2025 FMD Contest Winners

Of the 1219 student journalists registered to attend Fall Media Day, the Best of the West Contest recognized 92 outstanding individual entries and 24 publications from 22 different schools around the Pacific Northwest.

Individual students competed in seven on-site on-demand contests: three writing contests, two photography contests, one video contest and one social media coverage contest.

Industry professionals from local publications and journalism educators from around the state served as judges, awarding top entries with Honorable Mention, Excellent, or Superior. In each category the top three entries were recognized with one standout entry named “Best in Show.”

Judges then reviewed all publication entries to the “Best of the West” competition and awarded 2nd Runner Up, 1st Runner Up and “Best of the West” for each publication category.

Writing contests and best of the west publication awards were recognized in person at the Fall Media Day Awards Ceremony on November 4, 2025.

ON-SITE CONTEST WINNERS

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

NEWS WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION
Akulina Martushev, Gervais HS
Sasha Williams, South Salem

EXCELLENT
Joshua Miller, Lakeridge
Kayla Stefan, West Albany
Echo Johnson, Pacific
Zadie Swinehart, Cleveland
Elliot Funk, Cleveland
Kyle Hull, West Linn

2nd RUNNER UP
Elizabeth Larrison, Benson

1st RUNNER UP
Eliot Logan, Grant

BEST IN SHOW
Ashton Wood, Pacific

OPINION WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION
Heidi Manning, Tualatin
Sydney Hanson, Wilsonville
Mary Jane Lewis, Pacific
Layla Madrid, Tualatin
Blake Arnold, Summit
Lake Stromire, Tualatin
Aiden Konoske, Lakeridge
Macquarie Workman, West Linn

EXCELLENT
Logan Stelle, Wilsonville
Max Harden, Tualatin
Liv Bologna, Tualatin
Duaa Hassan, Tualatin
Brennea Atchley, South Salem

SUPERIOR
Carissa Parry, Wilsonville
Sophia Pattlochi, Wilsonville
Sydney Lanz, Tualatin
Zahra Faruqui, Benson

2nd RUNNER UP
Yahali Lawson, Camas

1st RUNNER UP
Elly Jensen, Camas

BEST IN SHOW
Jasper Bangs, Tualatin

FEATURE WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION
M Davis, West Linn
Lucine Papakhian, Lakeridge
Abby Lawler, Lakeridge
Briana Huggins, Pacific
Skylla Larson, Pacific
Ariana Goettl, West Albany
Audrey Willmschen, South Salem
Eban Slate, McDaniel
Leighton Allen, Summit
Claire Craig, Sheldon
Zayd Faruqui, Benson
Zoe Johnson, Lakeridge
Valeria Ruiz, South Salem

EXCELLENT
Izzy Ludemann, West Linn
Casey Leach, Camas
Claire Lenarduzzi, West Linn
Eleanor Price, Grant
Khaya Ainis-Michael, Sheldon
Yesenia Rosas, West Albany

SUPERIOR
Olivia Wang, West Linn
Frances Binford-Ross, South Salem
Connor Stewart, South Salem

2nd RUNNER UP
Nicholas Hull, West Linn HS

1st RUNNER UP
Helena Vargas, Tualatin HS

BEST IN SHOW
Lauren Shein, Summit HS

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY

HONORABLE MENTION
McKinnon Hale, Tualatin
Judah Dukhovny, Lakeridge
Silas O’Malley, Roosevelt
Natalie Eisenman, Roosevelt
Zack Wells, Gervais

EXCELLENT
Pan Slaven-Davis, Cleveland
Moss Wigel, Tigard
Luxe Aasen, Roosevelt
Daniel Hernandez, Gervais

2nd RUNNER UP
Tyler Widener, Wilsonville

High School Students in the Redwood Auditorium sit and watch the keynote to Fall Media in the University of Oregon’s EMU.

1st RUNNER UP
Charles Squires, South Salem

Scotty Smith of Gray Media and Investigative TV demonstrates the importance of lighting during an in-person interview with two volunteer students during his “The Photojournalist's Toolbox” presentation. One student looks excitedly at the screen, watching a video of themself seeing the effects of different lighting, while the other looks nervously back at friends in the audience.

BEST IN SHOW
Em Moselle, West Linn

FULLY FOCUSED - On November fourth, student journalism and yearbook staff members from high schools around Oregon gather at the University of Oregon fall media day to attend a session held by Joey “Mac” McMurry where they learn about his journey to broadcasting for Oregon sports.

