The Standard received an All-Kansas Ranking from the Kansas Scholastic Press Association (KSPA) on June 21.

The official list of All-Kansas winners was posted on May 2; however, several submitted publications, including The Standard, were not mailed to the judges by KSPA on time and were evaluated late.

Each entered publication receives either an Award of Merit, an Award of Commendation or an All-Kansas Award. KSPA describes an All-Kansas publication as “a quality newspaper that would compete well at any level,” featuring “solid reporting and writing skills” and designs that “best enhance a news package.”

The same judge evaluates every entry from one class and provides commentary on how to improve.

Every newspaper is ranked on the same scale in the areas of coverage, writing, design, visuals and leadership that contribute to the overall ranking. The Standard was ranked All-Kansas in four of these five categories.

University of Kansas journalism professor and judge Dr. Peter Bobkowski said The Standard does a “good job highlighting the lives of ‘ordinary’ students instead of glamorizing the popular ones.”

He said the “in-depth features are quite strong” with “quotes [that] are often insightful and help to move forward each story’s narrative,” and “photos are generally strong with many good action shots published throughout the issues.”

“I felt our biggest strength was being able to story tell, not just using text but being able to incorporate strong photos and designs to tell a story,” staff member Michael Magyar said. “The staff did a really good job of making the paper more reader friendly, by making the stories have more interesting topics and incorporating unique designs to go along with it.”

The Standard earned All-Kansas in 2011-2012 as well, and Wolfbyte TV also won All-Kansas this year for video news. Former editor-in-chief Grant Laster said he was relieved to hear the good news this year.

“Our staff put in a lot of time and effort to improve on strengths and weaknesses throughout the year — this is the measure of our success — and being awarded this honor was validating both as a staffer and as editor-in-chief,” Laster said. “I hope that the staff stays open to pushing the envelope and being radical.”