2025 State Student Media Contest Recognizes Exceptional Scholastic Journalism

SoCal JEA President Adriana Chavira welcomes students and advisers to the 2025 State Student Media Contest on April 5.

Over 200 high school journalists competed at the 2025 State Student Media Contests on April 5 at El Camino College. Thank you to our gracious hosts, Stefanie Frith and Kate McLaughlin of the El Camino's journalism department! We’re also grateful for our volunteer judges, speakers and proctors who made this event so successful.

To read the judging feedback on this year's entries, please click here !

Scholarships
Anastasia Efremova from Troy High School - Jolene Combs Scholarship
William Nelson, adviser at Norte Vista High - Jolene Combs Scholarship

Senior Scholarships
Dwight Bustrum Scholarship: Ambar Muro, Los Altos High School
Betty Rogers Scholarship: Uy Pham, Fountain Valley High School
Carol Hallenbeck: Haley Nguyen, Oxford Academy
Ted Tajima Scholarship: Gabriela Afable, Foothill High School

California All Stars: Podcast
Third place: Coach’s Corner - Harvard-Westlake Media 
Second place: Room 22 - Daniel Pearl Magnet High School
First place: The Goodland Podcast - Dos Pueblos High School

California All Stars: Broadcast
Third place: What’s Going On episode 9 - Van Nuys High School
Second place: The Royal News - El Camino Real Charter High School
First place: DP News - Dos Pueblos High School

California All Stars: Yearbook
Third place: California School of the Arts
Second place: Diamond Bar High School
First place: Walnut High School

California All Stars: Newspaper/magazine
Third place: The Hoofprint - Walnut High School
Second place: The Mirror - Van Nuys High School
First place: The Pearl Post - Daniel Pearl Magnet High School

California All Stars: Website
Third place: Northwood High School 
Second place: Brea Olinda High School
First place: Sunny Hills High School

Novice News: Honorable Mention
Jay Bruce, Northwood
Kyuwon Han, Sunny Hills
Moey Koey, Portola
Kenzie Laing, Oxford Academy
Laila Pike, El Camino Real Charter

Novice News: Excellent
Natalie Akins, Oxford Academy
Arwen Nagares, El Camino Real Charter
Katie Ngo, Fountain Valley

Novice News: Superior
Alaisha Singh, Oxford Academy
Antra Shah, Walnut

Sports Photography
8th place: Chloe Lin, Northwood High School
7th place: Alex Salcedo, Daniel Pearl Magnet
6th place: Kaitlyn Ma, Portola High School
5th place: Andrew Le, Northwood High School
4th place: Yousuf Ahmad, Diamond Bar High School
3rd place: Louis Tsai, Diamond Bar High School
2nd place: Aarya Halankar, Oxford Academy
1st place: Lochlann Yung, Portola High School 

Feature Photography
10th place: Miriam Santos, Oxford High School
9th place: Jason Jao, Foothill High School
8th place: Noah Lam, Diamond Bar High School
7th place: Valerie Sanchez, Daniel Pearl Magnet
6th place: Nico Bronson, El Camino Real Charter
5th place: Elizabeth Choi, Diamond Bar High School
4th place: Ruby Ross, Portola High School
3rd place: Katie Leem, Sunny Hills High School
2nd place: Steve Lu, Walnut High School
1st place: Harini Rameshbaba, Portola High School

News Photography
8th Isabella Sanchez, Oxford Academy
7th Sophie Blanc, El Camino Real Charter
6th Millie Kwon, Oxford Academy
5th Fatima Shaikh, Irvine
4th Rebecca Margolin, El Camino Real
3rd Kailey Yeo, Northwood
2nd Genesis Cuellar-Figueroa, Daniel Pearl
1st Benjamin Recinos, Daniel Pearl

Broadcast
3rd Sua Lee Sunny Hills
2nd Taye Sangkhae El Camino Real Charter
1st Breanna Mai, Lindsey Ung, Tracy Huynh Fountain Valley

