We are excited to welcome nine members to the 2023-24 class of GSPA Student Ambassadors!

GSPA will offer two on-the-spot contests during the Fall Conference on Oct. 24 at the UGA Tate Student Center. Both will be open to student attendees of any publication type. There are no entry fees for either of these contests.

Reserve your spot at the Fall Conference Tuesday, Oct. 24 at the University of Georgia’s Tate Student Center. The cost to attend is $15 per student. Admission is free for advisers with paid memberships and chaperones. Please fill out this registration form. 

Welcome Anna Parel to the GSPA staff! Anna is a first-year graduate student at the University of Georgia, obtaining a master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications with an emphasis in Advertising. She recently achieved her bachelor’s degree from The University of Mississippi in Integrated Marketing Communications.

GSPA invites advisers and student staff members from all publication and production types who are interested in presenting at the 2023 Fall Conference Tuesday, Oct. 24 at the University of Georgia’s Tate Student Center to submit their ideas for consideration by Sept. 15, 2023.

Four different one-week camps were offered: broadcast journalism, entertainment and media studies, multimedia journalism, and public relations and advertising. More than 60 students from 12 states across the country including California, Colorado and Texas attended. 

The top GSPA award winners from the 2022-23 school year are showcased in the latest edition of The Winners’ Circle, available for download here. This document has been updated as of May 26, 2023, to include some individual category winners from the 2022 Yearbook contest.

GSPA is now accepting General Excellence and Individual Award contest entries for yearbooks and literary magazines published in the 2022-23 academic year.

There are three special Individual Award categories this year: Health, Environmental and Social Justice Reporting.

Energetic and engaged students interested in expanding their leadership skills, bringing a new vision and shaping GSPA are invited to apply to be part of the GSPA Student Ambassadors program. Applications are due Aug. 31, 2023.

GSPA honored several Achievement Award winners during the Spring Award ceremony on March 27, 2023. They included recognitions for Turnaround, First-Year Adviser, Enterprising and Adviser of the Year.

Marc Ginsberg, adviser of BluePrints and WJAG-TV at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Georgia, has been selected as GSPA’s 2023 Adviser of the Year. The award recognizes a journalism teacher who goes beyond the “call of duty” in supporting his or her staff.

GSPA and its members from across the state celebrated the best in scholastic journalism at the 2023 Spring Workshop and Awards March 27 at the University of Georgia’s Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Watch the video presentation!

Disha Kumar, co-editor-in-chief for The Messenger newsmagazine at Northview High School in Johns Creek, Georgia, has been named the 2023 Georgia Champion Journalist of the Year. The award recognizes the top high school senior journalist in the state. Melanie Frick, co-editor-in-chief for Cedar Shoals High School’s BluePrints Magazine, was the runner-up in the competition.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 First Amendment Essay contest. These students will be recognized during the Spring Workshop and Awards on March 27, and they’ll receive monetary prizes along with their publications.

Registration for the Spring Workshop and Awards is now available at this link: 2023 Spring Workshop and Awards through 3 p.m. March 20. Attendance is free for advisers who have paid membership fees and $30 per student or other guest. The fee includes a mini conference followed by a catered banquet-style meal.

Sydney Shadrix will deliver the keynote address to high school journalists and teachers at the Georgia Scholastic Press Association’s Spring Workshop and Awards on March 27, 2023, at the University of Georgia Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

The 2022-23 Spring General Excellence Competition and Individual Awards contest are now open! Submit your best work from broadcasts, newsmagazines, newspapers and news websites. Additionally, Achievement Awards are open to all publication types. For details and entry forms, go to https://www.ugagspa.org/spring-competitions. The deadline for all entries is Feb. 15, 2023. Please note this is a firm deadline because the Spring Workshop and Awards is Monday, March 27.

GSPA is now accepting entries for the 2023 First Amendment Essay Competition. As an essential part of our democracy, the press, and education, the First Amendment remains a crucial area of study and review. The contest is free to enter, and it makes for a great end-of-the-semester class assignment. Deadline: Jan. 31, 2023.

Each year, GSPA recognizes the top student journalist in the state with the Georgia Champion Journalist Award. The winner receives a cash prize and represents the state in the Journalism Education Association's National Journalist of the Year competition. The deadline for both the Champion Journalist and Junior Champion Journalist Awards is Jan. 22, 2023.