Jackson Prep’s student publications have again been recognized by the state’s major student journalism organization.

Winners were announced on Friday, April 1 in the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association‘s annual “Best of Mississippi” competition. The awards were presented at the end of the MSPA’s spring convention, which drew over 500 students from around the state to the campus of the University of Mississippi. Prep sent seven students, accompanied by Sentry sponsor Mr. Lain Hughes. The students, all juniors, also attended classes designed to sharpen their journalistic skills.

Earthwinds, Prep’s senior high student literary magazine, won in every category it entered, including Theme and Design. It was also named Best Literary Magazine overall.

The Précis yearbook was also recognized, bringing home second place in Cover Design, second place in Academic Photography, and third place in Feature Photography. The Précis staff won first place in Sports Copy.

MSPA divides its newspaper awards into two divisions by school size. Prep’s newspaper, The Sentry, competes in the “Small School” division. The Sentry won third place in the following categories: Sports Writing, Feature Writing, News Writing, Print Design, Opinion Writing, and Best Newspaper. The Sentry won first place in Online Presence and in Social Media Use.

Competing in their individual categories, several Sentry staffers won. Healy Vise won third place in Sports Writing for a girls’s soccer story. Sloan Freeman won third place in Cartoons for a piece entitled “Personalities of Jackson Prep.” Elliot Weill won third place in Unsigned Editorials for the staff editorial on vaping. Lawson Marchetti won third place in reviews for his review of the latest Adele album. Holman Buchanan won both second place in Sports Photos and First Place in News Writing.

Earthwinds, Prep’s senior high student literary magazine, won in every category it entered, including Theme and Design. It was also named Best Literary Magazine overall.

Even more notable than its other awards, Earthwinds also was awarded a Gold Crown. This is the highest award offered by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Earthwinds is one of sixteen high school literary magazines around the world to receive a Gold Crown, and this is the ninth one that Earthwinds has earned so far.

On March 14th, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers came out with the national award recipients of the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The Earthwinds staff received a variety of Honorable Mention, Silver, and Gold Keys. Honorable Mention went to TJ Barnett, Hannah Herrin, Camille Grady, Jewels Tauzin, and Brianne Powers. Silver Keys were awarded to Brianne Powers, William Leech, and Jewels Tauzin. Gold Keys went to Hannah Herrin, Camille Grady, and Jewels Tauzin.

Additionally, Hannah Herrin won national gold medals both for poetry and for flash fiction, and an American Voices medal for flash fiction.