On Friday, March 7th, the west side Tosa Compass attended the 2025 Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) Convention. This was their first time attending since the Covid pandemic began in 2020.

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association Convention brings together Wisconsin news leaders to explore news ideas and opportunities, and to honor the winners of the 2024 Better Newspaper Contest (BNC) from March 6th-7th. The BNC recognizes journalism excellence across more than 50 categories and five circulation divisions, for both high school and college students. BNC categories include General Excellence, Public Affairs Reporting, In-Depth Story, Feature Story, Sports Story, Editorial Writing, Column Writing, News/Feature Photography, Sports Photography, Infographic/Illustration and Best Use of Multimedia/Website. Additionally, each high school that wins the General Excellence Award will also receive a $1,000 Branen Award, named in honor of William E. Branen who was Wisconsin’s youngest editor in 1953 and president of the Wisconsin Press Association.

Students left the school at 6:30am to arrive in Madison before 8am, which was followed by a quick walk around the capitol with history lessons from Tosa Compass advisor, Christoper Lazarski. The convention began with a welcoming address from the CEO and executive director of the American Press Institute (API), Michael Bolden. Bolden explained his idea for the future of local news and highlighted the need for more connection and inclusivity. “Learn as much as you can. Be intellectually curious about everything. Sometimes, you will pursue an inquiry and have no idea where it will lead. But that idea of being curious about the world and not accepting things as they appear to be will make not only good journalists, but good citizens.” 

Bolden’s speech was followed with a session led by journalist and multimedia journalism teacher, Jessica McBride. This session followed a more modern theme, discussing how to leverage the newest reporting tools to create more impactful journalism. McBride explained the importance of staying ahead as a journalist and what modern tools can help you do so, such as AI-powered researching assistants.

West side journalists Mi’kell Bishop-Vance, Avianah Zarnowski, and Ellie Scholtus spoke with McBride after the session to get a deeper understanding of her work and motivation. “I love writing. My grandparents were reporters and so my earliest memory is walking into the old Milwaukee Journal newsroom. The ambiance of the newsroom really instilled in me a desire to be a journalist from as far back as I remember. But secondarily, I love to write. It’s kind of an art form,” McBride stated. She also left a piece of motivation for student journalists “I was a student journalist at the UW-Milwaukee Post. I showed [my first piece] to the Milwaukee Bucks beat reporter and he ripped it to tiny pieces. I remember it had so many red marks on it–  but he gave me suggestions and the next story I brought took him less time [to correct] and eventually I knew what I was doing. My advice is to just get into a newsroom- It’s really just about networking.” 

Two more optional informational sessions took place, one being “Build more meaningful relationships with your community,” led by Trusting News project manager Mollie Muchna. The second session was “Youtube and You,” led by research and consulting executive, Bill Day. 

The Student Honors Luncheon began at 11:45. The purpose of the luncheon was to celebrate Wisconsin’s outstanding student journalists and announce the winners in its college and high school Better Newspaper Contests. Kelly Lecker, Wisconsin State Journal Executive Editor, was the guest speaker. Lecker shared the obstacles the media has faced and how journalists may further the conversation around issues such as gun violence, school safety and mental health.

The Tosa Compass proved to be incredibly successful in the contest. Students came home with 15 awards, earning more than any other high school journalism program in Wisconsin this year. The received awards are as follows:

General Excellence: Avianah Zarnowski, Ellie Scholtus, Eve Lazarski (Honorable Mention)

In-Depth Reporting: Avianah Zarnowski, Ellie Scholtus, Jennifer Liang (3rd place) 

General Reporting: Charles Andrew Cruz (Honorable Mention)

News/Feature Photography: Avianah Zarnowski, Ellie Scholtus (1st place)

News/Feature Photography: Kabao Lor (2nd place) 

News/Feature Photography: Markel Fletcher, Mi’kell Bishop-Vance (Honorable Mention)

Best Use of Multimedia/Website: Avianah Zarnowski, Ellie Scholtus, Eve Lazarski (1st place) 

Best Use of Multimedia/Website: Amarri Monk, Iyonna Small (2nd place)

Best Use of Multimedia/Website: Avianah Zarnowski, Ellie Scholtus, Eve Lazarski (Honorable Mention) 

Sports Story: Oskar Miroslaw, Felix Bucaro (2nd place)

Sports Story: Ariyana Rhodes (3rd place) 

Sports Photography: Mi’kell Bishop-Vance (1st place)

Public Affairs Reporting: Damarius Twitty-Montgomery, Kasjyen Richardson (1st place)

Public Affairs Reporting: Carlyne Diogo (2nd place)

Public Affairs Reporting: Avianah Zarnowski, Ellie Scholtus, Eve Lazarski, Journey Love Taylor (Honorable Mention) 

Attending the 2025 WNA Convention was a new experience for all the students, including senior and Tosa Compass leadership, Ellie Scholtus. “I’m feeling pretty motivated to write and cover events just from winning these awards and seeing everyone else win,” said Scholtus. “I’m sad to leave. I feel like there is so much more I could do and such little time left.” Freshman writer Kabao Lor had a similar perspective. “It was a fun, new experience. I feel motivated to do more in the future [because] accomplishing things always feels good. Getting an award is a confidence boost, so it was really good to get an award my first year.” 

Students ended their field trip by taking a walk and visiting the Memorial Union on the University of Wisconsin- Madison campus before driving back to Wauwatosa. “The whole experience was amazing,” said freshman Mi’kell Bishop-Vance. “I was really happy with everything we got to do and I loved all the advice that we got from a lot of journalists. It was the best thing for me, being apart of Tosa Compass, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.”