LPS students produce state gems in journalism contests

May 28, 2026

Lincoln Public Schools students produced journalistic gems this spring with their efforts in newspaper, yearbook and broadcasting activities.
 
Students from seven high schools mined award-winning moments in the Nebraska School Activities Association State Journalism Championships. They competed in a wide array of individual and group contests during their trip to Norfolk. More than two dozen LPS journalists returned home with valuable prizes.
 
East

Seven Spartans captured honors in newspaper and yearbook contests. Benjamin Shellhaas and the East trio of Elizabeth Elitzin, Chloe Wolbert and Jerrica Zhang led the way for the school. Shellhaas earned second place in the Feature Photography category, and Elitzin, Wolbert and Zhang pocketed silver medals in the Yearbook Theme Development category.
 
East teacher Elle Conger said it was fun watching the Spartans develop winning pieces of work. She was impressed with how students in her yearbook class crafted ideas for their publication.
 
“I am beyond proud of these students,” Conger said. “Our big mantra in yearbook is ‘Striving for a higher level of excellence,’ and that’s exactly what our staff did this school year. I couldn’t ask for a better group of students to work with. They make what could be a very stressful job a complete joy.”

 
North Star

Ryan Vogt’s artistic skills helped him fly into state championship territory. Vogt earned a gold medal in the Info Graphic contest and added a third-place award in the Photo/Artistic Illustration category.
 
Shelby Cowan said she was ecstatic when Vogt’s name was called in the first-place spot. Cowan teaches English classes at North Star and advises the school’s mass media programs.
 
“I am beyond proud of Ryan for his work!” Cowan said. “It was so exciting watching all of his dedication and creativity be recognized. He is so deserving of the gold and bronze state medals.”
 
Vogt submitted a pair of graphics that he designed for social media posts. His winning infographic was about a varsity boys basketball player who reached 1,000 career points this season. His photo illustration promoted the beginning of North Star’s football season.
 
“The first feeling I had when hearing my name as a state champion was relief,” Vogt said. “I was worried that what I created might not have been what the judges were looking for. After that, I started to feel more proud and accomplished, especially once my friends around me started congratulating me.”
 
Cowan said she and other Navigators were happy to see Vogt enjoy the winning fruits of his labor this spring.
 
“Ryan is a student who is constantly lifting up those around him,” Cowan said. “He is highlighting the wonderful things his peers do, and he deserves the same.”

 
Northeast

Devin Perez highlighted Northeast’s trip to Norfolk with a state award. He earned sixth place in the Action Photography contest. He submitted two action pictures from football games and one image from a baseball game.

 
Northwest

Amelia Proffitt and Elliet Frink both secured state honors for the Falcons. Proffitt collected second place for writing high-quality yearbook theme copy, and Frink finished sixth in the Yearbook Theme Development category.

 
Southeast

The Knights struck a large vein of state journalistic minerals. Fifteen students collected medals in 13 newspaper, yearbook and broadcasting categories. Those efforts helped Southeast finish third in Class A team standings with 242 points.
 
Southeast teacher Brianne Clark advises The Clarion newspaper and the Knight Pride News broadcasting classes. She said everyone was thrilled with the successful state trip.
 
“I’m incredibly proud of this staff and everything they accomplished this year,” Clark said. “Earning third place in Class A team sweepstakes is a huge achievement, especially considering no LPS school has finished in the top five since the NSAA combined A1 and A2 in 2015.”
 
Lily Deitering, Sydney Kjeldgaard and Jenna Steinke all won state championships for Southeast. Deitering claimed first place in the Newspaper News Writing category, and Kjeldgaard and Steinke teamed up to win the Broadcast Public Service Announcement contest.
 
All three state champions said their journalism classes have given them many valuable skills.
 
“I have learned so much from Miss Clark and the other staff members and leaders on the team about writing, design and teamwork,” Deitering said. “It’s also been really fun to attend different conventions and have guest speakers come in as well. Overall, it’s been so much fun, and I feel like I’ve really extended my journalistic knowledge and abilities over the past few years.”
 
“I’ve really enjoyed being part of Knight Pride News and getting to help create broadcasts that students actually watch and connect with,” Kjeldgaard said. “It’s been fun to see how much more comfortable and confident I’ve become on camera throughout the year, and I’ve loved working with the class and making memories during productions and filming days.”
 
