On Friday, February 14, the West High Newspaper and Yearbook staff members met with representatives from the Journalism Education Association. They conducted a mock press conference featuring Waterloo Schools Superintendent Dr. Jared Smith, who discussed the merger of the Waterloo High Schools.
After the press conference, there was a surprise announcement that Kaylynn Crawford, the Wahawk Insider’s Editor in Chief, had just been named the 2025 Iowa Journalist of the Year.
After spending a few months creating an online portfolio, Crawford submitted it for judging to the Iowa High School Press Association. The portfolio included a resume, personal narrative, and school transcripts. On top of the documentation, Crawford had to create a portfolio demonstrating her abilities in the following categories: leadership and team building; reporting and writing; law, ethics and news literacy; design; editing; photojournalism; web and social media; commitment to diversity; and marketing and audience engagement.
“It means a lot to me, because I had a lot of people telling me that I couldn’t do it. So being able to show others that my work isn’t going unnoticed is really nice,” says Crawford.
The Iowa Journalist of the Year award is a $500 scholarship awarded to one senior journalist for excellence and all around success as a journalist. Crawford is the second consecutive journalists from Waterloo West to be selected for the award, with Ali Parkhurst being selected in 2024. The Wahawk Insider program was also selected as an All Iowa News Team for the second year in a row.
“Over the past 3 years we have had this dream , or the idea of bringing back the school newspaper” said Nicole Goodman, West High Journalism adviser. “At first, we only had about 10 students in class with the passion and drive to try something new.”
When asked about Crawford’s growth in the program Goodman responded saying “When Kaylynn came to Wahawk Insider last year, she was full of enthusiasm but lacked experience. Now, with time to improve and grow, Kaylynn and the rest of the Wahawk Insider staff have proved that they are a force to be reckoned with.”
