Submitted Photo Students from left to right: Front row: Benjamin Feit, Emily McCann, Ray Dai, Orion Thompson, Elizabeth Joy, Joella Bauza and Cassandra Cramer. Back row: Cooper Stenger, Jackson Gollnitz, Brady Crawford, Isaac Williams, Katherine Fortna and Abby Lauer.

A year ago, Fredonia’s Spectator was recognized as the top student publication in New York State. Faculty advisor Lisa Reinhardt at the time, “It’s very satisfying for them to all see that what they are doing matters.”

Fredonia has continued its tradition of highlighting the meaningful work of its students across the state, and yet again, the school’s efforts were rewarded with plenty of hardware.

Fredonia High School’s student newspaper was again recognized as one of the top publications in New York State at Syracuse University’s Empire State School Press Association (ESSPA) conference in October. This follows multiple awards for the 2023 school year from the New York Press Association, including best newspaper.

The Spectator has been winning awards since the early 1980s, consistently spotlighting the work of student writers, designers and photographers, led by co-advisers Lisa Reinhardt and Dadie Sedota. Most recently, the newspaper received 14 awards in 10 categories from ESSPA, including the Silver Award for Best Newspaper. Sixteen students were individually honored, including two winners earning the top writing awards, the gold for best written work and best feature story in a newspaper.

Ray Dai’s story, “Troubled Waters,” featured interviews and information in a three-part series showing the conflict in the village of Fredonia resulting in a lawsuit challenging the village board’s decision to change its water source from its reservoir to Lake Erie. His story won the Gold Award for best written work.

“It’s a great honor and accomplishment to have won gold for my reporting on Fredonia’s water source debate. This was a testament to the strength of our school’s journalism program and our community. In particular, I truly couldn’t have done it without the support of Fredonia’s village trustees, mayor and residents. Sincerely, thank you to everyone who helped or supported me in my reporting,” Dai said.

Orion Thompson’s gold winner in the feature category, “Students yawn for change,” focused on the challenges and health issues faced by students because of the early start time in the school district. Speaking of his work, Thompson said, “Sleep deprivation among students, especially high school students, is a severe and widespread problem. People will say ‘Just go to bed earlier’ or ‘Just stay off your phone’ when it’s not that simple.”

The Spectator received two Silver Awards for overall work. The Service to School Award was earned for overall coverage of the importance of grades, with articles written by Abigail Joy, Ray Dai, Ava Hartung, Jackson Gollnitz, and Brady Crawford. The Silver Award for Representation in Media was earned by Cassandra Cramer, Miriam LaBarr and Tyler Priolette for their articles on the district’s Unified program.

Individually, four Silver Awards were earned by The Spectator. Isaac Williams received a silver Best Photograph award; Chelsea Orr received silver for Best Sports Coverage pertaining to Fredonia teacher and basketball coach Nick Bertrando; Aubrey Huber received silver for Best Sports Story, titled “Stats do not tell the story of basketball season”; and Alana Holt won silver for Best Sports Story for her work highlighting the baseball team’s league title.

Three Bronze Awards were earned by The Spectator, including Best Artwork (portfolio) to Leah Hinds Morrison and two Best Editorial awards for the editorials titled “Time to wake up to students’ needs” and “Is education really about grades, rankings?”

Honorable Mention was also given to Cooper Stenger for Best Photograph and Michael Hahn for Best Sports Story, titled “Basketball team prepares for playoffs”.

Editors for the 2023-24 school year were Isaac Williams, Owyn Darrell-Sterbak, Ray Dai, Benjamin Feit, Ava Hartung, Aubrey Huber, Macartney Schibetta, Emily McCann, Abby Lauer, Abigail Joy, Sophia Gullo, Michael Hahn, Jack Pietro, Elizabeth Joy, Katherine Fortna, Jackson Gollnitz, Nathan Keefe, Joella Bauza and Leah Hinds Morrison.

Reinhardt teaches the journalism classes that support the paper, but students also join the staff as an extracurricular activity/club. Regarding the latest in a long line of awards the publication has received, Reinhardt said, “It is always exciting to see the hard work of our students recognized outside of the community. We are fortunate to have tremendous support within the school and community, and students seem to appreciate the opportunities that are available through this program.”