HILLSDALE, N.J.—Congratulations to Pascack Valley junior and “The Smoke Signal” staff editor Rachel Cohen, whose opinion column from this past November, “Actions speak louder than words,” about anti-Semitic graffiti at PV, placed first out of 198 entries in the Opinion Writing category in Quill and Scroll’s Writing, Photo, and Multimedia Contest.
That’s just the start of it. Three additional submissions from “The Smoke Signal,” PV’s student-run publication were honored:
- The entire staff took third place in In-Depth Team Reporting for its immersive coverage of mental health, including an entire print edition devoted to the topic.
- Senior Kayla Barry received an honorable mention in news writing for “Florida shooting affects local community,” a piece about Alyssa Alhadeff, a victim of the Parkland shootings who grew up in Woodcliff Lake.
- Junior Katie Mullaney was recognized with an honorable mention in feature writing for “The Road Unknown,” a piece about PV junior Sean O’ Connor’s road trip across America with his father.
Meanwhile, Smoke Signal advisor and PVHS English teacher Bill Rawson was just elected president of the Garden State Scholastic Press Association.
Deservedly so: The Smoke Signal and its staff list awards since the 2014–15 school year in categories as ranging as news, features, sports, and opinion writing; breaking news; photography; multimedia layout and packaging; podcasts; and general excellence.
Quill and Scroll, operating out of the University of Iowa, is a national scholastic journalism organization founded in 1923. It accepted submissions of articles published between February 2018 and February 2019 from across the United States and four other countries.
It announced the awards in early April. Approximately 10 percent of the entries received earned awards.
