“If you would have told me on August 24, 2022, the very first day of Online Publications, that only one year later we would have an award-winning group of student journalists, I’m not sure I would have believed it,” says Yearbook and Wahawk Insider Adviser Nicole Goodman after West High walked away with 13 yearbook awards and one News Team of the Year banner.
On Thursday Oct. 19, nearly 20 West High students traveled to Iowa City for the Iowa High School Press Association conference hosted by the University of Iowa.
After a day filled with sessions ranging from how to run social media accounts to how to generate better news stories, all of the students came together for the annual award ceremony at the end of the conference.
During the award ceremony, the first award announced each year is the All Iowa News Team of the Year. With this award, five schools are titled as the best student news teams in the state where, for the first time ever, Waterloo West High was announced.
After being named news team finalist on May 8, the staff on Wahawk Insider thought it couldn’t get any better than this. “I was ecstatic for our group of dedicated students to see that their hard work did not go unnoticed. The Wahawk Insider group was truly on cloud nine,” shares Goodman.
Going into the conference, the Wahawk Insider staff was hoping to be announced as a News Team of the Year, but were aware of the odds being stacked against them. “Before we walked into the award ceremony, we had a group conversation where I told them all how proud I was of them. I remember telling them, no matter what happens, each and every one of you should be so proud of what you do and the way that you represent Waterloo,” Goodman says.
As Natalie Niemeyer, IHSPA officer and adviser at Des Moines East, started to list off the schools winning All Iowa News Team of the Year, the members of Wahawk Insider started to hold hands in anticipation. Niemeyer started to read off the winning schools in alphabetical order: Iowa City High School, Iowa City West High School, Pleasant Valley High School. “Then, when Waterloo West was named and listed on the screen, there was almost a moment of shock before our students jumped up in pure joy,” Goodman says. As the students held their breath waiting for thier school to be called, actually being announced was a surreal moment.
Senior Tyler Hall, a second year staff member reflects on the emotions he felt as Wahawk Insider was announced, “I always hoped we could do it but during the awards ceremony, I started having my doubts. Watching the first three schools being named, I feared that we missed out.” Hall was the first member of staff to be awarded for his work after his article Accommodations for All: FM Systems and Subtitles was recognized as a Best of SNO article.
Hall was among four returning Insider staff members to attend the conference. “In only our first year and with a staff barely larger than ten, we secured a spot as a news team of the year while competing with schools two to three times our size.”
Even as nearly half of the current Wahawk Insider staff are first year reporters, Hall shares that this award means something to them all, “I feel like this accomplishment has raised the morale of everyone. Knowing that Insider is a News Team of the Year is empowering and I feel like the other members now know that they have to also work hard to secure the next one.”
At this time last year, Wahawk Insider barely had a name and website developed. “We simply had a group of students in the room who had an interest in making a difference for the West High community,” Goodman says.
Walking away holding a News Team of the Year banner lifted the spirit of everyone from Waterloo, both West High and East High students were proud to say that Waterloo was finally bringing home this honor. “To think that just in a matter of one school year, our student journalists were able to create an award-winning publication is beyond my expectations. I always knew that they had so much talent and were able to do amazing things, but I hope by winning All Iowa News Team of the Year, they can see it too,” Goodman says.
Congratulations to the Wahawk Insider staff, both past and present, on their hard work finally paying off.
