About

photo by Mark Hilburn

The Catalyst is the official school newspaper of Millard West High School in Omaha, Neb. Our staff works on written stories, broadcasts, podcasts, photography and other forms of journalism throughout the school year. We have showcased our work in multiple contests. Our main goal is to share the stories of every student who attends Millard West. Although it was only established in 2017 we will continue to work for excellence.

Awards 2020-2021

JEA Winter Contest 2020- 8 Superior, 15 Excellent, 5 Honorable Mentions

Awards 2019-2020

CSPA Crown Awards 2019- Gold Crown

NHSPA Cornhusker Awards 2019- Cornhusker Awards for Print

NHSPA Cornhusker Awards 2019- Superior Award for Broadcasting and Online

NSAA State Journalism 2019- Third Place, State Champions in Broadcast Feature Story – Jenna Reynolds and Dana Summers

UNO Media Contest- Second Place, Excellence in Broadcasting Award

Awards 2018-2019

NSPA Pacemaker Awards 2018- Pacemaker Finalist

CSPA Crown Awards 2018- Crown Finalist

NHSPA Cornhusker Awards 2018- Cornhusker Awards for Print and Online

NHSPA Cornhusker Awards 2018- Superior Award for Broadcasting

NHSPA Cornhusker Awards 2018- Golden Kernel Awards for Rich Media, Writing & Anchor Poise, Publication Redesign & Story Relatability

NBA Pinnacle Awards 2018- Best News Story Podcasting won by Sydney Looney & Gabe Paredes

NHSPA Fall Convention Write-Off Contest- Broadcast Feature Story Superior Award won by Katie Willard and Gabe Paredes,

Theme Photo Honorable Mention won by Bailey Christensen

Feature Photo Excellent won by Delaney Aikins

Awards 2017-2018

NSAA Academic All State Awards 2018- Academic All-State Award for excellence in Journalism & Academics won by Annaliese Punt & Madelyn Anderson

NSAA State Journalism Championships-  Overall Runner up

Column Writing Fifth Place won by Jessi Burd

Editorial Writing Third Place won by Craig Sullivan

Entertainment Writing Fifth Place won by Madelyn Anderson

Info Graphic Second Place won by Delaney Nordbrock

Newspaper News Writing Third Place won by Craig Sullivan

Newspaper Feature Writing Fifth Place won by Anneliese Punt

Newspaper Sports Feature Writing First Place won by Andrew Pfeifer

Broadcast News Story First Place won by Kaitlin Kocis and Annaliese Punt

Broadcast News Story Sixth Place won by Sydney Looney and Cole Filer

Broadcast Sports Story Fifth Place won by Jaden Cover and Jacob Wessel

Broadcast Sports Story Second Place won by Annaliese Punt and Jack Ward

UNO Media Contest 2018- Second Place Overall

Excellence in Broadcasting Award

Best News Story First Place won by Alexandra Dobesh

Best Sports Third Place won by Jaden Cover

Best Editorial First Place won by Madelyn Anderson

Best Column Third Place won by Jessi Burd

Best Review Third Place won by Trevor Lueck

Best Originial Art/Computer Graphics Second Place won by Trevor Lueck

Best Video News Story Second Place won by Annaliese Puny & Kaitlin Kocis

Best Video PSA Third Place won by Cole Filer & Sydney Looney

Best Long-Form Audio First Place won by Jaden Cover & Andrew Pfeifer

Best Short -Form Audio First Place won by JD Wessel. Jaden Cover &Andrew Pfeifer

Best Short-Form Audio Second & Third Place won by Cole Filer