Student journalists, photographers, podcasters, and videographers from the Eagle Eye News earned 29 regional, state, and national awards and recognitions during the 2025-26 school year, capping one of the program’s most successful years in recent memory.
Twenty-six current or former Eagle Eye students were recognized in one or more competitions or recognition programs sponsored by the following organizations: the Pennsylvania News Media Association, Point Park University, the Pennsylvania School Press Association, Student Newspapers Online, and the National FFA.
“One of the things I love about student journalism is that competitions and awards like these exist. It’s always meaningful to be recognized for your work,” said Cammarata. “It motivates the students to do their best work and gives them goals to work toward. Plus, I buy them donuts when they earn a Best of SNO!”
PNMA Keystone Student Media Awards
The Pennsylvania News Media Association is the official trade association for print and digital media outlets in Pennsylvania. It sponsors an annual competition for high school and college student journalists. Any student at any public, private, or parochial high school, college, or university in Pennsylvania may enter the contest.
The Keystone Media Awards are presented by calendar year, so any stories published in 2025, including those written in the spring of the 2024-25 school year, were eligible for the competition.
The Eagle Eye received three Student Keystone Awards for 2025: two first-place awards and one second-place award.
Tyrone alums Tyler Weston, Logan Harpster, and Ashlynn McKinney took first place in the feature story category for their story Fishing, Farming, and Family: How a Local Farmer and a U.S. President Became Lifelong Friends about Tyrone alum and local farmer Wayne Harpster, who became close friends with President Jimmy Carter due to their mutual love of fly fishing and the outdoors.
McKinney began the story with a podcast in 2024, and Weston, with the assistance of Harpster, extended the reporting and finished the story in 2025. It was published in January 2025, shortly after Carter passed away.
“This story meant a lot for me to be able to come out and write about my family and what it meant to have President Carter as a friend and to learn all of the crazy places he and my pap went together on fishing trips,” said Harpster.
Sophomore Shiloh Price took first place for her personality profile story, “Thank You, Bub”: Tyrone High School Says Goodbye to a Legend. Price wrote the story to honor Robert “Bub” Dick, who retired after the 2024-25 school year.
Price said that she wanted to write this story because her Officer Bub “is a really good guy who needed to be recognized.”
TAHS Class of 2025 graduate Tyler Weston won second place in the personality profile category for his story, Bryan Gruber: Teacher, Explorer, Renaissance Man, published in February 2025.
“I heard so many random stories about him and thought this dude needed some of his lore shared,” Weston said.
Point Park University Myron Cope Sports Journalism Awards
The Myron Cope Awards, established in 2023 by Point Park University in Pittsburgh, honor excellence in high school sports writing, podcasts, broadcasting, social media, and videography in western Pennsylvania and counties in West Virginia and Ohio that border Pennsylvania.
Myron Cope was a Pittsburgh sports journalist, radio personality, and sportscaster. He is best known as “the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers” and for helping to invent the “Terrible Towel.” He was the first football announcer inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame and is a member of the Steelers Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor.
The Eagle Eye was recognized in five of 13 categories, including newspaper sports section, sports podcast, sports journalist, individual social media, and high school social media account.
Cope’s daughter, Elizabeth, spoke about her father before the awards ceremony and explained how much these awards mean to her and what they would have meant to her father.
“My dad would be so excited to see these young men and women entering sports communication,” Cope said. “I think his advice would be: ‘Be yourself and don’t be afraid to take risks. Don’t let someone tell you that you don’t have the right voice or right look.’”
Awards received by the Eagle Eye were:
- Honorable Mention, Best High School Newspaper Sports Section: Eagle Eye News sports department
- Second Place, Best Sports Podcast: TSPN Season 3, Episode 3, by Brayden Parsons, Carter Gwinn, and producer Layna Hess
- Runner-up, High School Sports Journalist of the Year: Brayden Parsons, for his sports coverage in the Eagle Eye and his work on the TSPN podcast
- Honorable Mention, Best Individual Social Media Account: Brayden Parsons, for BP Productions
- Honorable Mention, Best High School Social Media Account: Brayden Parsons, for his work on the Eagle Eye Instagram account and Tyrone Sports Central
“I run so many school accounts because I enjoy helping share our school’s story, celebrate student achievements, and keep families informed,” Parsons said. “I think it helps the school and community by building school pride, improving communication, and making it easier for people to stay connected to events, announcements, and accomplishments.”
