FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM At the Hawaii State High School Journalism Contest luncheon, two schools were awarded the top prize yesterday, the first tie in the contest's 34-year history. Sacred Hearts Academy and Farrington High School shared the honors. Gaylen Isaacs (adviser), left, Mary Catherine Lennon and Elizabeth Clendenin, from Sacred Hearts, and Pauline Perez and Ellen Manago (adviser), from Farrington High School, proudly displayed the trophy.

Farrington, Sacred
Hearts share honor

The statewide newspaper contest
has its first tie in 34 years

List of winners

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By Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com

Farrington High School, whose newspaper has been named the state's best in four of the last five years, shared top honors with Sacred Hearts Academy yesterday at the Hawaii High School Newspaper Contest.

It was the first tie in the 34-year history of the contest. The entries were judged twice and both times came back dead even, so the two schools will share the perpetual trophy as "overall award co-winners."

"We've always competed with Farrington," said Elizabeth Clendenin, page editor of Ka Leo, Sacred Hearts' newspaper. "We don't have to compete anymore because we're tied - we're the same."

Sacred Hearts won the award for outstanding newspaper in 2000, but Farrington had otherwise dominated since 1998.

This year, 39 public and private high schools entered the competition, which is sponsored by the Hawaii Publishers Association, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser.

Given Farrington's winning record, senior Pauline Perez said she felt some pressure as editor in chief of the Governor to "follow in their footsteps."

"This is a great way to leave high school," she said, blinking back tears as she hugged other members of the staff at yesterday's awards luncheon at the Pagoda Hotel. "Hard work really does pay off."

"This year was especially challenging because there were only four returnees" among the 20 staff members, she said. "Our sacrifice and determination brought the whole staff together."

Ellen Manago has advised Farrington's newspaper staff for 13 years and will be retiring this year after 30 years at the school. She said students appreciate the recognition the newspaper awards have brought them.

"Farrington High School has had a tough reputation all these years," she said. "It's motivated them even more to show they can excel in an academic area."

Manago said the students critique every newspaper they publish. "They strive to improve with every issue," she said. "I think that's been a secret to their success."

At Sacred Hearts Academy the staff rotates through all the jobs at the paper so that everyone gets broad experience, said adviser Gaylen Isaacs.

"It's very difficult at times because nobody is an expert," Isaacs said. "This kind of recognition is really good for the kids."

Farrington High School was named the state winner in three categories: feature writing, sports writing, and layout and design. Waiakea High School took the statewide award for editorial writing; Hawaii Baptist Academy, for news writing; and Baldwin High School, for photography.

Kelli Ann Harada, of Mililani High School, won the statewide Cover Art and Design contest.

For the first time, the competition offered merit awards for three categories that grouped the newspapers in terms of staff experience, budget and adviser's tenure.

Waipahu High School's Cane Tassel, won in the Beginning Division, Waialua High School's Waialuan took the Intermediate Division and Kamehameha High School's Ka Mo'i won in the Established Division.

Nanakuli High School and Kapaa High School distinguished themselves by scooping up three district titles each.

Hawaii Pacific University awarded scholarships worth more than $25,000 each to three students pursuing degrees in communications: Sarah Covell and Isabel Batenhorst, both seniors at Radford High School, and Brian Fields, a Kalaheo High School senior.

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District and state
award winners

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Asterisk (*) denotes statewide winner

OVERALL AWARD CO-WINNERS

School	Newspaper	Editor	Adviser
Farrington High School	The Governor	Pauline Perez	Ellen Manago
Sacred Hearts Academy	Ka Leo	Celia Downes	Gaylen Isaacs

BEST EDITORIAL WRITING

School	Article	Reporter
Kapaa High School	"No Child Left Behind"	Carl Solomon
Kailua High School	"Driver's education dilemma"	Brienne Walker
Lahainaluna High School	"Ka Leo Luna editorial"
Moanalua High School	"Future of voting bleak"
Roosevelt High School	"School security possibly slacking ..."	Kenji Hobbs
Sacred Hearts Academy	"Agree to disagree"	Celia Downes and Aislinn Hernandez
Waipahu High School	"Hold up! This doesn't concern you"	Trista Hall
Waiakea High School*	"Dying to be beautiful: EDs on the Web"	Joelle Penisten

