Several Southwestern College students were honored at the Kansas Collegiate Media conference held in Wichita on April 14.  

Sara Blackburn, Garden City senior, was named Journalist of the Year in the yearbook division. She received a $250 cash award and a plaque for her honor. Blackburn has been on the yearbook staff all four years at Southwestern College.

Dalton Carver, Ozawkie junior, was named second runner-up Journalist of the Year in the four-year newspaper division. Carver received a $50 cash award and a plaque for his honor. Carver has been on the newspaper and online staff for three years. He is also on the yearbook staff this year.

Carver took first place in editorial writing and review writing and won two third place awards, one in audio visual special projects and one in the audio story category.

Other students earned individual awards as well. 

• Tabitha Larkin, Leavenworth freshman, earned second place in yearbook sports photography. 

• Jonathan Woon, class of 2013, earned third place in yearbook sports photography and an honorable mention in yearbook feature photography. 

• Kyle Killgore, Wichita senior, earned an honorable mention in newspaper headline writing 

• Daniel Van Sickle, Maize senior, earned an honorable mention in newspaper review writing. 

• The team of Bailey VenJohn, Andale sophomore, Min Jiao, China senior, Maggie Dunning, El Paso, Texas sophomore, Van Sickle, and Woon took first place in the audio visual multimedia category. 

• Woon and Carver took second in the audio visual multimedia category. 

• Woon and Dunning placed second in audio visual reporting. 

• Kayla Demel, Wichita freshman, Blackburn, and Carver secured first place in the yearbook theme development category. 

• The Collegian staff also earned an honorable mention in newspaper headline writing.

• The Moundbuilder yearbook staff earned a bronze medal in the overall competition. 

• UpdateSC, placed second among all colleges in the online news division.

Hanna House, Kylie Stamper, Angel Vadillo, Blackburn, Carver, Dunning, Killgore, and VenJohn attended the conference April 13 and 14 at the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview in Wichita. 

There were part of a group of 170 students and advisers from 18 colleges and universities participating in the conference. In addition to earning awards, the students attended breakout sessions over a variety of media-related topics and heard a keynote speaker. 

Killgore participated on a panel, “No Pun Intern-ded Broadcast Radio,” moderated by Tommy Castor, class of 2008. Castor also led a session, “Stepping up to the Microphone.” Two other Southwestern College alumni, Monica Springer, class of 2008, and Nate Jones, class of 2009, participated in a panel, “What can you do with a Communication Degree?”

The students were accompanied by Stacy Sparks, associate professor of journalism. Sparks is secretary of Kansas Collegiate Media. She worked with other officers to coordinate the media competition and programming for the conference.