Cammarata is proud of the students for their success at these awards because sports are such an important part of the Eagle Eye’s mission.
“We take pride in being the best source of news and information on Tyrone High School sports. The sports writing staff does a good job providing nearly complete coverage of Tyrone sports, and this is evidence of their dedication,” Cammarata said.
Pennsylvania School Press Association Regional Competition
The Pennsylvania School Press Association (PSPA) high school journalism awards honor excellence in student journalism across Pennsylvania, including reporting, photojournalism, broadcasting, and design. It is open to any high school student media organization in Pennsylvania.
Seniors Kathy Sorokie, Anna Myers, Gracie Graham, Brayden Parsons, Nate Erickson, and juniors Carter Gwinn, Makayla Howard, and Jackson Murphy represented the Tyrone Eagle Eye at the Pennsylvania School Press Association Regional Competition in October at St. Francis University in Loretto.
- First Place, Podcast: Brayden Parsons, Carter Gwinn, and producer Layna Hess for TSPN Season 3, Episode 3: Tyrone Senior Addresses Racist Incident by Bellwood Students
- First Place, Sports Photography: Anna Myers
- First Place, Literary Magazine Art: Kathy Sorokie
Also competing at Regionals were Gracie Graham in news writing, Jackson Murphy in feature writing, Nate Erickson in sports writing, and Makayla Howard in sports photography.
Pennsylvania School Press Association State Competition
At the PSPA State Finals in March, the TSPN podcast crew had to create an original 20-30-minute podcast showcasing the day’s events, including at least one interview from the event.
Staying true to their brand, Parsons and Gwinn’s special episode also focused on sports.
It included interviews with senior Anna Myers, who photographs Tyrone’s sports, Tyrone alum and Penn State film student Brayden Sloss, a sports photographer and videographer for Penn State Athletics, and another Tyrone alumnus, Keegan Raabe, who is currently a WTAJ news reporter.
“I came up with the idea by thinking about what would best highlight the connection between sports, Tyrone, and media in a way that fits PSPA events. Using three generations gave it a stronger story and helped make the content feel more meaningful, local, and relatable to the audience,” Parsons said.
The judges were impressed, and TSPN Episode 10: On the Road won first place with a score of 23.5 out of 24.
“This is our first state championship at the PSPA awards, and I’m very proud of Brayden, Carter, and Layna for the way they represented the Eagle Eye,” Cammarata said.
Senior Anna Myers and Kathy Sorokie competed but did not place at states. Myers competed in the photography category, and Sorokie competed in the literary magazine art category.
School Newspapers Online Best of SNO Student Awards
The Best of SNO website showcases the best student journalism from the 2,500+ K-12 student news websites hosted on the SNO Network.
Last academic year, almost 15,500 stories were submitted for consideration by schools across the country. Of those, only 2,300 articles, videos, podcasts, and photo essays were published from 580 participating schools.
Best of SNO receives an average of over 100 submissions per day. Only about 15 percent are selected for publication. So far this academic year, 13 of the Eagle Eye’s 33 submitted stories have been selected for publication.
In chronological order, they are:
- Like Mother, Like Daughter by Abby Anthony. The story of how senior Laney Woomer and her mom, Shana Woomer, were both named Homecoming Queen at TAHS.
- Returning to the Nest: 2021 TAHS Grad Joins Science Department Faculty, by Carlie Nowlin. The story of how TAHS alum Kylin Hoover fulfilled her childhood dream of being a teacher, and is doing it at her alma mater, Tyrone Area High School
- Alumni Spotlight: Raabe Returns to Report for WTAJ by Jackson Murphy. A podcast and story about Eagle Eye alum Keegan Raabe, who is now a professional broadcast journalist at WTAJ in Altoona.
