The seventh annual Castlemaine Mail/DON KR Castlemaine Newshounds awards were held at the Castlemaine Library foyer last Saturday December 11.
With the generous support of DON KR Castlemaine the Castlemaine Mail featured 15 Newshounds pages created by student Newshounds teams from schools across Mount Alexander Shire in 2022.
Saturday’s awards celebrated the achievements of each school and culminated with the announcement of ‘Best Overall News Coverage’ and ‘People’s Choice Award’ – voted on by visitors to the Newshounds display in the library.
The awards were presented by Mail editor Lisa Dennis, Don Smallgoods representative David ‘Harry’ Harris and mascot Elliott Newshound.
Editor Lisa Dennis thanked all the teachers and students for their incredible efforts creating the pages.
“It’s great to have an insight into what’s been happening in each school, what makes each school unique, and to hear the student voice shine through,” she said.
Don KR Castlemaine Salami, Smallgoods & Snacking General Manager David Harris said the company was extremely proud to have supported the initiative since its inception.
“It’s wonderful to see the finished pages and share them with our staff. Having gone to Winters Flat Primary myself its wonderful to hear what’s happening at our local schools,” David said.
Mr Harris said Don KR Castlemaine would be proudly supporting the initiative again in 2023.
The Mail would like to acknowledge all the schools on a fabulous effort and celebrate our 2022 award winners which were as follows:
Best Sports Story: Campbells Creek Primary School for ‘Colour Fun Run’.
Best Coverage of a National News Story: Chewton Primary School for ‘Chewton Walks for Reconciliation’.
Best Feature Story: Langley Primary School for ‘Wildlife Haven’.
Best Vox Pop: Harcourt Valley Primary School
Best News Story: St Mary’s Primary School for ‘Learning at St Mary’s’.
Best Short Story: Castlemaine North Primary School for ‘What a map can tell us’.
Best Sustainability Feature: Winters Flat Primary School.
Best Artwork: Castlemaine Steiner School
Best Feature Photograph: Olivet Christian College for ‘Dream City Excursion’.
Best News Photograph: Newstead Primary School ‘Rebuild Project Gets Underway’.
Best Science Story: Maldon Primary School for ‘Little Scientists put science into action’.
Best Outdoor Ed Piece: Castlemaine Secondary College ‘Eureka Reef Trip’.
Most Diverse Content: Castlemaine Primary School.
Best Overall Design: Elphinstone Primary School.
Best Student Voice Piece: Taradale Primary School for ‘Cubby Fundraiser’.
The Mail highlighted three pages which really impressed the judges in making our decision on the ‘Best Overall News Coverage’.
Third place: Elphinstone Primary School – 2021 winner Elphinstone Primary once again did a great job and created an eye catching and informative page which really captured the school community and what is important to them.
Second Place: Castlemaine Primary School. Castlemaine’s page was a standout. They worked hard to capture lots of different aspects of school life and student voice.
Winner: Campbells Creek Primary School. The judges were impressed with Campbells Creek’s page from first glance. It really draws the reader in with sharp headlines, great pictures and interesting reads. Well done Campbells Creek.
Finally, the People’s Choice award – as voted by the public at the display located at the Castlemaine Library – went to Winters Flat Primary School.
Congratulations to all our award winners. We look forward to continuing the program in 2023!