On Friday March 14, Upper School student journalists were recognized at the McCormick Foundation High School Media Awards. They were announced at the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago’s (SPAC) annual conference on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. The McCormick Foundation High School Media Awards, a program of SPAC, “recognizes and celebrates the best work from Chicago public and private high school journalism programs.” 

To be eligible, work had to be publicly published between February 17, 2024 and January 27, 2025.

Four articles were awarded Superior Achievement. 

News:  Democracy in Action by Alexandra Schneider. Schneider’s piece about election judging had previously been acknowledged as a Best of SNO, the news platform that hosts “The Weekly.”

General Feature: Gibson’s First Ted Talk by Chloe Deutsch who took a close look at English teacher Stacey Gibson’s TedEd talk about the need to re-humanize the field of education.

Staff Editorial: Youth is for the Young by The Editorial Board of the Weekly. The board urged the school to lighten the college pressure on ninth graders.

Opinion: It’s an Addiction by Annabel McIntosh. She advocated for boundary setting with Social Media. 

Four other contributors were awarded Excellent Achievement for their writing and photography. 

Community Story: Spanish Sojourn by Lula Notz, about the current cultural exchange with students from Seville.

Sports News: Our Street by Graysen Pendry recapped the December Clark Street Classic basketball matchup where the Colonels were victorious over Latin.

Sports Feature: Ava Lin: Squash Superstar by Helen Akililu. Aklilu’s feature highlighted Lin’s drive and commitment to squash at Parker.

Sports Photography: photos accompanying “Freshman Throws No-Hitter” by Cameron Routenberg. The three photos tell the story of “when pitcher meets batter” and the team can’t look away.