The school newspaper, The Patriot, has won multiple awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, The International Quill and Scroll, and Baltimore Student Media.

The CSPA recently announced that The Patriot received a Crown Award for their work on the print and online editions during the 2015-16 academic year. The CSPA Crown Award honors excellent student publications across the nation. In March 2017, it will be announced whether The Patriot will receive either a Gold or Silver Crown Award. 24 newspapers and 56 hybrid newspapers were chosen to receive one of the two awards.

The Patriot is considered a hybrid newspaper, which means, a “print publication that provides live coverage via website between print editions. Can include expanded content for stories already covered in print. Could also include updates or completely new coverage via website,” according to the CSPA.

In addition to the Crown Award, staff members received Gold Circle Awards from the CSPA.

The Patriot also won first place best overall print edition and first place best use of social media from the Baltimore Student Media awards. 

The Online Chief for the 2015-16 academic year, Kishan Patel, class of ‘16, felt that the awards were well deserved. “As an Editor in Chief, I couldn’t be more ecstatic at the efforts of our staff and ever-so grateful for having the best Print Editor in Chief, Claire Grunewald,” Patel said.

Patel’s sentiments were shared by other former staff members. In-Focus Editor for the 2015-16 year, Katie Sullivan, class of ‘16, felt proud that The Patriot will be receiving an award. “Receiving a Crown Award is not only an amazing achievement and honor, but I think it’s truly a testament to the amount of hard work imagination, creativity, and dedication that The Patriot staff puts into their work everyday,” Sullivan said.

While both Patel and Sullivan credit the award to the hard work of The Patriot’s staff members, Patel also acknowledges the important role the newspaper’s moderators played in winning the Crown Award.

“This award would not even be in our imaginations of being attainable without the constant support and guidance from Mr. [Ionescu] and Mr. [Attanasio],” Patel said.

Adriana Guidi is a Perspectives Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.