Newspaper Layout
4th Gia Khang Nguyen, Fountain Valley
3rd Sruti Allani, Portola
2nd Luna Bouhairi, Northwood
1st Candice Tran, Fountain Valley

Yearbook theme development
3rd place: Lauren Gilder and Kirra Dequina, El Camino Real 
2nd place: Yunny Jang and Claire Ko, Portola High School
1st place: Kendra Hung and Qian Yue (CoCo) Wang, Diamond Bar High School

Yearbook layout design
4th place: Emily Chan and Minh Ngoc Le, Fountain Valley High School
3rd place: Eliza Lotterstein and Hadley Preston, El Camino Real Charter
2nd place: Connor Hsiao and Selina Wang, Portola High School
1st place: Tristan Hsieh and Justin Zhao, Walnut High School

Critical review
8th place: Viviana Morales, Granada Hills
7th place: Kaley Samilan, El Camino Real Charter
6th place: Sydnee Cho, Oxford Academy
5th place: Aimee Pan, Northwood
4th place: Serenity Li, Sunny Hills
3rd place: Taryn Schlz, Walnut High School
2nd place: Catherine Li, Portola High School
1st place: Nathan Perera, Oxford Academy

Editorial cartoon
10th place: Daryna Hriaznova, Daniel Pearl Magnet
9th place: Isabel Mora-Manzo, El Camino Real Charter
8th place: Bailey Lewis, El Camino Real Charter
7th place: Eva Kim, Oxford Academy
6th place: Hyunjung Lee, Northwood High School
5th place: Kristin Intal, Daniel Pearl Magnet
4th place: Katelyn Cheung, Walnut High School
3rd place: Chanel Capa, Northwood High School
2nd place: Joanna Joo, Sunny Hills High School
1st place: Claire Liu, Portola High School

Sports writing
10th place: Nina Krish, Portola High School
9th place: Yewon (Ellie) Hong, Diamond Bar High School
8th place: Aidan Lia, Daniel Pearl Magnet
7th place: Allison Ha, Diamond Bar High School
6th place: Alyson Cerna, Van Nuys High School
5th place: Yena Oh, Sunny Hills High School
4th place: Kasey Lee, El Camino Real Charter
3rd place: Ruhi Samudra, Portola High School
2nd place: Raelle Tiong, Northwood High School
1st place: Lauren Kang, Sunny Hills High School 

Editorial/Opinion writing
10th place: Emily Dissanayake, Irvine High School
9th place: Seowon Han, Sunny Hills High School
8th place: Isabella Huang, Sage Hill School
7th place: Kennedi Ngo, Foothill High School
6th place: Audrey Lee, Oxford Academy
5th place: Rachel Yoon, Oxford Academy
4th place: Aashna Dialani, Sunny Hills High School
3rd place: Lucy Kim, Northwood High School
2nd place: Andrew Gregory, Fountain Valley High School
1st place: Aishwarya Ramasubramanian, Northwood High School 

Feature writing
10th Nandita Bussa, Oxford Academy
9th Amy Jeon, Northwood
8th Ezra Caber, Granada Hills
7th Aidyn Kinchen, Van Nuys
6th Alice Ahn, Portola
5th Haley Nguyen, Oxford Academy
4th Aubrey Bertino, Mission Viejo
3rd Madison Thacker, Van Nuys
2nd Elise Chen, Walnut
1st Ashley Liau, Irvine

News writing
10th place: Kevin Lee, Sunny Hills High School
9th place: Irene Park, Sunny Hills High School
8th place: Samantha Posa, Granada Hills High School
7th place: Sohum Sarwate, Northwood High School
6th place: Justin Pak, Sunny Hills High School
5th place: Jenny Marquez, Daniel Pearl Magnet
4th place: Celine Park, Oxford Academy
3rd place: Allison Kim, Sonora High School
2nd place: Stephanie Hwang, Portola High School
1st place: Audrey Herrera, Harvard-Westlake  

Yearbook Sweepstakes
2nd: El Camino Real Charter
1st: Portola High School
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Newspaper Sweepstakes
3rd: Oxford Academy
2nd: Sunny Hills High School
1st: Northwood High School