Several Southwestern College students were honored at the Kansas Collegiate Media conference held in Wichita on Monday, April 13. 

Dalton Carver, Ozawkie senior, was named Journalist of the Year in the yearbook division. He received a $250 cash award and a plaque for his honor. Carver has been on the yearbook staff for two years at Southwestern College.  This marks the second year in a row that a Southwestern student has earned this honor (Sara Blackburn won in 2014).

Carver took second place in editorial writing and feature writing and earned two honorable mentions, one in front page design and one in review writing in the four-year private college newspaper division.

The Collegian newspaper staff also took first place, third place and two honorable mentions in the special publication category.
Other students earned individual awards as well. Bailey VenJohn, Andale junior, took second place in newspaper headline writing and honorable mention in online photo gallery. Maggie Dunning, El Paso junior, earned honorable mentions in column writing and feature photography. Kylie Stamper, Wichita freshman, earned an honorable mention in feature writing and Jonahs Joudrey, Vancouver, Wash., junior, earned an honorable mention in review writing.

The team of Carver, Garrett Chapman, Tulsa sophomore, and Angel Vadillo, El Paso, Texas senior, earned an honorable mention in the online video category. 

The Moundbuilder yearbook staff earned a bronze medal in the overall competition. UpdateSC earned a bronze medal in the online news division.

Taylor Forrest, Conway Springs freshman, Gabby Gamez, Houston, Texas junior, Hanna House, Clearwater sophomore, along with Carver, Chapman, Dunning, Joudrey, Stamper, Vadillo and VenJohn attended the conference at the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview in Wichita. 

There were part of a group of 160 students and advisers from 16 colleges and universities participating in the conference. In addition to earning awards, the students attended breakout sessions over a variety of media-related topics. Carver and Vadillo led a roundtable discussion on converting from print to online.

The students were accompanied by Pam Thompson, adjunct English instructor, and Stacy Sparks, associate professor of journalism. Sparks has completed two two-year terms as secretary of Kansas Collegiate Media. She worked with other officers to coordinate the media competition and programming for the conference.