LAWRENCE, KAN., Feb. 24, 2026 — The Kansas Scholastic Press Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2026 KPSA Regional Journalism Contest, which awarded the best student journalism from more than 1,800 entries across the state.
In the Regional Contest, students competed in 27 different categories and 11 different classifications organized by geography and school size. Students who finished first through sixth place earned the chance to compete in the state contest.
From Rock Creek High School, the following 28 students won 18 awards:
Joee’ Perkins, Editorial Cartoon, 1st Place
Reagan Adkins, Advertising Design, 2nd Place
Amani Hawkins, Copyediting, 2nd Place
Camry Wilkens, News Writing, 2nd Place
Abigail Schneider, Digital Illustration, 3rd Place
Braden Miller, Addi Ebert, Claire Schimke, Tyler Bortnick, Multimedia Storytelling, 3rd Place
Nate Bortnick, Joe McFall, Halle Reitz, Kennedy Whaley, Video Sports Promo, 3rd Place
Lindsey Trent, Cutline (Captions) Writing, 4th Place
Shevy Brock, Newspaper Sports Writing, 4th Place
Josie Kurk, Student Life Photography, 4th Place
Olivia Bowman, Editorial Writing, 5th Place
Elliot Barnes, Infographic Design, 5th Place
Denise Doucett, Yearbook Theme & Graphics, 5th Place
Jackson McCann, Bella Bittle, Cameron Chilcott, Owen Miller, Video Story Package 5th Place
Caitlyn Fleming, Headline Writing & Design, 6th Place
Kenadie Broussard, Review Writing, 6th Place
Ezra Spiller, Yearbook Sports Writing, 6th Place
Brooklyn Gibbs, Lily Wick, Payton Sturdy, Social Media, 6th Place
“Regionals push students to tackle a variety of challenges as they write stories on deadline or craft content to meet contest prompts,” KSPA executive director Barbara Tholen said. “I’m always impressed with the creativity that students bring to these contests.”
KSPA enlists the help of journalism teachers, professional journalists, university faculty members and other journalism experts to judge the entries. In addition to receiving feedback on their own entries, students will also get to see compilations of winning work.
That feedback can help guide students as they prepare entries for the KSPA State Journalism Contest. Based on results from the State Contest, KSPA will determine the sweepstakes trophy winners — the top schools in 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A. Students who finish in first through third place at state receive medals.
Article provided by Mrs. Shana Schmidt