On Nov. 6-8, members from tjTODAY, Techniques and Threshold – Jefferson publications collectively referred to as TJ Media – attended the Journalism Education Association and National Scholastic Press Association (JEA/NSPA) Fall 2014 Convention, held at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Washington, D.C. This annual convention typically draws over 4,000 middle and high school journalists from across the country.

At the awards ceremony on Nov. 8, tjTODAY received an NSPA Pacemaker award for its work in the 2013-2014 school year. The Pacemaker recognizes student publications for their excellence in coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, and photography and visual elements.

This prestigious honor is presented to approximately 25 high school newspapers across the country. The highest national honor for student journalists, the Pacemaker is sometimes considered the scholastic journalism equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize. tjTODAY has now collected a total of six Pacemakers, adding to the streak of four consecutive awards since 2011.

The list of online newspaper and yearbook Pacemaker finalists will be released in the spring. Pacemaker recipients will be announced at the JEA/NSPA Spring 2015 Convention, which will be held April 16-20 in Denver.

Jefferson’s publications were also entered in the NSPA Best of Show competition, an on-site contest that judges the quality of a single issue or copy of a newspaper, magazine or yearbook.

tjTODAY’s October 2014 issue won first place in the Tabloid 16 or Fewer Pages category. Last year’s yearbook, titled “Always On. Slightly Off,” placed sixth in the category for yearbooks of 275-324 pages , while Threshold took eighth place for literary magazines.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Erinn Harris

The newspaper staff won first place in the NSPA Best of Show competition for the October 2014 issue of tjTODAY.