The Southwest Shadow was awarded the Scholastic Gold Crown award by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association this afternoon. The organization announced the winners of both Silver and Gold Crowns during a virtual ceremony. 

“I’m really proud of our newspaper staff for being able to keep the quality of work intact throughout the pandemic when we were all confused on what was going on,” junior Gurleen Swaich said. “Even in the beginning of the year when everyone was having a hard time adapting with the new virtual schedule, students from the staff always made sure to help each other out wherever they can and our adviser, Mr. Laporte has always been one of the best motivators to keep students going and produce quality content.” 

This is the seventh time in a row that the newspaper has earned this award.

“When I first heard that our newspaper received the gold crown award, I was really happy and a little surprised,” sophomore Kayla Thomas. “It’s my first year on the staff, and I had no foundation on journalism, I was going headfirst into something completely new. It was a lot of pressure, especially with the virtual learning schedule. Some nights I felt like I had no energy, but I pushed through it anyway.”