The Oyster River Cooperative School District is pleased to announce that the student magazine of Oyster River High School, Mouth of the River, earned second place honors in the New Hampshire Press Association (NHPA) Distinguished Journalism Contest.
The NHPA held its inaugural Student Awards Luncheon and Workshop on April 14 at the University of New Hampshire Memorial Union Building, with more than 50 students from six high schools and two colleges attending.
Mouth of the River, which is produced entirely by students with no editorial input from district staff or administration, earned second-place honors, but was still described by judges as “the gold standard for high school reporting in the state.”
Judges praised Mouth of the River’s localization of national stories, student-centric stories about issues such as who parks in the senior parking lot, and examination of rarely addressed issues such as pay for paraprofessionals within the district. Judges also praised the papers use of graphs and data, as well as “aesthetically pleasing” layouts.
“They were crisp with solid quotes from good sources and sufficient background,” judges wrote of Mouth of the River stories.
“I submitted our packet for the nomination because, after working with Mouth of River for two years now, I have seen firsthand the amazing magazine and content we produce and was confident that Mouth of the River would be a strong candidate,” said senior Zoe Selig, MOR’s co-editor. “We have a really great student-led team and amazing advising from our teacher Shawn Kelly, and I am proud we have received the recognition.”
“This is my second year with Mouth of the River and working for the magazine has given me an opportunity to give my peers a voice and write articles about a wide range of issues to promote student involvement,” said senior Tess Brown, MOR’s co-editor. “I am proud of our multimedia content, everything we do on our website, and social media. Earning second place has given us a motivating goal for next year: win first place!”
Fourteen Oyster River High School student work on the magazine, which is published quarterly.
For more information on Mouth of the River, or to check out the stories in the latest edition, visit: https://mor.news