Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — Harper Liller, a student at Boardman High School, has won the Youngstown Press Club’s 2026 Scholastic Journalist of the Year award and the accompanying $200 prize.

This is the second consecutive year that a Boardman High School student has earned this award. Last year’s winner was Lillian Andrews.

Liller was among 101 students and five student news publications from 14 high schools to enter the club’s second Scholastic Journalism Awards competition this year. The contest area included Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania.

A panel of press club members judged contest entries and awarded a total of $1,300 in cash prizes.

The Steeler Nation News at Farrell High School won first place and the accompanying $200 prize for the school in the best news publication, broadcast or website category. The Student Prints at Struthers High School took second prize, and the Boardman Bugle at Boardman High School took third prize in that category.

Winners in other categories were:

• News Story — Gianna Bonini, Struthers High School, first; Harper Liller, Boardman High School, second; and Jaxson Bell, Landon Primus and Gavin Cindea, Trumbull Career & Technical Center, third.

• Feature Story — Fallon McCormick, Haylee Tatar and Isabella Sanders, Valley STEM + ME2 Academy, first; Hebah Arida and Tessa Ross, Boardman High School, second; Kierstin Richoz, Maurissa Keeney, Trent Halowell and Keira Fasser, Trumbull Career & Technical Center, third; and Mary Ramovs, Boardman High School, honorable mention.

• Sports Story — James Westover, Grand Valley High School, first; Trynty Nail, Struthers High School, second; and James Mitchell, Boardman High School, third.

• Editorial, Column or Opinion Piece — Wesley Jones, Struthers High School, first; Aiden Crum, Salem High School, second; Harper Liller, Boardman High School, third; and Layla Colich, Sharpsville High School, Madelyn Hanna and Leah Markotan, both of Struthers High School, honorable mention.

• Review — Mary Ramovs, Boardman High School, first; Delaney Painter, Struthers High School, second; Trent Parker, Warren G. Harding High School, third.

• Photography — Layla Francisco, Grand Valley High School, first; Piper Currie, Shenango High School, second; and Symira Footman, Farrell High School, third.

• Video Package — Jaxson Bell, Trumbull Career & Technical Center, first; Haylee Tatar and Ariana McCreery, Valley STEM + ME2 Academy, second; and Novella Poole, Ursuline High School, third.

• Layout and Design — Piper Currie, Shenango High School, first; Dane Menough, second, and Elise Bender, third, both of Salem High School.

• Stephanie Mickler of Struthers High School took the adviser of the year award, accompanied by a $200 cash prize and a pizza party for her newsroom.

Contest sponsors were WKBN-TV News, Andrea Wood and Dennis LaRue, the Houck Agency, the Anderson Program in Journalism at Youngstown State University and the Laney Fitzpatrick Family Fund.

By recognizing their excellent work, the Youngstown Press Club seeks to encourage high school students to start on the path to a journalism career.

Founded in 1902, the club promotes journalism and related professions in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.