The Montclarion has won seven New Jersey Press Foundation (NJPF) awards through the 2023-2024 New Jersey College Newspaper Contest. This includes two first place awards, four second place awards and one third place award.
The contest is open to all college newspapers across New Jersey and has 10 individual, three online and two newspaper categories. Those of which include awards for website, articles, photography and more.
Lynise Olivacce, editor-in-chief of The Montclarion shared her reaction towards the team’s success.
Lynise Olivacce, editor-in-chief. Karsten Englander | The Montclarion.
“I’m very proud of the team and the hard work they’ve done,” Olivacce said. “We’ve been through a lot and winning these awards is only a testament to our hard work. But, I’m overall really proud of the team and I can’t wait to finish out the semester strong and see all the great work the incoming team does once I graduate.”
The Montclarion won two first place awards.
One first place award was within the Feature Writing Category. The article that won was “The Ballroom Scene Graces the Runway at the Red Hawk Community Ball,” written by Olivacce.
The second first place award was within the Overall Website category for The Montclarion website.
Luis Sobrino, web editor, is proud that he and his assistant Yaire Souffront were able to update the website.
Luis Sobrino, web editor. Karsten Englander | The Montclarion.
“Honestly I feel really proud that the team and I were able to put together a great website,” Sobrino said. “Not only is the website great visually but it’s also great content-wise. It wouldn’t be a website without the content.”
Yaire Souffront, assistant web editor. Karsten Englander | The Montclarion
Olivacce shared that she also worked alongside Sobrino to make the site more updated.
“I worked with the web team throughout this semester because one of my goals was to change and update the appearance of the website from the design we had for years now,” Olivacce said. “I’m really happy that hard work paid off.”
NJPF awarded The Montclarion four second place awards.
Olivacce won second place for the Biography/Personality Profile category, the article that won being “Montclair State’s Aryanna Salmon Wins First Place in Newark Fashion Week Festival.”
Olivacce shared her reaction to winning two awards.
“As for me, I’m really grateful that two pieces of mine were recognized by NJPF, I really enjoyed creating them,” Olivacce said.
Avery Nixon, opinion editor, won second place in the Editorial Writing category for her article “EDITORIAL: More Students, More Problems.”
Nixon shared her reaction, thanking The Montclarion for the opportunities she has received.
Avery Nixon, opinion editor. Karsten Englander | The Montclarion.
“I’m so thankful to be recognized by NJPF for doing something I’m so passionate about,” Nixon said. “I’m so thankful for all the opportunities The Montclarion has given me and I’m thankful for the recognition I’ve received.”
Sal DiMaggio, feature editor and Alex Pavljuk, fiction editor received second place in the News Writing category for the article “BREAKING: Car Fire Disrupts Morning Commute at Montclair State.”
Sal DiMaggio, feature editor. Karsten Englander | The Montclarion.
DiMaggio expressed how a lot of work was put into covering the breaking news article.
“I’m super excited to win this award from NJPF,” DiMaggio said. “A lot of work went into covering the fire that day and it wouldn’t have been possible without everybody on our team and I’m just so proud of how our paper has been able to constantly put out news all year round.”
Pavljuk shared that the article was his first time ever writing a news piece for The Montclarion.
Alex Pavljuk, fiction editor. Karsten Englander | The Montclarion.
“It definitely comes as a shock considering that during my four years at the paper I’ve never actually written a news piece,” Pavljuk said. “For the past three years I’ve been writing fiction too as the fiction editor and, you know, the day that we wrote that piece it kind of just was happenstance. There wasn’t really much going on in the newsroom and the fact that there was just a small team of us kind of ready to jump at it was the only direction we needed and it was cool to just be part of it and kind of get to touch every section at least once before graduating.”
Ashleigh Corby, ad sales manager, won second place in the Online Video category for “Music, Beer and Traffic Cones: How the Great Notch Inn Has Stood the Test of Time.”
Ashleigh Corby, ad sales manager. Karsten Englander | The Montclarion.
Corby enjoyed covering the story on the Great Notch Inn and is grateful for receiving an award for her video Music, Beer and Traffic Cones: How the Great Notch Inn Has Stood the Test of Time.
“I am super grateful to have received a NJPF award for my feature video on The Great Notch Inn,” Corby said. “So much time and effort went into making sure the bar’s charm and history were captured in an authentic way. I truly enjoyed the process and appreciate all the positive feedback from my peers.”
Karsten Englander was awarded third place in the Photography category for “Student Life in Photos,” which consisted of photos from “Photo Essay: Montclair State Students Celebrate the Beginning of the Semester on Red Hawk Day” and “Photo Essay: Montclair State Holds Commencement Ceremonies for the Class of 2023”
Karsten Englander, director of photography. Lynise Olivacce | The Montclarion.
Englander thanks The Montclarion for the opportunities he has received.
“I’m incredibly happy that I got this award,” Englander said. “I’m incredibly thankful to The Montclarion for giving me the opportunities to take pictures of all these fantastic events and it really wouldn’t have happened if I was anywhere else.”
The award winners have been invited to attend an awards banquet on April 20.
