Arias – Digital Illustration
Reagan Bates – Review Writing
Hank Corsair – Sports Writing
Kennedi Fischer – News Page Design
Brayden Staley – News Writing
Marisa Wasinger – Yearbook Sports Writing
Sixth Place
Delia Dixon – News Page Design
Maycie Holdeman – Yearbook Sports Writing
Emmaline Leuschner – Yearbook Copy Writing
Devin Quach – Sports Action Photography
Kale Schwien – Sports Writing
Lizzy Vajnar – Academics Photography
“From writing on a deadline to crafting social media messages, we know students have pushed themselves to create their award-winning work,” KSPA president-elect Barbara Tholen said. “At the State contest in April, they’ll have an opportunity to learn from their Regional experience and produce even stronger work.”
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.
Any student who earns an award in the regional contest advances to the KSPA State Contest. The state contest will also be hosted virtually. Based on results from the state contest, KSPA will determine the Sweepstakes Winners — the top schools in 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A.
About KSPA: The Kansas Scholastic Press Association is an association of more than 100 high school and middle school journalism programs. Its mission is to promote excellence in high school journalism publications and education. Please log on to learn more at www.kspaonline.org.