The Chisholm Trail High School yearbook, The Frontier, is a finalist in the National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker competition. This is the first time in the school’s history and only the second time in the district.

“It mostly feels so surreal for our book to be highly rewarded,” editor-in-chief Sydney Hawkins said. “I had an understanding in the beginning that we were doing exceptionally well just because we had a new adviser who really knew what she was doing, who is just an impressive journalist on her own. I was expecting awards, but I was not expecting Pacemaker because it’s been so hyped up by everyone, but it’s really exciting and really crazy.”

NSPA officials announced the names of the 56 yearbooks/schools that are in the running on Monday, Dec. 11, and the yearbook is one of nine Texas schools to earn a spot.

From the newsroom’s server crashing and losing the entire yearbook for three weeks to constantly facing the pressure of deadlines, creating a yearbook is never easy journalism adviser Cortney Wood said.

“There were quite literal blood, sweat and tears put into this book,” Wood said. “There’s just so much that goes into the behind-the-scenes of the book that people don’t know about, so it’s just incredible and exciting and so validating that the students are getting the recognition they deserve. It feels incredible to place, but that was not our goal. Our goal was to put out great work, and it’s really incredible that we got validated in that.”

One of the editors-in-chief of the yearbook last year said the staff “struggled a lot in the beginning,” but they were able to overcome the obstacles. 

“Since we had a new teacher and pretty much a whole new staff, it was hard to get in the flow of things, but once we got into routine, it worked,” assistant editor and 2023 editor-in-chief Natalie Salinas said. “It’s really cool to see all our work from last year turn into things that get awarded.”

Part of being a young staff means having to learn new skills while also preparing to publish work, and photo co-editor Julissa Munoz said the staff learned from their challenges.

“I think we deserve this award because we overcame a lot of obstacles with the yearbook,” Munoz said. “Speaking for myself, I didn’t know what I was doing, at all, and I took on so much, and I think we all did as a staff.”

Last year was Wood’s first year on campus and first time advising. Throughout the first year, Wood’s journalism classes produced the first print newspaper of the school’s history and earned multiple awards from the staff’s work.

While Wood said she felt uncertain throughout the year and worried about pushing the students too hard or being too ambitious, “I expect excellence from them, and they deliver every single time.”

“I don’t know if we ‘deserve it,’ but I see how much my students care and how passionate each and every staffer is, and I know their talent and skill and work ethic, so on that level, they absolutely deserve it,” Wood said. “More than anything, it’s just incredible that we can turn out such strong work with the small staff that we have.” “By the end of the year, they were so comfortable with one another, and the newsroom really became a home to them.”

The Pacemaker finalists will be honored during the opening ceremony of the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention, at 7 P.M. on April 4, in Kansas City.

2022–2023 Staffers

• Isaiah Muprhey
• Daylin Mitchell-Cochran
• Andrea Garcia
• Adrianna Garza
• Kailee Winter Winsett
• Leah Mata
• Natalie Salinas
• Kaylee White
• Sydney Hawkins
• Aiden Salas
• Julissa Munoz
• Anya Sanjel
• Maryfer Garcia
• Sarai Jackson
• Miranda Rowley
• Dylan Castillo
• Josh Romero
• Vi Reed
• Peter Anongdeth
• Kaon Burniku
• Kaci Wade

2023–2024 Staffers

• Natalie Salinas
• Kaylee White
• Sydney Hawkins
• Aiden Salas
• Julissa Munoz
• Maryfer Garcia
• Vi Reed
• Peter Anongdeth
• Sam Schroeder
• Kaon Burniku
• Kaci Wade
• Destiny Stanfield
• Bailey Read

Click here for a full list of the Pacemaker finalists.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated Chisholm Trail High School was the first in the district to earn the honor. Saginaw High School was named a finalist in 2008 under a different name from the current yearbook. Kelli Lopez, editor, and Cathy Bradshaw, adviser, were credited as a finalist. The Ranger Record regrets this error.