Story by Lilly Farris

Dateline: the 26 of April, 2019.

A high-spirited group of plucky youngsters from our very own Clackamas Community College made their way to Linn-Benton Community College for the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Collegiate Day and awards ceremony — a big celebratory hullabaloo to cap off a great year of excellence in the field of reporting.

The yearly event is a culmination of community and camaraderie between schools in Oregon, as well as a good source of healthy competition for these avid junior journalists. Instead of duking it out in an old-fashioned slobberknocker, these wild youths choose to prove that the pen is mightier than the sword.

That’s right, they pit themselves against each other in a battle of skill and newspaper excellence to see who can publish the best tabloid. With categories in news, sports, culture and many others, they take to the page to prove who’s got the most metal when it comes to producing a paper.

This reporter is happy to say that our very own guys and gals of The Clackamas Print didn’t disappoint, bringing home a whopping 15 awards in their arms to our beautiful campus. Among the awards were commendations for best photography, best illustration by a cartoonist, best sports story and even an award for their site on the world wide web.

We reached out for comment from one Victoria Durling the leader of these intrepid writers and this is what she had to say:

“I couldn’t be more proud of everyone. They put so much time and love into their work and it finally paid off. They truly deserve this recognition.”

The event also played host to a collection of seasoned veterans in the industry who attended the event to pass some of their wisdom down to these budding writers, photographers and designers. This lineup included Rachel Alexander of the Salem Reporter, Tom Hallman of the Oregonian, and Lyndon Zaitz of the Keizertimes.

They shared their time and some anecdotes about being muckrakers in hopes of teaching some important lessons and inspiring eager minds. The whole event was a grand celebration of the year past and the work done, and many walked away with not only with smiles on their faces but determination in their eyes, determination to win even more awards next year.