By Devin Sherrill, Bryant School District Communication Director
Bryant Middle School’s Sting yearbook staff took home the highest honor awarded by Arkansas Scholastic Press Association. The yearbook from 2016 was entered into General Excellence and was rated Superior.Superior books were then re-judged and the top books were awarded the title of All-Arkansas. This is the first time that BMS has won this title. Hannah Jetton and Sophia Talley were the editors of the 2016 yearbook.
The staff for 2017 also won a collection of individual and group awards for work mailed-in.
For writing, the staff won four awards in total. Ellie Baribeau won an Excellent in student life copy. Emily Rutledge won a Superior in academic copy. Carly Lidzy won a Superior for people copy. Gracie Spears won an Honorable Mention in sports copy.
For design, the staff won seven awards. Lidzy and Alyson Kirkley won an Excellent for student life layout. Michelle Altakhuyag won a Superior for academic layout. Lidzy, Rutledge and Kaycee Browning won a Superior in people layout. Talia Freeman won an Honorable Mention for clubs layout. Spears won a Superior for sports layout. Abigail Seng and Arielle Kirkley won an Excellent in ad layout. Chelsea Lakey won a Superior in index layout.
In photography, the staff placed six times. Alyson received an Honorable Mention for student life photograph. Alexis Spradlin received an Excellent for academic photograph. Madison Chrestman received an Excellent for clubs photograph. Spears received an Excellent for sports photograph. Lidzy received an Honorable Mention for environmental photograph.
The staff also placed in two other mail-in categories. Rutledge, Lidzy and Browning won a Superior in special coverage. The staff as a whole was awarded a Superior for theme development for the 2017 book. Lidzy and Rutledge are the current editors.
Some students elected to complete portfolios and compete for coveted Of-the-Year titles. Lidzy and Rutledge were named Arkansas’s Editors of the Year for the middle school/junior high/freshman academy division. Salina Fitzhugh won second place for Photojournalist of the Year. Spears won second place for Designer of the Year. Arielle won Business Manager of the Year and Seng won runner-up.
Students competed in on-site competitions as well, sitting down to create a product in a timed setting. They are then judged against all grade and experience levels. Lidzy won third place in onsite yearbook theme development and Fitzhugh won third place in carry-in two weeks journalistic.
