School Newspaper and Student Editorial Honored with National Awards

The Signpost, Red Bank Catholic’s quarterly newspaper, has been awarded a first place Scholastic Newspaper Award by the American Scholastic Press; and the editorial “The Importance of the Opinion,” written by senior Bernadette Hogan of Rumson, received the “Outstanding Editorial” award. 

According to moderator Mary King, this is the fourth consecutive year The Signpost has been awarded first place and the first time an individual student has received an award.

To create the newspaper, the students work during homeroom and after school around their other activities, sports and jobs. The editorial staff of 6-7 students works on everything from assigning stories, writing, editing, to layout and design. 

King noted how the students gain experience in collaboration and delegation: “It is not easy to critique your peers’ work. It is a great learning experience.”

Editor-in-Chief Caitlin Ouano, of Holmdel, who will be heading to Georgetown University in the fall, pointed out that “creating the newspaper is a group effort. We are very proud of the staff writers. We know they will be able to continue making an award-winning paper.”

Managing Editor Bernadette Hogan notes that her editorial “The Importance of the Opinion,” was “the one I wrote that I felt most strongly about.” 

Hogan said she was inspired to write the piece during the Presidential election last fall. She noticed that her peers were commenting on social media that the election really didn’t matter to them.

“I was very informed about political issues myself from using different news sources like the internet, TV talk shows and newspapers," Hogan said. "I felt like I needed to tell my peers that yes, it really does matter to us.” 

Hogan will be attending Marist College.