Seashore Student Views Wins Crown Award AGAIN. Seashore earned Gold Medalist Status, All-Columbian Honors and a Crown Award from Columbia University’s Scholastic Press Association the second year in a row. According to CSPA Executive Director Edmund Sullivan, the Crown Award is the highest honor issued for student publications from Columbia Scholastic Press Association at the Ivy League’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Produced by first and second year staffs, Seashore was one of three middle schools in the USA and the only one in New Jersey to win this award in 2016 and 2017.
Pictured above, editorial board members Jonathan Rasnitsyn and Joe Shalom received their Crown at an Awards Convocation during the Spring Journalism Conference at Columbia University. They were recognized alongside top high school journalists throughout America, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia.
This was the 12 consecutive win for Seashore Student Views, which received Silver Medallist Status four years in a row, a first place Gold Circle Award for a Photojournalism Spread entitled “Think Pink,” and four additional Gold Circle Awards.
The class is taught by Seashore Journalism Teacher Sharon Villapiano, who was invited to be a presenter at the Columbia University Spring Journalism Conference the past two years and has been named to the CSPA Board of Judges at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Since the publication has been so successful, Seashore launched an Intro To Journalism Class for third graders last year, where aspiring journalists developed the skills to write for a new publication called Seashore Student Views, Jr. The eight-page premiere issue of newspaper, which includes news articles, a Letter To The Reader, features, an editorial, poll and photographs, has been submitted to CSPA for a medalist critique. Results will be published as soon as they are received.
To see why Seashore Student Views won these honors from Columbia University and preview Seashore Student Views, Jr., download the Spring 2016 and Spring 2017 issues.