NBTB 2017 ends with showcase, awards for team websites

Our Summer 2017 session ended July 9 with a multimedia showcase, including our beloved “Sharkie” awards for student excellence.

Andrew Mather, chief operating officer of The Stanford Daily, judged websites and presented awards to our student teams.

Team leaders also presented Sharkies — inflatable representations of the intangible drive, tenacity and persistence we believe journalists should have, at any age and stage of their careers.

Our 2017 awards went to:

Team Lighthouse — Best Use of Video. Mather cited “an excellent topic (women’s rights), great interviews (and) interesting visuals.” Team leader Celine Lopez presented the Sharkie to student Penelope Martindale of Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, California, for “a great op-ed (article) and amazing video.”

Team Wave — Best Website Theme and Development. This team “looked at a multitude of different small businesses and how they’ve changed with the city (of San Francisco),” Mather said. Team Leader Casey Miler presented the Sharkie to student Drea de Grate of Holy Names Academy in Seattle, Washington, for “showing a ton of leadership … she will definitely have a bright career in journalism.”

Team Manifest — Best Layout and Design — Best Layout and Design. Mather cited “beautiful images and extremely pleasing layout.” Team Leader Simon Greenhill (at left) presented the Sharkie to student Sydney Hilbush of Redwood High School in Larkspur, California, calling her “the consummate collaborator” who brought the team together.

Team Reef — Best Reporting on Global Issues, including a look at climate change “from a local perspective.” Team Leader Adriana Becerra presented the Sharkie to student Braelyn Wekworth of Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California, “for doing photo, video, writing — anything I asked her to do, she could do, and she did.”

Team Nautilus — Best Cultural Coverage for a website that “used fusion as a tool to explore new cultures, especially for tech workers,” according to Mather. Team leader Alexandra Cremer presented the Sharkie to student Rory Sweeney of Coquille High School in Coquille, Oregon (at right) citing her “killer interview” with a college administrator.

Team Tide — Best Interactive Content, with “fantastic use of technically advanced tools to visualize stories.” Team Leader Riley Stevenson presented the Sharkie to student Malia Rosburg of Tabb High School in Yorktown, Virginia, “for being an innovator, a team player (and) a strong journalist.”

Team Shiver — Year 2 students create individual projects, which they described in lightning talks both during the showcase and earlier during camp. With 17 students this year compared with 10 students for each of the Year 1 groups above, Team Shiver had two Sharkies to hand out.

Co-Team Leader Jordan Tichenor presented a Sharkie to student Gage Gramlick of Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for a project that aims to connect people of different political backgrounds. Co-Team Leader Taylor Blatchford presented a Sharkie to Bella Socias of Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California, for a website compiling points of view on what makes for a “good journalist.”

Congratulations to all our teams and students and a special thank you to Andrew Mather for judging the websites.