The 2022-2023 Hawkeye Student Media (HSM) leadership staff from Mountlake Terrace High School has been named a recipient of the National Student Press Association (NSPA) Leadership Award in Student Journalism.

The 15 MTHS students join students from just two other Washington state schools to be honored this year, said longtime MTHS journalism instructor and HSM adviser Vince DeMiero.

“NSPA is pleased to honor such a distinguished group of student journalists,” NSPA Associate Director Gary Lundgren said in a news release. “The leadership demonstrated by these students during their years working on student media will serve them well for careers in journalism or any future endeavors.”

To earn the NSPA Leadership Award in Student Journalism, a high school student must serve with distinction for at least two years on the staff of an NSPA-member broadcast, literary arts magazine, newspaper/newsmagazine, specialty magazine, website or yearbook by the end of the current academic year.

Students are nominated by their advisers. A specific grade-point average is not required; however, students must be in good academic standing and demonstrate journalistic excellence and staff leadership while maintaining the high ethical standards outlined in the NSPA Model Code of Ethics.

Recipients receive a certificate of recognition and are eligible to wear the NSPA Leadership in Student Journalism teal honor cord at graduation, as well as being listed on the NSPA website and on the pages of the Best of the High School Press. The new leadership award complements the academic recognition through the Quill and Scroll International Honor Society for Student Journalists, which is now part of NSPA.

“This is quite the honor – the first time I’ve nominated students for this award, and of course the first time our program has received it,” DeMiero said.