The Bedford Middle School newspaper Ursus took top honors in the competition. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Bedford Middle School’s student newspaper Ursus received a Gold Crown Award, the top honor, from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), school officials announced today.
The CSPA contest is the nation’s largest and longest running scholastic press competition, judging papers and yearbooks from almost 2,000 schools from across the country.
According to Lisa Marriott, spokeswoman for the Westport schools, the recognition represents one of only two Gold Crowns awarded on the national-level for middle school newspapers, joining Harvard Westlake, a private school in Los Angeles, in receiving top honors.
Marriott said that Stephen Rexford, the teacher-adviser to Ursus, was invited by Columbia University to present a seminar for advisers of student publication at the 92nd annual spring convention.
Two days later at the awards ceremony, Staples students on the Inklings staff, there to pick up the Silver Crown which they have won consecutively since 2010, represented Bedford and brought home the plaque.
“Westport has a long, wonderful tradition of valuing journalism and the press. I’m glad the kids have added their work and this award to that tradition,” said Rexford, a former adviser to Inklings when he was at Staples.
