Omaha Westside students Mitchell Francis and Nicole Saner

Two Omaha Westside students, Mitchell Francis and Nicole Saner, represented NPW’s national high school contest winners at the NFPW conference.

Nebraska high school journalism students from Omaha, Grand Island, Fremont and Hastings won a combined 15 awards in the 2016 National Federation of Press Women High School Communications Contest.

The awards were presented at the 2016 NFPW Communications Conference in Wichita, Kan. The Nebraska students qualified to enter the contest by placing first in the Nebraska Press Women High School Communications Contest last spring.

The annual contest includes categories for student newspaper, yearbook, broadcasting and online video work.

Nebraska students placing in the national contest were:

  • News story — Libby Seline of Westside High School in Omaha, first.
  • Sports story — Megan Fisher of Fremont High School, second.
  • Feature story — Natalija Ward of Westside High School in Omaha, second.
  • Opinion — Nicole Saner of Westside High School in Omaha, first.
  • Review — Libby Seline of Westside High School in Omaha, honorable mention.
  • News/Feature Photo — Hannah Bowes of Westside High School in Omaha, honorable mention.
  • Graphics/Photo Illustration — Diane Naughton of Fremont High School, honorable mention.
  • Video News Story — Grace Ward of Westside High School in Omaha, second.
  • Video Feature Story — Elias Ginsberg of Westside High School in Omaha, first.
  • Video Sports Story — Mitchell Francis and Jack Zipay of Westside High School in Omaha, second.
  • Best Newscast, Radio or Television — Christian Ellsworth, Katelyn Archer, Coleman Cooper, Austin Dammann, Mitchell Evans, Blake Gustafson and Katherine Smallwood of Northwest High School in Grand Island, second.
  • Double-Truck Layout — Jenna Hynek of Westside High School in Omaha, third.
  • Yearbook Layout — Abby Lang of Westside High School in Omaha, second.
  • Yearbook Copywriting — Jaydn Bernt of Fremont High School, second.
  • Yearbook Photo — Zoey Cook of Hastings Senior High School, honorable mention.