The NWACC Eagle View, its staff, and journalism student contributors received 27 awards in the 2025 Arkansas College Media Association contest. The honors were for content and work during the 2024 calendar year.

The awards were presented April 11 at the group’s annual conference. NorthWest Arkansas Community College’s journalism department and the Eagle View staff hosted this year’s event. Kelsi Turk’s advanced graphic design students created a logo and conference theme and developed exterior and interior signage, a bio sheet, PowerPoint deck and the conference program for the event.

Two members of the student newspaper’s leadership team received honors in two General Excellence categories.

Chelsea Castillo, managing editor of the Eagle View, received one of the top awards in the General Excellence category. Castillo was named “Reporter of the Year ” and received a framed certificate and a $1,000 check. The judge for the category wrote, “Admired for her writing and reporting, this entrant has demonstrated to her peers and her administrators the value quality journalism can provide to a student media outlet. The letters speak highly of her efforts to keep the students informed of crucial stories on the campus, as well as offering them fun and engaging features. She has done her newsroom proud.” The monetary prizes were presented to first-place winners in some of the individual General Excellence categories by the Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Kay King, the student newspaper’s editor-in-chief, was awarded third place in the General Excellence category of “Newspaper Editor of the Year.” The judge for this category wrote, “A great candidate for this honor who provided her staff with solid content, good leadership skills and great support.”

The Eagle View, its staff, and journalism student contributors received an additional 25 awards in online and newspaper categories.

First-place winners were:

• Johan Trejo, topical reporting/blogs—online, “It Takes a Village: A Look at the Economics of Grandfamilies”
•  Debbie Upson, multimedia package—online, “Diagnosing Disaster” (coverage of health professions disaster drill)
• Samantha McClain and Delaney Reaves, meeting/speech coverage—online, “NWACC Board Approves Tuition Increase”
• Delaney Reaves, in-depth reporting—online, “NWACC to Explore AI Possibilities”
• Kay King, breaking news (within 24 hours of the event)—online, “Flying Forward to the Future” (new branding reveal)
• Morgan Nunley, review writing, print newspaper, “Snub of the Century: Why Iron Claw is the Best Movie of 2023”
• Samantha McClain and Stephanie Roat, online advertising, “Super Tuesday Election Night”

Second-place awards went to

• Delaney Reaves, feature photo—online, “Sunshine the Squirrel”
• Ryen Hale, sports writing—online, “Pursuing Gold through Steven McElroy’s Eyes”
• Jaden Burgett, topical reporting (blogs)—online, “When a Doctor Recommends Alcohol, You Know You Are in Trouble”
• Jaden Burgett, editorials/commentary/blogs—online, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Women’s Rights”
• Jaden Burgett, headlines—online, “When a Doctor Recommends Alcohol, You Know You Are in Trouble”
• Kay King and Stephanie Roat, multimedia package—online, “Catching Up on CAST”
• Delaney Reaves, sports photo—print newspaper, “The librarians celebrate their wins” (from college-intramural bowling event)

Third-place awards went to

• Ryen Hale, topical reporting/blogs—online, “9/11-The Day to Never Forget”
• Eagle View staff, multimedia package—online, “Overview: 2024 Election”
• Vivian Mejia, election/political—online, “State ranks lowest in voter turnout”
• Braiden Burton, election/political—print newspaper, “Incumbents Win Re-election to NWACC Board”
• Kay King, headlines—print newspaper, “Trails and Trades Takes Off”
• Debbie Upson, sports feature—print newspaper, “Making the Cut: A Glimpse into NWACC’s Cross Country Open Tryouts”

Honorable mentions went to

• Kay King and Samantha McClain, headlines—print newspaper, “Creepy Creatures at Crystal Bridges: Spiders, Sharks and Snakes Oh My!”
• Kay King, in-depth news—print newspaper, “Brightwater venturing into new territories”
• Debbie Upson, feature writing—print newspaper, “Going Beyond the Pages”
• Nadia Moutria, feature photo—print newspaper, “Trios Las Hermanitas Alvarez performs”
• Stephanie Roat, art/illustration—print newspaper, “Fitzgibbon’s graphic novel”