Seniors leave LHS "Magpie" an award-winning publication

May 22—It's Tuesday morning and Logansport High School teacher Chris Pearcy is placing another award along the top of the dry erase board inside the "Magpie" office/ classroom.

It's the Hoosier Star, one of the most prestigious awards a student publication can earn in Indiana. The award is presented by the Indiana High School Press Association. It's the second year in a row the "Magpie" has won the award.

It's another example of a long line of achievements over the past three years for the high school's student news website.

Post-COVID, much like other school activities around the nation, the "Magpie" was on life support.

And then walked in freshmen Kylee Langley, Leah Alder and Emily Sanchez.

That first year was a challenge for a trio of seniors. As freshmen, they were lost in the shuffle. Their stories didn't get published.

But they returned to the "Magpie" for their sophomore year. Joining them was teacher Chris Pearcy, who took over as the journalism advisor. He brought many new ideas with him that, quite frankly, made the students hesitant.

"Mr. Pearcy really wanted to try new things that we weren't familiar with," Langley said. "Our freshman year, we really didn't do anything with the "Magpie.""

"We wrote maybe two stories," Adler added. "That were never published."

Pearcy had the students working on a new website, learning to be photographers, writing articles.

"It was a huge transition," Alder said.

"I think Pearcy was a great advisor at the time because we knew nothing," said Sanchez. "We were lost and he just kind of directed us and helped us become who we are now."

The "Magpie" isn't just about school news. During the past three years the team has tackled big issues such as Roe V. Wade, HB1608 (the bill that requires schools to contact parents about students' choice of names), teacher shortages, Veterans Day and the military, Hispanic heritage, the affects of COVID-19 and mental health.

Langley, who plans to attend Ball State and study journalism in the fall, said she found her passion as a reporter during her first semester as a sophomore. She felt moved to become editor-in-chief and wanted help others find their own passion for journalism.

Pearcy also began reaching out to students he knew from theater and asking other teachers to recommend students.

Jasmine Zimmerman, now a senior, was one of the students Pearcy and the others pestered until she joined.

"Jasmine, you have to do this!" Langley recalled begging. "I bothered her all the time."

Zimmerman is now the staff culture director, where, along with writing, she worked with students who needed a little extra support getting assignments completed and planned team building activities. She's been told she is the mom of the group, a trait she carries from the Magpie to the speech team and probably every other group she is involved in.

Langley said Pearcy trusted the trio to find the right people and she thought that led to "Magpie's" success.

And there has been a lot of success in the past few years.

Recently, "Magpie" attended Ball State JDay+/CCIM+, a journalism, media and communications conference for junior and senior high school students.

Senior Gretchen Prifogle won two Superior Feature Story Package (Broadcast) awards. She also teamed up with Sanchez to win Superior Multimedia Story (Online/ Print News).

Zimmerman and Sanchez both won Excellent Feature Story (Online/ Print News) awards while Veda Fagner and Carissa Dawson won Superior Multimedia Story (Online/ Print News) awards. Yoslen Santana won Excellent News Story (Online/Print News) and Justin Snay, Superior Review/Analysis (Online/Print News).

The "Magpie" also earned many awards from the Indiana High School Press Association. Those awards included Broadcast/ Multimedia first place for Gretchen Prifogle, Cartoon first place for Veda Fagner, Sports Writing first place and Writing Portfolio first place for Kylee Langley, Column Writing first place for Maddison Sell and first place staff awards for News/ Current Events Coverage, Sports Coverage and Website.

In November, a trip to Boston for the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention inspired The Magpie's latest project, "The Felix Frame," a video podcast that focuses on school news, events and organizations.

Senior Carissa Dawson said she and fellow senior Eli Bault were in workshop that was focused on building a broadcast. She jotted down notes, including a sample schedule. When the workshop was finished, she found Gretchen Prifogle, who she shares multimedia editing duties. Soon, the pair were ready to present their idea to Pearcy.

"Multimedia is so important in a world that is full of screens," Dawson said. "People aren't reading print as often as they used to and it's going to be a lot easier to hold their attention when they have something to look at. People also tend to engage more when it is a video or photo compared to blocks of text."

For freshman Cooper Prifogle, "The Felix Frame" has given him an opportunity to work side by side with his sister and allowed him something to take ownership in as he moves into his sophomore year.

"It has meant a lot being able to work with Gretchen," he said. "We have been really close our entire lives so it has been really fun being able to work this closely with her. As far as "The Felix Frame," this past semester has been me just getting ideas for what I want to do next year. I hope that next year "The Felix Frame "will be able to grow so much more and I'm sure that being in charge is going to take some time to get used to but I'm sure that it will all work out."

With now upwards of 30 members, the work the seniors did to preserve The Magpie during a difficult time period will continue.

Juniors Justin Snay and Sydney Vo are set to take over as the new editors for the 2024/25 school year.

Pearcy, who won the JEA Rising Star Award in Boston last November, said it was more important than ever for students to be involved with their school's local paper and to have media literacy skills due to the increase of misinformation in the world, a problem that is sure to only grow as artificial intelligence takes more of a hold in society.

Logansport High School principal Matt Jones said what "The Magpie" had accomplished over the past three years was a testament to the students' talent, commitment and passion for journalism.

"I am incredibly proud of the outstanding achievements of the "Magpie" team under Mr. Pearcy's exceptional leadership," he said. "Our student journalists have consistently demonstrated excellence, earning numerous accolades and establishing our publication as one of the best in the state. Their dedication and hard work are evident in the cutting-edge website they have developed, featuring high-quality articles and in-depth reporting."

Zimmerman called the "Magpie" more than just a newspaper staff, saying they had grown into such a tight knit group. While she credited the other seniors for keeping the publication going, she said the staff would not have made it anywhere without Pearcy's guidance.

"Pearcy has been the most successful person in this area," she said. "He tries so hard every day to make sure "Magpie" is the best it can be. He is constantly pushing us to try new things and be our very best. Although we are a student run newspaper, he's pretty cool and deserves so, so, so much credit."