The 2021 Student Keystone Press Awards were announced online on March 16 and it was a big year for the Eagle Eye News.

The Eagle Eye staff received nine awards from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, including five first-place awards.

The Student Keystone Media Awards is an annual award contest open to all high school and college journalists in Pennsylvania to recognize journalism that provides “relevance, integrity, and initiative” in serving readers.

Eagle Eye adviser Todd Cammarata credits the support of the Tyrone administration and community for the continued success of the Eagle Eye.

“I am very proud of the students for their hard work and dedication and thankful to the community and the school administration for their support,“ said Cammarata.

Eagle Eye photo editor Ashlynn McKinney, News Editors Mario Grugan and Hailey Vanish, and Features Editor MacKenzie Hyde won a first-place award in ongoing news coverage for the Eagle Eye’s ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Tyrone Area High School and the surrounding community.

“I’m proud that we won first place for our COVID-19 coverage because it shows our determination as writers to keep our audience up to date with community, and even national news,” said Features Editor MacKenzie Hyde.

Junior Vivian Scarillo won first place in the Public Service/Enterprise category, for her story about the struggles of homelessness in rural communities that was published last spring.

Freshman Alivia Anderson earned first place in the personality profile category for her story on Tyrone grad Courtland Pannebaker, who has been living and teaching on a remote island in Alaska.

Editor in Chief Ellie Oakes also received first place in sports photography for her photo of Tyrone junior Ross Gampe making a touchdown catch over Penn Cambria’s Nicholas Marinak in a District 6 playoff game.

The Eagle Eye’s final first-place award was in the podcast category and went to 2021 grads Kelton Raabe, Nick Lewis, Dean Grassi, and 2022 grads Aiden Coleman and Landen DeHaas for hosting the Eagle Eye’s Talon‐T Podcast Series: Conversations with Talented Golden Eagles.

This podcast series continues to grow as the new episodes air. Over the past two years, they have brought over twenty guests to their podcasts, and are now on their third season.

With only three first-place finishes in the 2020-2021 school year, the Eagle Eye could not be more proud of the achievements the staff has had this year.

Ellie Oakes, Stephanie Ramsey, Hailey Vanish, MacKenzie Hyde, Riley Lawson, Kairigan Sible, and Maci Brodzina earned a second-place award for their series The Stories Behind The Banners: An Eagle Eye Veterans Day Project.

The Veterans Day project was a way to inform the community about the accomplishments and sacrifices of Tyrone’s veterans. After publishing on the Eagle Eye, the stories were then made into banners and set up around town for the community to enjoy.

“It was an honor to be a part of a project that honors local veterans, the recognition from the public was really amazing to see after all of our hard work,“ said junior Riley Lawson.

Oakes also received a second-place award in the personality profile category for her story Against The Odds: Tyrone Native Overcomes the Barriers of Generational Poverty about 2021 Tyrone grad Aiden McCracken.

This story was well received by the community and received thousands of page views and many comments.

The final second-place award went to 2021 grad Kelton Raabe for his story A ‘Gripp’ on the Record Books. All three Gripp siblings scored 1,000 points in their High School basketball careers.

Senior Katie Buck received an honorable mention for her personality profile on the Keller family. All three Keller Siblings, Reed (TAHS Class of 2019), Hollie (Class of 2021), and Libby (Class of 2023) have all excelled as writers at Tyrone Area High School.

The awards  are sponsored by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation, a statewide independent, non-profit corporation that, according to their website, “provides training and resources to members, to develop the next generation of readers and journalists, and to educate the public on the importance of the First Amendment and the role of a free press.”

To see a complete list of this year’s Keystone Student Press Awards winners, click here.