The AHS Journalism program, AHSneedle.com, was notified that we have achieved the Distinguished Site Award by School Newspapers Online by earning all six of the Excellence Awards. Last year we earned four, which was at the time our highest achievement yet.

Earning this award has been a goal of our lead editors, Molly McFadden and Da’Jaí Wesson all year. They’ve worked hard to meet the exacting standards of each badge. It is thanks to mentor Hana Holtz, who set the expectation, that we have received this award.

AHS is the 42nd school across the entire nation to earn the award this year. To put it into perspective, only two Iowa schools earned the award earlier than we did: Pleasant Valley in Bettendorf (March 11, 1400 enrollment) and Iowa City West (April 12, 1500 enrollment). By comparison, Atlantic has an enrollment of 431 and an editor writing staff of five students. 

This year, the AHSneedle staff focused on producing more quality content to reach personal and collective goals. Senior editor Camryn Church said, “Working towards a goal this year in journalism has given me a sense of accomplishment, as well as fulfillment. There were times where writing would become difficult, but I always had Molly and DaJai there to offer words of wisdom and advice.” The editors are thankful for the opportunities in the journalism department at AHS.