- The Hidden Danger of Silo Gases: The Story of Timothy Nowlin by Carlie Nowlin. A feature story about the danger of silo gases on farms told through the lens of Nowlin’s grandfather, who suffered from respiratory disease as a result of silo gases.
- Anah Beschler: Building a Future, One Classic Car at a Time, by Cadence Ball. A senior spotlight on senior Anah Beschler’s skills in automotive body work and painting, and her job working on high-end classic Ford Mustangs and continuation cars
- Nashville Recording Artist Helps Tyrone Students Find Their Musical Voice, by Video Production Class and Reilly Rawlings. Story and video about the songwriting workshop by Nashville recording artist Browen Fair, hosted by choral teacher Gabriella Petrarca.
- Zero to Hero: Tyrone’s Nate Erickson Commits to Lock Haven XC and Track by Addison Warren. Senior spotlight on cross country and track runner Nate Erickson’s development from a novice runner to a college-bound Division II athlete.
- Holmes Returns to Classroom as Community Supports His Fight by John Eaken. Report on the return of TAHS English teacher after being out for months battling a rare form of blood cancer, and the community’s efforts to help support him and his family.
- Tyrone Alum’s Dairy Farm Built on Family and Love for Agriculture by John Eaken. Profile of Ryan and Jennifer Clark’s Windy Lane Jerseys Farm, which has grown from a small operation into an award-winning farm
- From Gray Field to Beaver Stadium: Tyrone Alum Brayden Sloss is Building a Future in Sports Media by Brayden Parsons. Alumni spotlight on Brayden Sloss, a film major at Penn State who works for the Penn State Athletic Department.
- Tyrone Alum Wins Emmy as Part of CNN Breaking News Team by Carlie Nowlin Alumni profile of Tyrone grad Alexis Pazmiño, who won an Emmy Award as a member of the production team at CNN covering the war in Gaza.
- Wilson to Retire After 27 Years of Mentoring Tyrone Students by Lucas Rudden. Retirement tribute story for science teacher Ron Wilson.
- Plummer Leaves Lasting Legacy on Students and the CTE Program at TAHS by Rowan Moore and John Stanton. Retirement tribute story for carpentry teacher Dan Plummer.
Click here to view all the Eagle Eye’s Best of SNO stories from the past four years.
FFA in the USA Student Journalism Program
Eagle Eye News Editor Carlie Nowlin was one of 246 FFA reporters nationwide, and one of three in Pennsylvania, to have her work published in FFA in the USA, an online platform for FFA members across the United States.
“I wrote stories on events chapters participated in, community service projects, and how chapters were inspiring the younger generation. All of these stories were put up on the FFA in the USA webpage on the National FFA Website,” Nowlin said.
The following stories written by Nowlin were published nationally:
- Green Thumbs, Golden Hearts: FFA Chapter Receives Grant for Local Rehab and Healthcare Center by Carlie Nowlin. A Pennsylvania FFA chapter brightens lives at Cedarwood Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center by planting flowers and fostering joy through community engagement.
- Discovering Veterinary Science Through Experience by Carlie Nowlin. FFA members explore veterinary science and dairy careers through hands-on activities and industry mentorship.
- From Learners to Leaders by Carlie Nowlin. Students explore FFA traditions and leadership, and gain Discovery Degrees, sparking interest in future involvement.
- Preparation for a Celebration by Carlie Nowlin. Tyrone Area FFA celebrates National FFA Week with student-directed lessons that promote leadership and growth.
Nowlin also participated in workshops covering social media and graphic design that can help her achieve her future career goals.
“I am super thankful that I had this opportunity, and it taught me many valuable lessons that will continue to develop as I move into a communications-based career,” Nowlin said.
From local features and sports coverage to podcasts, photography, social media, and national FFA reporting, the Eagle Eye’s 2025-26 awards highlight the quality of work being produced by Tyrone student journalists and the continued growth of the program.
The slideshow below are Anna Myers winning submissions for the 2025 PSPA Regional Competition at St. Francis University:
