Students Recognized Nationally for Journalism Work

9/24/2025

Proving how powerful storytelling can make an impact, six Masters students have been named finalists in the prestigious National Scholastic Press Association competition.

Under the guidance of Ellen Cowhey, Matt Ives and Adrian Sas, Tower faculty co-advisors, these Tower Press and Tower Broadcast News staffers were one of ten national finalists in their respective categories who were honored for their individual journalistic work. It should be noted that Rose Yuan '28, Gus Creech '26, Devan Patel '27, Mason Aguiar '28 and Neena Atkins '26 received nominations in the selective portfolio categories. Recent graduate and former Tower editor-in-chief Rooke Wiser '25 was nominated for his podcast segment.

Creech spoke about how much the piece meant to him: “When you get into this kind of story, a polarizing issue in a community, it takes a lot of work behind the scenes, which is the first time that I've had to do that for a broadcast segment. And I was really proud of our team, that we could get the lawyer's side, and it told the full story. We included every voice.”

Cowhey lauded Creech, Aguiar and Patel as well. “They were very thorough and it was a real testament to their interest in the topic, and their willingness to lean into learning good journalism," she said.

The Tower leadership team will head down to the Fall National High School Journalism Convention, in Nashville, where NSPA winners will be announced on Saturday, November 15.

“NSPA is a national stage, and these honors speak to the effort, dedication and skill these students have put in and developed,” Cowhey added.

Meanwhile, seniors Logan Dundas, Eileen Kang, Thomas McCallum, James Milward, Alex Pinnock and Lucy Vargas were named National Merit Scholar Semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. They are ranked among the top high school graduating seniors in the nation based on their Preliminary SAT (PSAT) and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) scores.

Congratulations to all!

Artist of the Year
Rose Yuan ’28
Tower Press

Local Climate Change Reporting
Mason Aguiar ’28, Gus Creech ’26, Devan Patel ’27
Tower Broadcast News
“Locals Debate Future of the Knoll Amid Development Push”

Broadcast Journalist of the Year
Gus Creech ’26
Tower Broadcast News

Fred Ross Systemic Change Journalism Competition
Rooke Wiser ’25
Tower (podcast)
“Student Journalism Under Attack”

Broadcast News Story of the Year

Mason Aguiar ’28, Gus Creech ’26, Devan Patel ’27
Tower Broadcast News
“Locals Debate Future of the Knoll Amid Development Push”

Writer of the Year
Neena Atkins ’26
Tower