News Post

Both the "Georgetowner" literary magazine and the "Wicket" student newspaper received awards and honors from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) this fall. For the sixth and third consecutive years respectively, the "Georgetowner" and the "Wicket" received Gold Medalist status. The "Georgetowner" was also given one of CSPA's top awards - All-Columbian Honors - for its score in the "Essentials" category. 

Current editors-in-chief of the "Georgetowner," Emma Gorman and Cece Swartz '20, contributed heavily to last year's layout and design. "We are very pleased that all of the effort and extra hours outside of school ... dedicated to this magazine show through in this edition," they said. 

Emma, Cece, and the staff of the "Georgetowner" are already hard at work to turn six years of awards into seven next fall, when the 2018-2019 magazine critique is received. They are planning to encourage earlier and more frequent submissions to the magazine throughout the year, as well as publicizing the "Georgetowner." 

"The teamwork of everyone involved with the magazine is the most critical component," Emma and Cece said. "It takes a small army of people to create the publication." This includes the authors and artists who submit their work, and the staff members and editors who make suggestions and revisions before publication and complete the layout. 

The "Wicket" editors, Emily Dwyer and Eleanor Miskovsky '19, also recognize the contribution of time that staff members have made to produce each issue; Emily believes that the content of the news articles, features, and opinion pieces make Visitation's student newspaper stand out. "I think our biggest strength is our ability to localize news so that is relevant to our community and our unique identity as an all-girls Catholic high school in the nation’s capital, living during a pretty newsworthy time," she said. 

Emily feels that one contributor to the success of the "Wicket" is how staff members collaborate to make awards like these possible. "One constant from year to year," she said, "is a great staff filled with girls in all grades who have different strengths and interests. Whether it is a passion for tackling current events and controversial issues or an eye for layout and artwork, everyone’s abilities come together to make every issue amazing."