Fredonia High School won the prestigious Bertram Freed Memorial Award Friday at St. Bonaventure University’s annual Communications Day.
Named after the longtime Buffalo News reporter, the award honors the high school that won the most publication and individual categories, ranging from newspaper, TV and yearbook to feature and opinion writing.
Fredonia took first place in the news magazine and yearbook categories, and earned 11 individual writing and photography awards. Brighton High School won for best newspaper, and won nine individual awards in writing and illustrations. Salamanca High School took top honors in the television category, while Brocton High School won 10 individual awards.
In all, 13 schools and more than 220 students attended Communications Day.
Dan Collins, SBU class of ’73, vice president of corporate communication for Corning Inc., was the keynote speaker. Reporters, editors, producers, photographers, radio program directors, public relations professionals and yearbook executives conducted workshops throughout the course of the event.
The award winners were:
Publications/Productions
News Magazine
1st - Spectator, Fredonia High School
2nd - Silent Noise [!], Buffalo City Honors School
Newspaper
1st - Trapezoid, Brighton High School
2nd - Brocton Review, Brocton High School
3rd - Cougar Beat, Cassadaga Valley Central School
Television
1st - Warrior Vision Production, Salamanca High School
Yearbook
1st - Folio - Fredonia High School
2nd - Gowanda Valley Bugle - Gowanda High School
3rd - The Legend - Buffalo City Honors School
Individual Competition
Depth Reporting
1st - Eliz Arnavut, Fredonia High School
2nd - Kaylin Lowther, Fredonia High School
3rd - Kelsey Ruffino, Fredonia High School
Editorials
1st - Kristen Becker, Brocton High School
2nd - Spectator Staff, Fredonia High School
3rd - Christian Deakin, Brocton High School
Entertainment Review
1st - Stanford Schor, Brighton High School
2nd - Chaz Mancino, Fredonia High School
2nd - Marisa Bartolotta, Buffalo City Honors School
Features
1st - Prachi Mehta and Rafa Ifthikhar, Brighton High School
2nd - Mohini Sharma, Brighton High School
3rd - Monica Buck, Fredonia High School
3rd - Erin Wang, Brighton High School
Humor
1st - Jesse Ellis-Wexler, Brighton High School
2nd - Zachary Delcamp, Brocton High School
3rd - Nikk Michalski, Fredonia High School
Illustrations
1st - Suzanne Wu, Brighton High School
2nd - Sonia Ureles, Brighton High School
3rd - Nadia Wakabayashi, Brighton High School
News Reporting
1st - Elizabeth Bromsted & Jeremy Little, Brocton High School
2nd - Elizabeth Bromsted, Brocton High School
3rd - Nick Berdyck, Fredonia High School
3rd - Jeremy Little, Brocton High School
3rd - Kelsey Ruffino, Fredonia High School
Opinion
1st - Madison Carter, Brighton High School
2nd - Rob Knickerbocker, Brocton High School
Photojournalism
1st - Sean Pecuch, Fredonia High School
2nd - James Hobbs, Fredonia High School
3rd - Kristen Becker, Brocton High School
Sports Features
1st - Christian Deakin, Brocton High School
2nd - Matt Sant-Miller, Brighton High School
3rd - Meghan Roberts, Brocton High School