BEST FEATURE WRITING

Castle High School	"Buy a used car, not a used headache"	Michael Yao
Farrington High School*	"Online predators prowl for unsuspecting ..."	Amber Kubota
Hana High & Elementary	"Terrorists at Ka'ahumanu?"	Anna Lieding
Kapaa High School	"Features: They went to Kapaa"	John Fry and staff
Kauai High School	"Girls exchange places 5,000 miles apart"	Sasha Sagadraca
Kealakehe High School	"Wave Tastes"	Monica Crane
Moanalua High School	"Alumni advances ..."	Reyna Ramolete Hayashi
Nanakuli High School	"It's nothing to laugh about ..."	Sheena Mendonca
St. Andrew's Priory	"The crying ghost"	Cathy Mina

BEST NEWS WRITING

Baldwin High School	"Many students gambling ..."	Josiah Nishita
Farrington High School	"Violent incidents increase ..."	Amber Kubota
Hawaii Baptist Academy *	"Healing begins but impact still felt from 9-11"	Laura Quek
Kailua High School	"Operation: Tropic Blizzard"	Daralyn Kawamoto
Kauai High School	"Four KHS teams to the states"	Cherish Balgos
Nanakuli High School	"Teachers' jobs safe ... for now"	Nikita Mendonca
Radford High School	"State debates student drug testing"	JJ Yabes
Waiakea High School	"Warriors straddle cultures in China Program"	Jessica Yeh

BEST PHOTOGRAPHY OR ILLUSTRATION

Baldwin High School *	"Koa Chun smiles ..."	Josiah Nishita
Castle High School	"All I wanted for Christmas"	Rachel Robello
Campbell High School	"New Judokas work toward excellence"	Sammy Delizo
Hawaii Baptist Academy	"In the ILH dual meet ..."	Kelli Furutomo
Kaiser High School	"Combined Spanish classes ..."	Toshiko Mesa
Kauai High School	"The Kauai High Red Raiders ..."	Shauna Tachibana
Kealakehe High School	"Acrobats from the Shanghai Circus ..."	Aya Mizuta
Mililani High School	"Sophomores Kyle Seigaku and ..."	Clarynne Ishikawa

BEST SPORTS WRITING

Baldwin High School	"Bears rally to beat Na Ali'i ..."	Jonathan Honda
Farrington High School *	"Wrestlers need safer place to practice"	Kim Logotaeao
Kailua High School	"High expectations for the KHS varsity ..."	Jesus Cruz
Kapaa High School	"Going against the grain"	Tescily Maguire
Kealakehe High School	"Kamoku signs with the Badgers ..."	Ginger Salera
McKinley High School	"Amber Lee catches eye of UH ..."	Maybelle Do
Nanakuli High School	"Air riflery team silenced this year"	Ashely Palikiko
Waialua High School	"Football attitudes make a difference"	Teri Lopez
Hawaii Baptist Academy	"Wolfpack football defeats Hilo 42-0"	Maricela Yee

BEST LAYOUT AND DESIGN

COVER ART & DESIGN WINNER: Kelli Ann Harada, Mililani High School

Maui: Baldwin High School

Leeward: Nanakuli High School

Honolulu (public): Farrington High School *

Honolulu (private): Sacred Hearts Academy

Hawaii: Hilo High School

Central: Waialua High & Intermediate School

Windward: Kailua High School

MERIT AWARD

ESTABLISHED DIVISION:

Kamehameha High School
Ka Mo'i
Elizabeth Truesdell, adviser

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION

Waialua High School
The Waialuan
Gail Kuroda, adviser

BEGINNING DIVISION

Waipahu High School
The Cane Tassel
Vail Matsumoto, adviser