For the second year in a row, The Blue Jay, Jesuit’s student newspaper, has been named Best Newspaper of the year by the Tom Bell Silver Scribe high school journalism competition. 

In addition, sophomore Jae Kweon was named the Silver Scribe of the competition, the top individual showing for the annual event, which is sponsored by the Loyola University School of Mass Communications and the Press Club of New Orleans. 

More than 45 students from five area schools took part in the day-long series of competitions and workshops on Feb. 28 at Loyola. The event is named after the late Tom Bell, a longtime Loyola communications teacher and journalist who founded the competition. Professional journalists led workshops and served as judges for the various categories.

In a pair of photography categories, Kweon took both first and second place for two of his pictures, one of a toddler in Audubon Park, another of ballet dancers rehearsing in the studio. 

In other live competition rounds, senior Jason LaHatte won first place in the feature writing competition, and tied for third place in the news writing round. Freshman Donald Barrett took third place in the feature writing round.

In the pre-submitted Maroon and Gold competition, which included articles, photos and entire editions of the newspaper, Jason LaHatte won second place for his feature on the Jesuit connections to the 610 Stompers in the Mardi Gras edition. Editor Patrick Fine earned three awards: second place in both editorial and sports writing, and third in news writing.

“The Blue Jay has a strong history with the Silver Scribe competition, and I’m proud of how our entire staff performed,” said Ted Mahne, moderator of the newspaper. “It always provides a wonderful opportunity for our student journalists to work with and learn from professionals in the field, and to have their work evaluated by top local journalists and teachers.”

In addition to Jesuit, other schools participating in this year’s event included St. Martin’s Episcopal, Lusher, Grace King, and Brother Martin.

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Nola.com – Winners named in Tom Bell Silver Scribe Competition in New Orleans