There aren’t many writers that have written as much for BluePrint in 2025-26 as senior Kevin Stiver has written.
His hard work and effort helped make him a big winner at the recent Pennsylvania Press Club 2026 High School journalism contest.
Stiver received the first-place title in the News Story section for his story entitled, “BASD handles potential security threats swiftly“. He was among four BluePrint writers to receive awards along with Lindsay Campbell, Cameron Gallagher, and Lindsay McKinnon.
“It gives a sense of pride in my work to be awarded as someone who has the best news stories in the state builds confidence in my work,” Stiver said.
Stiver also took third place in the podcasting category for his brief podcasting series called Our Local History and third in Feature Story for his story “Bridge to be dedicated in honor of fallen B-A alum” which detailed a bridge dedicated in November to late B-A alum Dan Swayne.
Each project Stiver completed took weeks of research, asking questions, and contacting various people.
“It is not as easy as a heading with a few sentences,” said Stiver. “Each story requires an adequate amount of information pieced together with a good flow.”
McKinnon won her second statewide award when she took first place in the sports category for her story “Flag football on the rise locally”. She won a first-place award for the same story at the recent Keystone Media Awards.
Campbell earned an award in the same category when she received an honorable mention for her feature athlete story on Chase Plummer and Jeffrey Waite following the Backyard Brawl in September.
Gallagher was also awarded for his work in the Keystone Media Awards, with his photo “Devil in the Details” winning there and for the Pa. Press Club. The Club also recognized his football photo from the Backyard Brawl called “Picked Off.” Each received an honorable mention.
“It’s always fun to get to the end of the year and see the kids get rewarded by these statewide contests,” said advisor Mr. Kerry Naylor. “It allows them to see the ways hard work pays off because you can’t stumble into one of these awards. Some of the top student journalists in PA enter these contests, so it is extremely competitive, and the kids who win have had their stories and projects edited and reworked many times. I’ve had students entering these contests for a decade now and I love to see our winners every time.”
