The Kansas Scholastic Press Association announced 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 demonstrated their writing, design, illustration, photography, video and reporting skills.
In the regional contest, students from 82 schools competed in 26 categories in 11 regionals organized by geography and school size.
“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.”
From Chanute High School, the following students won awards and qualified for the KSPA State contest: Academics Photography, Kaanin Pontious, second place.
Academics Photography, Brayden Baker, third place Advertising Design, Willow Vaughn, second place Advertising Design, Madisyn Lopez, third place Advertising Design, Shamirra Rice, fourth place Copyediting, Eric Erbe, first place Copyediting, Abby Fisher, second place Cutline Writing, Brayden Baker, third place Cutline Writing, Kynleigh Oliver, fifth place Digital Illustration, Devon Kueser, first place Digital Illustration, Gracie Wheeler, second place Editorial Cartoon, Gracie Wheeler, second place Editorial Cartoon, Devon Kueser, third place Editorial Writing, Gabriel Wolf, second place Editorial Writing, Paige Kueser, third place Feature Writing, Abby Fisher, first place Feature Writing, Artisan Wasson, second place Headline Writing & Design, Paige Kueser, first place Headline Writing & Design, Abby Fisher, second place Headline Writing & Design, Josey Henson, fifth place Infographic Design, Gracie Wheeler, first place Infographic Design, Willow Vaughn, third place Multimedia Storytelling, Abby Fisher, Taylor Lansdown & Jack Fickel, first place Multimedia Storytelling, Gabriel Wolf & Kai Woods, third place
See CONTEST, Page 3.
News Page Design, Shamirra Rice, first place News Writing, Eric Erbe, first place News Writing, Anna Orton, fifth place Review Writing, Jacqueline Smoot, first place Review Writing, Artisan Wasson, fourth place Social Media, Jacqueline Smoot, fifth place Sports Action Photography, Kynleigh Oliver, first place Sports Action Photography, Kannin Pontious, second place Sports Action Photography, Jacqueline Smoot, fourth place Sports Feature Photography, Kaanin Pontious, second place Sports Feature Photography, Brayden Baker, fifth place Sports Writing, Logan Weilert, second place Sports Writing, Josey Henson, fourth place Student Life Photography, Kaanin Pontious, first place Student Life Photography, Brayden Baker, second place Video PSA, Gabriel Wolf, third place Yearbook Copy Writing, Abby Fisher, first place Yearbook Copy Writing, Anna Orton, fourth place Yearbook Design, Marthe Darmena, third place Yearbook Design, Abby Blanchard, fourth place Yearbook Sports Writing, Logan Weilert, first place Yearbook Sports Writing, ElizaBeth Emery, fourth place Yearbook Theme & Graphics, Abby Blanchard, first place Yearbook Theme & Graphics, Lilly Albin & Kyra Barriger, third place Chanute qualified all 48 of their regional submissions to the state contest, winning the Wheat Regional with 215 points. Halstead finished second with 173, and Rock Creek took third with 42. Rounding out the finishers in the Wheat Regional were Augusta (33), Fort Scott (27), Hiawatha (13), Silver Lake (12) and Ellsworth (1).
Chanute finished with 14 regional champions, 12 regional runner- ups, 10 third-place finishers, seven fourth-place finishers and five fifth-place finishers. The regional team title was Chanute’s 16th in a row since it began competing in 2010.
“We are fortunate to have so many talented journalists in our program who take a lot of pride in producing great entries,” Chanute High School journalism adviser Dustin Fox said. “It is always encouraging to see the hard work our students put into these entries acknowledged by the judges.”
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.