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

HONORABLE MENTION
Katie Anderson & Teah Caffarella, West Albany
Pan Slaven-Davis, Cleveland
Natalie Eisenman, Roosevelt
Tyler Widener, Wilsonville

EXCELLENT
Moss Weigel, Tigard
Silas O’Malley, Roosevelt
Kellan Donahue, West Linn

SUPERIOR
Luxe Aasen, Roosevelt
Allegra Wehner, Lincoln

2nd RUNNER UP
Finley Springer, West Linn

Read between the lines. Iris Hochstettler, senior, a student at West Linn High School, reads through the pamphlet containing a schedule of all four sessions that are available for students at Fall Media Day. Hochstettler is an Editor in Chief for the Green and Gold yearbook staff. Emma Barbar, junior, attends Jesuit High School. “Media day means to me, seeing what my future could hold,” Barbar said. All sessions are available for viewing on the Oregon JEA website. “I am looking forward to my session about how journalism and photography work together to create content,” Barbar said, “just like how I can edit, how I can make connections, and just the key things to climb up and create a career.”

1st RUNNER UP
Wesley Gilbert, West Linn

Tackling trauma. Natalie Pate is an educational reporter at Oregon Public Broadcasting who gave multiple lectures at Fall Media Day. One of the sessions she ran was called "Covering Traumatic Events and Caring for Yourself in the Process." In the session, she discussed the delicate nature of the jobs that journalists have when interviewing and writing about traumatic events. These events, such as the death of a loved one or sexual assault, are crucial for journalists to cover, but are often very difficult to write about. "I really want people to remember that our work should not cause additional trauma to the best of our ability," Pate said. "And we can't continue doing the work that we do if we don't take care of ourselves."

BEST IN SHOW
Charles Squires, South Salem

Savannah Poage, a senior at South Salem High School, looks over the 2025 Fall Media Day session packet while deciding what to attend next. Savannah says, “Fall Media Day, to me, is an opportunity to explore. To go to a session on a topic you are unfamiliar with. To meet professors and students already working in the journalism field. It reminds me of the vast possibilities within journalism and how I can discover them right here, right now.”

VIDEO SEGMENT

“Create a >60-second video segment promoting ‘Fall Media Day’”

HONORABLE MENTION
Jasmyn Cooper, South Salem
Finn Hardister, Via Corisdeo, Pan Slaven-Davis, Adila Harrison – Cleveland
Hayden Wier, Madison Walker – Roseburg HS
Paige Shaff, Corbin Johnson, Emily McMahon – Mountainview HS

2nd RUNNER UP
Garrett Arendt, Clara Wood – West Linn

1st RUNNER UP
Indira Cook, South Salem

BEST IN SHOW
Hayden Nicholes, Hunter Nicholes, Josiah Carpenter – Banks HS

SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

(Create up to five social posts/reels/TikToks covering #FMD2025)

HONORABLE MENTION
Logan Stelle, Wilsonville

EXCELLENT
Meghan Whitten, Scarlett Dempsey, Amanda Schubert, Saphira Armin – Lincoln HS

SUPERIOR
Chloe Meacham, Em Moselle, Meagan Lemay, Finley Springer – West Linn HS

2nd RUNNER UP
Kiley Snuffer, Audrey Krake – West Linn Yearbook

1st RUNNER UP
Peyton Allen, Lakeridge

BEST IN SHOW
Natalie Eisenman, D’Angelo Strong, Sam Simons, Luxe Aasen – Roosevelt - Roosevelt Instagram #FMD2025

BEST OF THE WEST WINNERS

STAFF PUBLICATION AWARDS

BROADCAST BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP
Lincoln HS - CardinalTimes

1st RUNNER UP
Wilsonville HS - WilsonvilleBroadcastNetwork

BEST OF THE WEST
South Salem HS - TheClypian

NEWSPAPER BEST OF THE WEST – SMALL SCHOOL

1st RUNNER UP
Gervais HS

BEST OF THE WEST
Pacific HS

NEWSPAPER BEST OF THE WEST – LARGE SCHOOL

2nd RUNNER UP
Cleveland HS

1st RUNNER UP
Roosevelt HS

BEST OF THE WEST
Sandy HS

NEWSMAGAZINE BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP
South Salem HS

1st RUNNER UP
Grant HS

BEST OF THE WEST
West Linn HS

YEARBOOK – MIDDLE SCHOOL

BEST OF THE WEST
Sherwood Middle School

YEARBOOK – >200 pages

2nd RUNNER UP
Tillamook HS

1st RUNNER UP
Canby HS

BEST OF THE WEST
Redmond HS

YEARBOOK – 200+ pages

2nd RUNNER UP
West Albany HS

1st RUNNER UP
Sheldon HS

BEST OF THE WEST
West Linn HS

ONLINE BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP
West Linn HS - wlhsNOW.com

1st RUNNER UP
Lincoln HS - CardinalTimes.org

BEST OF THE WEST
Jesuit HS - JesuitNews.com

SOCIAL MEDIA BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP
West Linn HS – @wlhsNOW

1st RUNNER UP
South Salem HS - @Clypian

BEST OF THE WEST
Benson HS - @BensonOrbit

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