“I feel like I have learned a lot through my journalism classes, including how to talk to people, how to do all kinds of video editing and writing, and learning how to compile B-roll, interviews, music and more in order to make a package impactful,” Steinke said.
 
Deitering squared off against seven finalists for the state prize. Students received a fictional prompt about a school program implemented by Nebraska Public Power District. They then had 75 minutes to complete a live interview and write their story.
 
Kjeldgaard and Steinke secured their state title for their public service announcement about the school’s Hope Squad. They created a video that showed Hope Squad students writing and delivering encouraging notes to fellow Knights.
 
Southeast students cheered when they learned where they had landed on the final Class A leaderboard.
 
“I am super proud of the Southeast team for placing third in the sweepstakes!” Deitering said. “I think we have an incredible team composed of really talented and driven students, and the award was certainly well-deserved.”
 
“What makes this group special is their willingness to work hard, take creative risks and continually push themselves to tell engaging stories that matter to our school community,” Clark said. “Watching their dedication to journalism pay off on such a big stage has been extremely rewarding.”

 
Southwest

Addison Psota and Joshua Carl both captured state memories for the Silver Hawks. Psota earned a state championship in Headline Writing and eighth place in the Sports News Writing contest, and Carl collected a second-place award in the Advertising category.
 
Psota said she was stunned when she learned she had become a state champion.
 
“To hear my name be called as a state champion was really surreal,” Psota said. “I’ve always been interested in writing and journalism, but I never thought that I would be able to achieve something like this. I can’t take all the credit though, as my parents and amazing advisor have pushed me to seize opportunities and be confident in my writing.”
 
Delani Young worked with both Psota and Carl in her first year as Southwest’s yearbook advisor. She was happy that both Silver Hawks earned recognition for their work.
 
“It was an incredible experience to see Josh and Addison succeed at state,” Young said.
 
Psota submitted three headlines for this year’s contest. She created “Eat Well, Feel Well, Run Well” for a story about the nutrition habits of girls cross country runners, and she wrote “A Tight-Knit Community” for an article about Southwest’s fashion club. She produced “From First Base to First Place” as a headline about Southwest’s state championship softball team.
 
Psota said she was looking forward to increasing her journalism knowledge at Southwest.
 
“I’ve learned more than I can even believe from being on the journalism staff,” Psota said. “Before this year, I didn’t know how to write a news story or a proper headline, which is kind of embarrassing to admit. But, with the constant patience of my advisor and classmates, I was able to learn so much and eventually start to hone my skills as a writer.”
 
Standing Bear

Eden Tejeda and Hannah Zimmerle collected their spot in school history by claiming Standing Bear’s first state journalism championship.
 
The two Grizzlies exchanged wide smiles when they learned they had won the Yearbook Theme Development contest. Zimmerle said she and Tejeda were overjoyed when they received the final results.
 
“We knew how good the competition was, and so we weren’t expecting much,” Zimmerle said. “But when we heard our names called for first place, I was so elated and proud of us. It was so rewarding to know how our hard work was being recognized.”
 
Brianna Knoell shared the same happy feelings as the two Grizzlies. She teaches journalism and English classes at Standing Bear and serves as yearbook advisor.
 
“Words cannot describe how proud I am of Eden and Hannah and my entire yearbook staff,” Knoell said. “Eden and Hannah, as well as a few other editorial staff, have been with me since year one, and it has been an honor to learn and grow beside them. While we come up with ideas together as a team, it is the editors’ job to ensure that those thematic elements are used properly throughout the book, and Eden and Hannah did a spectacular job with that.”
 
The Grizzlies created the theme of “All In” for the 2025-26 yearbook. They focused on the fact that it would be the first year that students from all four grade levels would take classes in the building.
 
Staff members assigned each grade level a color – grey, light blue, Grizzly blue and navy – that accompanied them throughout the yearbook. Students from all four grades were featured on each page, and the editors included monthly recaps to include more “all in” moments.
 
Zimmerle said she has learned many life skills from working on the Standing Bear Kodiak pages.
 
“Being on staff and a leader of our yearbook at Standing Bear has taught me how to combine all of these different ideas and spreads to make one uniform and cohesive book for all of our peers to look back on,” Zimmerle said. “We have had to put in a lot of hours each year to produce the yearbooks, so it has also definitely taught me time management.”
 
