Pen Power: LPS students pocket awards at state journalism championships

May 15, 2025

Southwest High School senior Lillian Bittle earned a platinum-level journalism award this spring for connecting people through her powerful photographs.
 
Bittle captured first place in the action photography category at the Class A State Journalism Championships. She was part of a large group of Lincoln Public Schools students who collected awards in their state contests. Journalists from East, North Star, Southeast and Southwest claimed honors for their high school newspaper, yearbook and broadcast teams.

Bittle is editor-in-chief of The Hawk, which is Southwest’s student newspaper. She has covered multiple sports during her four years at the paper and has taken award-winning shots of many Silver Hawks. She said her time spent at gyms, diamonds, fields and pools has taught her about the community feeling that comes from school activities.
 
“I find a lot of my passion for sports photography is rooted in the joy of others,” Bittle said. “Taking pictures of the student section, teammate reactions and fully understanding the sport more at an emotional level instead of a basic intellectual level. I enjoy getting to be that bridge between arts and athletics by just being able to take a single photograph.”
 
Bittle won her state title for photos of softball, girls soccer and boys wrestling. She said it was a good feeling to discover storytelling images while reviewing her pictures.
 
“I take so many photos, so when I get that one perfect millisecond of life captured in a single frame, it feels like a secret shared within one’s self,” Bittle said. “A little surprise just for you that eventually you get to share with everyone.”

 
East senior Louis Hoffman earned a state championship with the same type of journalistic passion. He secured a title in the headline writing category and added a silver medal in the editorial cartooning contest.
 
Hoffman has been with The Oracle newspaper for two years and has contributed to both print and online editions. He said it has been fun to spend time with other staff members on journalism projects.
 
“I really enjoy the community of the journalism staff,” Hoffman said. “I get to work with a great group of people, and it’s a really tight-knit group unlike any class I’ve been a part of. I also really enjoy being able to get cartoons and articles published on a regular basis. I have greatly increased my skills because of it.”

 
East teacher Emily Geldmeier is advisor for The Oracle and Elle Conger is the school’s yearbook advisor. Geldmeier said it was encouraging to watch the Spartans earn state awards. McKenzie Ngu, Jerrica Zhang and Chloe Wolbert all captured honors for their yearbook efforts.
 
“I am incredibly proud of our journalism staff – both newspaper and yearbook – in their commitment to serve our student body at East High School well,” Geldmeier said. “State journalism is just the cherry on top to all the hard work that goes into creating regular news publications and a yearbook each year. These awards help highlight the amazing individual commitment and group collaboration that goes into student journalism!”
 
Southeast senior Garrison Mehlin collected a state title for the Knights in the newspaper column writing category. He pens opinion columns for The Clarion, which produces news across a wide variety of media platforms.
 
“Opinionated journalism, in my opinion, is one of the most important aspects of a newspaper because it deviates from most of the other standards of writing,” Mehlin said. “I’m able to write about what I’d like, I’m able to back my opinions with research, and I’m able to do it in a manner that allows people to read what I have to write. What I enjoy most is the ability to say things that most people would not hear or care about otherwise.”

 
Mehlin said his classmates and Southeast journalism teacher Brianne Clark deserved credit for the state honor. Clark and veteran co-editors-in-chief Georgia Wood and Maren Steinke guided Mehlin during his first year of writing for The Clarion.
 
“When they put me on top of the podium, I was shocked and thrilled that I had made it there, but also fortunate to have such a fantastic coach in Mrs. Clark and a fantastic support team in the LSE student journalism community,” Mehlin said.
 
Adam Taylor and Myla Davis joined Mehlin on the awards platform. Taylor earned fifth place in both broadcast sports story and broadcast public service announcement categories, and Davis collected sixth place in the newspaper news writing contest.
 
“I’m incredibly proud of Garrison, Adam and Myla for their accomplishments at state journalism,” Clark said. “Each of them brought something unique to the table, and to see their hard work and talent recognized at that level is really rewarding.”
 
Clark said all of her journalism students have displayed dedication in their newsgathering efforts this year.
 
“Our students are driven not just by contests, but by a deep commitment to sharing the news and telling stories that matter to the LSE community,” Clark said. “It’s awesome to see students recognized at this level, but what makes me proud every day is their intrinsic motivation to inform, engage and uplift their peers through journalism!”
 
Chase Strohmyer represented North Star on the state awards stage. He returned to Lincoln with a sixth-place medal in the action photography category. He entered images of swimming, boys basketball and boys wrestling in the contest.

 
Bittle, Khloe Swanson, Lyric Lee and Chloe Wiens teamed up for Southwest’s second state championship of 2025. The four Silver Hawks won first place in the yearbook theme development category. Swanson, the yearbook’s editor-in-chief, led a group effort with the theme of “Extraordinarily Us” throughout the year.
 
Swanson, Bittle, Lee and Wiens felt the yearbook’s scrapbook-like design highlighted the extraordinary moments that happen at Southwest each day.
 
“We are all unique and do extraordinary things in our day-to-day lives at our school,” their nomination letter said. “The theme was meant to show how our school goes above and beyond to be just a little bit different and better when we are a part of Lincoln Southwest. We wanted to have a quirky design with ripped and cutout paper and different elements that gave our book a little bit of a scrapbook feel, because we are making memories like a scrapbook, but also telling stories like a yearbook.”
 
Southwest journalism teacher Brandi Benson said it was exciting to have students receive recognition in seven state categories. Josh Carl and Jaylee Carlson each earned silver medals for their advertising and infographics talents, and Wiens, Lauren Eilts and Alianna Svatos pocketed awards for their yearbook efforts. Anthony Aden added a state medal for newspaper column writing.
 
“There are not enough words to describe how proud I am of this group,” Benson said. “Student journalists are behind the scenes capturing moments to document our school’s history. To watch them get recognized and celebrated at state is so amazing."

2025 LPS State Journalism Championships Results

Lincoln East
Louis Hoffman – Headline Writing – 1st place
Louis Hoffman – Editorial Cartooning – 2nd place
McKenzie Ngu – Yearbook Layout – 5th place
Jerrica Zhang – Yearbook Layout – 7th place
McKenzie Ngu, Jerrica Zhang, Chloe Wolbert – Yearbook Theme Development – 6th place
 
Lincoln North Star
Chase Strohmyer – Action Photography – 6th place
 
Lincoln Southeast
Garrison Mehlin – Newspaper Column Writing – 1st place
Adam Taylor – Broadcast Public Service Announcement – 5th place
Adam Taylor – Broadcast Sports Story – 5th place
Myla Davis – Newspaper News Writing – 6th place
 
Lincoln Southwest
Khloe Swanson, Lillian Bittle, Lyric Lee, Chloe Wiens – Yearbook Theme Development – 1st place
Lillian Bittle – Action Photography – 1st place
Josh Carl – Advertising – 2nd place
Jaylee Carlson – Info Graphic – 2nd place
Chloe Wiens – Yearbook Layout – 4th place
Lauren Eilts – Yearbook Layout – 8th place
Alianna Svatos – Yearbook Feature Writing – 5th place
Anthony Aden – Newspaper Column Writing – 7th place
 
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