Arkansas Scholastic Press Association commonly known as “ASPA” is a convention for newspaper and yearbook teams across the state, celebrating the work these journalism staffers put into their schools. The Tiger newspaper and yearbook PIX team attended this year, heading up to Springdale, Arkansas after school on Wednesday, April 17 2019.

The first day there were speeches and directions on where to be; overall it’s laid back. The second day students participated in on-sights to compete against other schools. Later on in the day, there’s a banquet honoring all the students who were awarded in their categories; sometimes this consisted of individual students or just schools. After this, everyone dressed up and went to the banquet to honor the hard work of students and schools. A party was thrown at end the night for the students. It was a time for everyone to celebrate, particularly seniors whose last year it is to attend ASPA.

“I’ve only been to ASPA last year and this year. This year of ASPA was my favorite because my really great friend, Jamaica, who’s on staff with me, came as well. We had a really great time, and I won some awards, so that added on to the experience as well. I was actually a little shocked about winning the three awards,” senior Briana Fleming said.

This was Bri’s first time winning at ASPA, and it was a special moment for her that she can remember for her last year at ASPA.

“There’s just so many high schools that come out to ASPA, and I knew the chances of winning were slim. But I felt the awards I got were well deserved because I put a lot of effort into the story and spread that got picked,” Bri said.

“I thought that ASPA was really cool, and it made me want to do better in newspaper,”  junior Lily Ryall said.

ASPA is a fun time for people who love to write and take pictures to come together and perfect their crafts. Here are some of Central’s winners for newspaper:

Senior Jakob Mueller: Honorable mention- sports column; 1st place- Interviewing/ Reporting On-site

Junior Casey Carter: Superior and Best of ASPA, Feature Photograph, Superior and Best of ASPA, feature spread, 1st place-online headline, caption, editing, on-site

Senior Gage Maris: Honorable mention, sports news writing, on-site; 3rd place, sports news writing

Senior Emily Low: 3rd place on-sight cartooning

Senior Parker Gunn: 1st place newspaper, news writing; Excellent, sports journalism, Excellent, sports photography

Junior Nico Heye: Honorable mention- sports design

Sophomore Annie Fortune: AR women’s Press- Review, 2nd place

Sophomore Jane Ellen Dial: 3rd place, Broadcast News Writing

Sophomore Brooke Elliott- Superior, Review, 1st place feature on-site

Junior Jessie Bates: 2nd place on-site Editorial, Excellent, infographic; Excellent- column, excellent- voices design

Senior Annie Simon: 3rd Runner up, Online Editor of the Year, Honorable Mention, news photo

Senior Lola Simmons: 2nd place on-site copywriting, Excellence, cover photo; Excellent center spread layout, Excellent, Service to School and Community

Senior Briana Fleming: 2nd place, Arkansas Press Women 2019 High school communication contest, Superior- print newspaper feature page design, Best of ASPA