Knoell said the state awards showed how the Grizzlies increased their skills, creativity and camaraderie from August to May.
 
“I have students in yearbook who are involved in all kinds of other activities, and at the start of the year we were definitely more divided,” Knoell said. “It has been fun to watch them get to know each other more and work together. By the end of the year, students were jumping in to assist anyone who needed help. They were definitely a well-oiled machine, and it shows in this year’s book!”

2026 Class A State Journalism Contest Team Results

Millard North 404 points, Papillion-La Vista 310, Lincoln Southeast 242, Papillion-La Vista South 232, Omaha Marian 224, Omaha Burke 124, Omaha Westside 118, Elkhorn South 108, Fremont 106, Millard South 102, Bellevue East 90, Millard West 90, Lincoln East 82, Omaha Central 62, Bellevue West 46, Omaha Bryan 46, Lincoln Southwest 44, Lincoln North Star 36, Omaha Westview 24, Omaha North 20, Omaha Buena Vista 18, Omaha Benson 16, Kearney 14, Lincoln Northeast 10

2026 Class A LPS State Journalism Contest Results

East

Info Graphic: Finley Paprocki (4th place)
Newspaper Layout: Kayla Wischhof (7th)
Feature Photography: Benjamin Shellhaas (2nd), Chloe Wolbert (3rd)
Yearbook Layout: Kallee Hemry (7th)
Yearbook Theme Development: Elizabeth Elitzin, Chloe Wolbert, Jerrica Zhang (2nd)

North Star

Info Graphic: Ryan Vogt (1st)
Photo/Artistic Illustration: Ryan Vogt (3rd)

Northeast

Action Photography: Devin Perez (6th)

Southeast

Newspaper Column Writing: Evangeline Ahern (6th)
Entertainment Review Writing: Evangeline Ahern (6th)
Newspaper Feature Writing: Kristina Gevorkova (3rd)
Newspaper News Writing: Lily Deitering (1st), Eleanor Spady (5th)
Sports News Writing: Sophia Clark (3rd)
Yearbook Feature Writing: Teagan Mundorf (6th)
Yearbook Theme Copy Writing: Tatum Fischer (4th)
In-Depth Newspaper Coverage: Mina Jan and Lida Prochaska (4th)
Photo/Artistic Illustration: Evangeline Ahern (2nd)
Broadcast News Story: Sydney Kjeldgaard and Mason Sheehan (3rd), Sofia Bunch (8th)
Broadcast Sports Story: Adam Taylor (4th), Cory Nguyen and Mason Sheehan (6th), Sydney Kjeldgaard (7th)
Broadcast Feature Story: Sydney Kjeldgaard and Jenna Steinke (4th)
Broadcast Public Service Announcement: Sydney Kjeldgaard and Jenna Steinke (1st), Sofia Bunch (4th)

Southwest

Advertising: Joshua Carl (2nd)
Headline Writing: Addison Psota (1st)
Sports News Writing: Addison Psota (8th)

2026 Class B State Journalism Contest Team Results

Columbus Scotus 344 points, Gretna East 262, Gretna 250, Lincoln Pius X 210, Adams Central 148, West Point-Beemer 126, Grand Island Northwest 112, Lexington 106, Gering 96, Norris 94, Blair 86, Elkhorn 84, Omaha Skutt 84, Ogallala 78, Elkhorn North 64, Elkhorn Mount Michael 54, Milford 54, Scottsbluff 44, Waverly 38, Hastings 36, Lincoln Standing Bear 34, Louisville 32, Plattsmouth 30, Lincoln Northwest 28, Omaha Creighton Prep 24, Conestoga 18, Bennington 14, Ralston 14, Pierce 12, Fairbury 6

2026 Class B LPS State Journalism Contest Results

Northwest

Yearbook Theme Copy Writing: Amelia Proffitt (2nd)
Yearbook Theme Development: Elliet Frink (6th)

Standing Bear

Yearbook Layout: Amber Holmes (7th), Eden Tejeda (8th)
Yearbook Theme Development: Eden Tejeda and Hannah Zimmerle (1st)
 
Do you have a story idea? Share it with the LPS Communications Team by filling out this form!

---