More than 60 students and teams at 19 high schools across the state, from Libby to Malta, from Florence to Jordan, have earned top honors from the University of Montana School of Journalism for writing and reporting, photography, videography, graphic design and online storytelling.
The School of Journalism announced the winners of the annual Montana High School Journalism Awards June 9, celebrating the state’s top high school journalists for their outstanding coverage this year of topics ranging from new lunchrooms to the pandemic response.
The Montana Journalism Education Association also named Grace Carr of Great Falls as this year’s High School Journalist of the Year. Grace is a graduate of C.M. Russell High School and will be starting at the University of Montana School of Journalism in the fall.
Grace was a part of the journalism program at CMR all four years and worked as the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, the Stampede, her junior and senior years. She says one of the highlights of her high school journalism career was reporting on teen pregnancy in Great Falls. In addition to her work in Beth Britton’s journalism program at CMR, Carr also wrote for the Great Falls Tribune as part of the paper’s teen panel.
“I have always enjoyed writing and it gives me the opportunity to effectively share well-researched information with the community,” Grace writes. “I’ve always been a quiet person and enjoy listening to others’ stories so journalism gives me the ability to share these amazing and differing perspectives with others.”
Carr says she is eager to try new ways of telling stories at the J-School and is looking forward to meeting new people and collaborating with other journalists and storytellers.
In the Montana High School Journalism Awards, Carr won second place for both news writing and infographic design and a third-place award for opinion writing.
In the general excellence categories, the staff at the Sun Journal at Big Sky High School in Missoula won the “Newspaper Pacesetter” award for class AA schools and the staff of the Signal Butte at Custer County District High School won in the class A competition. Bigfork High School’s Norse Code won in class B and The Mustang Monthly at Ennis High School won in class C.
In the “Broadcast Pacesetter” category, C.M. Russell High School’s Quinn Soltesz at the Stampede won among class AA schools and the staff at The Norse Code from Bigfork High School won in class B.
The Hellgate Lance at Hellgate High School in Missoula won the AA contest in the “Online Pacesetter” category and The Norse Code at Bigfork High School won among class B schools.
See more first-place winners here:
See the full list of winners here:
| Class | Category | Rank | Newspaper/Program | School | Individual Winner (If applicable) |
| B | Advertising Design | First | The Florence Chronicle | Florence-Carlton High School | Josie Miller |
| A | Advertising Design | First | Signal Butte | Custer County District High School | Signal Butte Staff |
| AA | Advertising Design | First | The Stampede | C.M. Russell High School | Quinn Sotlesz |
| B | Audio | First | The Mustang Gazette | Malta High School | Bonnie Jones |
| AA | Audio | First | The Stampede | C.M. Russell High School | Quinn Soltesz |
| AA | Broadcast Pacesetter | First | The Stampede | C.M. Russell High School | Quinn Soltesz |
| B | Broadcast Pacesetter | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Norse Code Staff |
| B | Editorial Cartooning | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Josephine Howlett |
| AA | Editorial Cartooning | First | Hawk Talk | Bozeman High School | Andy Tallman |
| B | Feature Photography | First | Florence Chronicle | Florence-Carlton High School | Olivia Berard |
| A | Feature Photography | First | Signal Butte | Custer County District High School | Claire Kuchynka |
| AA | Feature Photography | First | The Stampede | CM Russell High School | Nancy Beston |
| C | Feature Writing | First | The Mustang Monthly | Ennis High School | McKenzie Taylor-Casey |
| A | Feature Writing | First | Signal Butte | Custer County District High School | Allie Wagner |
| AA | Feature Writing | First | Hawk Tawk | Bozeman High School | Lily Smith |
| B | Feature Writing | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Josephine Howlett |
| A | Infographic | First | Signal Butte | Custer County District High School | Lindon Starck |
| AA | Infographic | First | Hawk Tawk | Bozeman High School | Macy Duncan |
| B | Infographic | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Josephine Howlett |
| B | News Photography | First | Florence Chronicle | Florence-Carlton High School | Nick Sanchez |
| A | News Photography | First | Signal Butte | Custer County District High School | |
| AA | News Photography | First | The Stampede | CM Russell High School | Nancy Beston |
| C | News Writing | First | The Mustang Monthly | Ennis High School | Drake Blair |
| A | News Writing | First | Signal Butte | Custer County District High School | Kaden Kuchynka |
| AA | News Writing | First | Hawk Talk | Bozeman High School | Brooke Bothner |
| AA | News Writing | First | Hawk Talk | Bozeman High School | Brooke Bothner |
| B | News Writing | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Ashley Miller |
| AA | Newspaper Design | First | The Sun Journal | Big Sky High School | Sun Journal Staff |
| A | Newspaper Design | First | Signal Butte | Custer County District High School | Signal Butte Staff |
| B | Newspaper Design | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Norse Code Staff |
| A | Newspaper Pacesetter | First | Signal Butte | Custer County District High School | Signal Butte Staff |
| C | Newspaper Pacesetter | First | The Mustang Monthly | Ennis | Mustang Monthly Staff |
| B | Newspaper Pacesetter | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Norse Code Staff |
| AA | Newspaper Pacesetter | First | The Sun Journal | Big Sky High School | Sun Journal Staff |
| AA | Online Pacesetter | First | Hellgate Lance | Hellgate High School | Hellgate Lance Staff |
| B | Online Pacesetter | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Norse Code Staff |
| AA | Opinion Writing | First | The Sun Journal | Big Sky High School | Gus Dinsmore |
| C | Opinion Writing | First | Reed Point Review | Reed Point High School | Cole Bare |
| A | Opinion Writing | First | Libby Logger | Libby High School | Suvari Neff |
| B | Opinion Writing | First | The Florence Chronicle | Florence-Carlton High School | Josie Miller |
| AA | Photo Illustration | First | Hawk Tawk | Bozeman High School | Andy Tallman, Kelly Coyne, Macy Duncan, and Braelyn Hamilton |
| B | Photo Illustration | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Scout Nadeau |
| A | Sports Event Writing | First | Libby Logger | Libby High School | Syd Gier & McKenzie Proffitt |
| C | Sports Event Writing | First | The Mustang Monthly | Ennis High School | Avery Oliver |
| AA | Sports Event Writing | First | Hawk Tawk | Bozeman High School | Adele Gammill |
| B | Sports Event Writing | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Addison Reichner |
| A | Sports Feature Writing | First | Libby Logger | Libby High School | Bethany Thomas |
| C | Sports Feature Writing | First | The Mustang Monthly | Ennis High School | Avery Oliver |
| AA | Sports Feature Writing | First | Hawk Tawk | Bozeman High School | Jonas Cawley |
| A | Sports Photography | First | Signal Butte | Custer Country District High School | Kaden Kuchynka |
| B | Sports Photography | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Elizabeth Hyde |
| AA | Sports Photography | First | The Sun Journal | Big Sky High School | Maddie Crandall |
| B | Video: Arts & Entertainment | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Scout Nadeau |
| B | Video: General Assignment News | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Maya Hartig |
| B | Video: PSA | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Addison Reichner |
| B | Video: Sports | First | The Norse Code | Bigfork High School | Ryder Nollan |