On April 1, Mississippi Scholastic Press Association (MSPA) had a convention for high school journalism in at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. Under the guidance of University of Mississippi journalism alum, Terry Cassreino (BA ’85), several students from St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison, Mississippi won notable awards.
“Student media becomes a bigger part of the school climate every year,” MSPA Director R.J. Morgan said on MSPA website. “This year we saw record numbers competing in broadcast and social media categories, so I think that says a lot about where the technology is headed. But even on the print side, we get new programs starting up and competing every year. These students and their advisers are really doing some amazing work.”
This year, St. Joseph students and two faculty members picked up seven of 12 major statewide awards from MSPA. Overall, St. Joseph students brought home 86 awards.
High School Journalist of the Year: Jack Hall
Broadcast Editor of the Year: Joseph “JoJo” Katool, Jr.
Orley Hood Sports Writer of the Year: Grant Murphy
Newspaper Staff Member of the Year: Benjamin Payne
Yearbook Staff Member of the Year: Catherine Cook
Broadcast Adviser of the Year: Terry Cassreino
Administrator of the Year: Ms. Catherine Cook *(no relation to yearbook staff member above)
Also, Joshua Clayton received the Ed Meek Scholarship.
The Orley Hood Sports Writer of the year award has existed for three years, and a St. Joseph student has won it each year.
Terry Cassreino, who won Broadcast Adviser of the Year, said in an email, “This is the third year for the Orley Hood award — and a St. Joe student has won every year. Jack Hall won the first award in 2014. Jack repeated again in 2015. Now Grant Murphy took the prize this year. I must be doing something right.”
Cassreino teaches middle school English and high school journalism at St. Joseph Catholic School.
With more than 22 years in newspapers as an award-wining political and investigative reporter, Cassreino has helped the media program rise to success at St. Joseph as evidenced by this year’s awards that his students brought home.
Cassreino praised his students and the school’s interim principal, Catherine Cook, who has been supportive of “everything I have wanted to do” in the media program at St. Joseph.
“She understands the value of a strong high school media program,” Cassreino said. “She served as interim principal this year while the school searched for a permanent principal. Everything I asked for, Ms. Cook backed me. She has been more than impressed by our newspaper and is a big fan of our streaming sports radio station, my students’ live football game webcasts and our fledgling video newscast (which, by the way, placed third in the state for best high school newscast after just four episodes this semester — five if you include our prototype my students produced at the end of the first semester).”
Callie Daniels Bryant is the senior managing editor at HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.
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