THE BASICS

Any high school journalism student, whose adviser is a member of the Journalism Education Association, is eligible to apply.

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JOY celebrates the work of one high school student per state. State winners are then allowed to compete for the JEA’s national JOY title, which earns the winner a $1000 scholarship.

The Wyoming State deadline is February 26th. The Portfolios will be evaluated and the winner notified by the 8th of March.

Wyoming’s winner must submit their National Portfolio to JEA by March 15th.

Your hard work in high school journalism deserves recognition. You deserve to be recognized for the long hours, the crazy deadlines and the camera that was attached to your side throughout high school.

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JOY entrants will create a website outlining their work in 11 categories. Once complete, students will submit their portfolio website to an online form when the contest opens again in 2024.

Portfolio submissions for this competition align with the Journalism Education Association’s national requirements.  A judge will sort through all of the applications and decide one winner for this year’s contest. The judge rotates to qualified candidates from around the country who have ample experience in scholastic journalism.

WSMA will provide a $500 scholarship to the selected JOY student, to be paid directly to the school the student enrolls in. The Scholarship is funded by the WSMA Board.

The WSMA board reserves the right to not award this scholarship if funding is not available or if applications do not meet the instructions/standards communicated on the JEA website

The winner of the WSMA competition will move on to the next round in the state where a winning portfolio will be selected to move on to the national competition.

Adviser must be a member of JEA for student to qualify for the scholarship. If the advisor is not a JEA Member, click here to become a member, which is $65 a year and offers advisors great resources and curriculum.

Adviser must be a member of JEA for student to qualify for the scholarship. If the advisor is not a JEA Member, click here to become a member, which is $65 a year and offers advisors great resources and curriculum.

The following documents should be used to help you prepare your portfolio:

The winner of this competition will be named Wyoming High School Journalist of the Year, and his/her portfolio will be sent to the JEA to compete for national high school journalist of the year. 

The WSMA and its officers are not responsible for late or misdirected applications.

If you have questions, please contact the WSMA Board at wysmaboard@gmail.com

Other Opportunities

  • The Journalism Education Associations Website offers plenty of awards. Check out their “Awards and Contest” section for both Teachers and Students.

  • Each year, the National Scholastic Press Association presents scholastic journalism’s preeminent award, the Pacemaker. There is a category for each type of publication – online, newspaper, yearbook, magazine and broadcast. Entries are judged by teams of professionals based on the following criteria: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership, design, photography and graphics.The contests are open to any NSPA member publication. Entries must have been published or broadcast during the dates specified on each entry form. View contest rules here.

  • For 93 years, Quill and Scroll has been honoring the best work done by student journalists around the world. We provide students and their advisers with resources to do great work and to have it evaluated. Whether it’s through our stories, our contests, our evaluation service, our scholarships or our pins and graduation paraphernalia, we salute great scholastic journalism at our charter schools. Start or renew your charter today.