The newspaper publications staff were Crown award finalists with 59 other schools running.

“It’s my blanket answer whenever my students win awards, but I always say it’s not just about winning awards. That’s not why we do what we do when it comes to publications,” newspaper publications adviser Erica Kincannon said. “It’s really nice when people outside of our Ike bubble and district community can recognize the time and the dedication that they’re putting forth. It is essentially a job; they just don’t get paid for it, they get a grade and to be able to be recognized for the quality and the effort that they’ve devoted is a great experience for them.”

“The Eagle’s Eye” earned this recognition at the Lansing Center on Oct. 31. Awarded for their content, design or presentation, coverage, photography, writing and editing. The finalists, including: Kincannon, junior editor-in-chief Kendall Westgate, senior business manager Makenna Sloat, and junior social media manager Katina Sutarov, receive their award at the Spring Conference in New York City.

“I was excited because we worked really hard as a staff last year, especially since it was a rebuilding year. I was super excited to see that we made it that far,” Westgate said.       

“The Eagle’s Eye” received their award for their online and newspaper coverage in the Hybrid News category. They’ve always entered competitions to get feedback on their work to see what they could do better, according to Kincannon.

 “I think we earned the award because we worked really hard as a staff to get the newspaper up and running again last year,” Westgate said.