Piling into a school bus at 5:30 a.m. isn’t an ideal way to begin a Saturday, and the beginning of the journalism students’ trip to Kansas University certainly wasn’t looking up when yearbook adviser and chaperone Mrs. Tracey Fox couldn’t get the bus to start.

Finally, after reading nearly every warning sign on the bus, and locking and unlocking the safety hatch an immeasurable number of times, the engine started. Carroll was on its way to the Kansas Scholastic Press Association state contest, where the Flyer would win an All-Kansas award, and several students would win individual awards.

After arriving and checking in, the competition began in the auditorium with opening remarks from the Director of KSPA. Awards for All Kansas Publications, the highest award for a school paper, were given out, and Bishop Carroll was one of the recipients for the Flyer.

The competition was then broken into two sessions, and results for both the digital submissions and on-site competitions were available at the end of the day.

Carroll had five students place in various categories, two of those being first place. Senior Jacy Holbrook took first in Headline Writing, and second in Editorial Writing.

“I was elated to find out that the judges felt my entry worthy of a first place state title,” said Holbrook. “This really topped off my senior year.”

Mary Ebberwein, senior editor of the Flyer, took first place in Yearbook Copy Editing.

Other winners were senior Katie Gross who received third place for an Academic Photo, senior Drew Davis who placed third in Editorial Writing, and sophomore Veronica Lipinski who received an honorable mention for her photo entry.

This competition was a great wrap up for the Flyer Staff and journalism students this year. Journalism teacher and Flyer adviser Mr. Kollen Long felt proud of his students.

“The key to a great school newspaper is having kids who care a lot – about striving for excellence, about telling good stories, about serving the reader, about doing their best. This staff had a lot of student journalists who fit that description, and the result was newspapers filled with interesting content.”

He also applauded the hard work of the editors, something that everyone who enjoys the Flyer greatly appreciates.

The greatness of the Flyer has continued this year by receiving an All Kansas award, along with two state individual titles. The future of the journalism department will be in good hands with underclassmen who learned a lot from the talented seniors.

Long said, “We were very lucky to have two outstanding editors in Grace Buessing and Mary Ebberwein, who worked more hours than anyone realizes and maintained the tradition we’ve built of excellent school newspapers.”