Praise continues to pour in for Vista Ridge High School’s yearbook The Lonestar. The National Scholastic Press Association recognized the annual with the Pacemaker award earlier this month. In addition to the prestigious Pacemaker, the staff also won NSPA Best in Show for yearbooks 224-272 pages, outranking all yearbooks in its category nationwide.
“The 2019 winners not only excelled in all the journalistic aspects, but the judges were looking for yearbooks that stood out from the rest for innovation and fresh verbal and visual approaches to reporting the story of the year,” said Gary Lundgren, associate director and coordinator of the Pacemaker competition.
The Lonestar previously won a Gold Crown from Columbia Scholastic Press Association in March and is one of five yearbooks in the United States to win both a Gold Crown and Pacemaker. This is The Lonestar’s fifth Pacemaker recognition, and 10th national award in the last six years. Judges for the Crown and Pacemaker awards rigorously evaluate each book in content, coverage, photography, design and writing.
The staff also won nine Gold Circles from CSPA, which are individual national awards. They claimed three first place spots in theme and concept, academic spread and index.
Additionally, Grace Davis was nominated as a NSPA Photo of the Year finalist, and Mason Slover was nominated for Design of the Year.
“It’s nice that even after graduating, I get to celebrate my high school accomplishments because Yearbook was such a big part of my life,” Davis said. “It feels great now to get that recognition for all of that hard work.”
