For the second consecutive year, The Saratoga Falcon has joined 63 other high school papers nation-wide to be given a Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Last year, the Falcon’s online and print editions each received a Gold Crown, the top award. On March 19, the editors-in-chief of the 2008-2009 newspaper, alumni Michael Chen and Dorey Schranz, will find out whether or not the newspaper that they were in charge of will win a Gold Crown once again.

The award ceremony will be held at Columbia University in New York. A total of 1,558 newspapers, magazines and yearbooks were eligible for the award, and a panel of nine judges narrowed the number down to 157 Crown recipients for newspapers, yearbooks, magazines and literary magazines from both collegiate and scholastic publications.

“It’ll be hard to live up to the last Crown Awards, when The Falcon was the only paper in the country to win Gold for both its online and print editions,” said Chen. “Nevertheless, making it this far is something that everyone involved can be proud of.”

Chen also appreciated the support his staff gave him. “I’m thankful for all the hardworking people who helped us make the publication great last year,” he said.

Last year’s graduates are not the only ones excited about the award, however.

Junior School Scope editor Karthik Annamalai, new to the staff last year, said, “Being a Crown Finalist brings with it an air of great accomplishment but also one of great expectation. We’re proud of what we did last year, but this year we have a lot to live up to.”

Adviser Mike Tyler believes that it’s an honor to receive a Crown and be recognized, but it’s not the only thing the newspaper is trying to achieve.

“It’s a good thing to get any award, but success is more than getting a Gold or Silver Crown, it’s serving the readers in your community well,” Tyler said. “Those readers are your ultimate judge.”
Falcon to receive national award.

For now, it will be just a waiting game until the winners are announced. “I’ll just keep my fingers crossed until March,” said Chen.