The SNO Report: Best of SNO Superlatives

Alright, so automating Best of SNO really worked. It created a project (new jobs!) for a full-stack developer and a few gray hairs (who’s counting!) for an education/training specialist. It had an MVP-caliber year. Here’s proof:

At the time of this email, Best of SNO had…

• More than 12,900 stories submitted to it, since September
• 416 participating schools, worldwide
• Published more than 2,200 articles, videos, podcasts and photo essays
• 269 schools published at least once
• 20 schools published more than 25 times, including Coppell High School (57) and Carlmont High School (54)

It was a highly-competitive year, with less than 20 percent of submitted stories being selected. That level of excellence made selecting these Best of SNO superlatives most challenging.

Of the thousands of stories published on Best of SNO this year, here’s a sampling of our favorites. And because news can be so angering, depressing and plain sad these days, let’s start here:

Best Feel-Good Video Story
Spreading the love on Valentine’s Day, by Rachel Hunter, Carlmont High School

Best New Reporting
Sizing Down, by Nina Lavezzo-Stecopoulos and Jesse Hausknecht-Brown, Iowa City High School

Best Trendspotting
Cashless food services increase in number, by Zachary Khouri, Carlmont High School

Best Theater Story
One Act casts Inouye, Cummings as opposites, by Grace Miller, Harrisonburg High School

Best Photo Essay
24 hours across West High, by the Pathfinder Staff, Parkway West High School

Best Assignment Desk Story
46 collected articles about the midterm elections are all worth re-reading. Special mentions for:

• Watch Courtney run, by Meghan Turley, Tigard High School
• 20-year-old runs for school board, by Sophie Ryland, McCallum High School
• East Palo Alto leans left in midterms, by Emma Chiu, Woodside High School

Best “UGH!” Explained
How cold is too cold for school, by Grace LeGars, Tyrone Area High School

Best of Both Sides
Missouri abortion bill strikes up controversy, by Sabrina Bohn and Lydia Roseman, Parkway West High School

Best of Colleges

• SRJC student documents ‘migrant caravan,’ by Seamus Reed, Santa Rosa Junior College
• Easley’s four-year journey to get back on the court, by Drew Lawson, Eastern Washington University
• Sigma Nu fraternity brothers allege their chapter denied a gay student a bid due to sexual expression, by Jordan Hulseberg, Rhodes College

Best Opinion Writing
How will you be remembered, by Ella Sinciline, North Allegheny Senior High School

Best on Film and Culture
Asian-American representation in media trends upward, by Tyler King and Ella Chen, St. John’s School

Best Sports Story
Everyone has a role, by Noah Schwartz, Pascack Valley High School

Best on Teachers Striking
30,000 educators all over LAUSD strike in efforts to help schools, by Itzel Luna, Casey Wanatick and Farah Faiza, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School

Best Body Art
Spilling ink: Teachers reveal the tales behind their tattoos, by Megan Tsang and Sarah Kim, Dougherty Valley High School

Most-Read Story
Freshmen triplets are turning heads in varsity sports, by Nathan Wong, Pleasant Valley High School (more than 1,100 views since March)