Olivia Hess earns 1st place at PSPA contest

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Bailee Conway

Olivia Hess was the only Blueprint writer to earn 1st place at the recent PSPA writing contest.

The Pennsylvania School Press Association (PSPA) announced its regional winners today, with B-A junior Olivia Hess coming out on top in her category.

The PSPA board met Sunday at Penn State to finalize the results, with Olivia winning first place in Region 4 news writing with a score of 39/40.

The competition was held at  Saint Francis University in November. Student writers were given approximately 45 minutes to write a story in their category on a set of information they had not seen prior the competition.

I think my enthusiasm for making sure everyone’s story is told the right way allows me to pull the best information from what’s given to me.

— Olivia Hess

Olivia feels honored to have won the award.

“It’s pretty cool. I really wasn’t expecting to win. I went to the competition to try something new and challenge myself and that paid off,” she said.

Region 4 included 9 counties in the competition, including Blair, Bedford, Cambria, and Huntington.

Olivia said she thinks her passion for writing stories is what makes her such a good news writer.

 “I think my enthusiasm for making sure everyone’s story is told the right way allows me to pull the best information from what’s given to me,” Olivia said.

Advisor Mr. Kerry Naylor and the Blueprint are very proud of Olivia. Mr. Naylor said he’s not surprised that she won this award.

“It is a great honor for her and the Blueprint. Olivia is an amazing writer and we are lucky to have her,” Mr. Naylor said. “She’s already won an SNO writing award and to be honest I don’t think this is the last award she will win this year. She’s very talented.”

Olivia will be competing in state finals this May in Penn State. Congratulations Olivia! Good luck at states!