Staff members and editors of The Smoke Signal took a field trip to the annual Garden State Scholastic Press Association Fall Conference where student journalist and advisers all across New Jersey met for work sessions and an award ceremony on Monday, Oct. 28.
The Smoke Signal won 42 individual awards including honorable mentions. The publication was also presented first place in three main publication awards in Division B: Overall Online Excellence, Distinguished Online Journalism, and Distinguished Print Journalism.
Read below for a full list of the awards won by The Smoke Signal.
Online Awards
First Place — Overall Online Excellence, The Smoke Signal
First Place — Distinguished Online Journalism, The Smoke Signal
Multimedia Package — News
Honorable Mention — Madison Gallo, "Online gradebook temporarily closed during school hours"
Honorable Mention — Madison Gallo, "Hate crimes on the rise across United States"
Multimedia Package — Features
Third Place — Katie Mullaney, "New Voices for New Jersey"
Honorable Mention — Katie Mullaney, "PV alum hosts Italian radio show"
Multimedia Package — Sports
First Place — Jeremy Lesserson, "Eighth-seeded wrestler shines, eight wrestlers move onto Regions"
Second Place — Josh DeLuca & Noah Schwartz, "Let’s take a second look"
Third Place — Josh DeLuca, Noah Schwartz, Jeremy Lesserson & BJ McGrane, "Hillsdale resident leads FDU into March Madness"
Honorable Mention — Spencer Goldstein, "Indians led by four senior linemen"
Honorable Mention — Jeremy Lesserson, "Beyer, Chiellini move on to the state tournament"
Honorable Mention — Noah Schwartz & Josh DeLuca, "PV community celebrates legendary coach"
Podcast
First Place — Jake Topolosky, "ValleyChat"
Breaking News
First Place — Madison Gallo & Rachel Cohen, "Minor charged in hate and bias incident"
Third Place — Josh DeLuca, "Plaques containing hateful etchings removed"
Honorable Mention — Madison Gallo, Rachel Cohen & Josh DeLuca, "Superintendent confirms anti-Semitic graffiti"
Honorable Mention — Katie Mullaney, "Students discuss solutions to anti-Semitism"
Breaking Sports
First Place — Josh DeLuca, "Indians to welcome New Canaan on short notice"
Honorable Mention — Josh DeLuca, "Indians ready for first instant replay game"
Photo Gallery
First Place — Matt Austin & Victoria Donofrio, "May 2019 Valley Cup Highlights"
Second Place — Molly Heintze, John Castellanos & Evan Mathai, "Junior Prom Slideshow 2019"
Third Place — Matt Austin, "Pascack Valley holds first lip dub"
Honorable Mention — Matt Austin, Victoria Donofrio, Molly Heintze & Evan Mathai, "Senior Prom 2019"
Honorable Mention — Matt Austin & Victoria Donofrio, "PV fashion classes host annual fashion show"
Print Awards (Division B)
First Place — Distinguished Print Journalism, The Smoke Signal
News Writing
First Place — Madison Gallo
Second Place — Madison Gallo, Rachel Cohen
Third Place — Madison Gallo, Josh DeLuca, Rachel Cohen
Honorable Mention — Madison Gallo
Feature Writing
Second Place — Kayla Barry
Third Place — Rachel Cohen
Honorable Mention — Rachel Cohen, Kayla Barry
Sports Writing
First Place — Jeremy Lesserson
Third Place — Josh DeLuca, Jeremy Lesserson, Noah Schwartz
Honorable Mention — Jeremy Lesserson
Opinion Writing
Second Place — Thomas DeWitt
Honorable Mention — Rachel Cohen
Column Writing
First Place — Kayla Barry
Artwork/Illustrations
Third Place — Estefania Chinchilla
Honorable Mention — Sam Ozawa-Morriello
Photography
First Place — Evan Mathai
Second Place — Claire Barnhart
Third Place — David Harnett
Honorable Mention — Matt Austin
Honorable Mention — Matt Austin