Mundelein High student newspaper earns first place

Submitted by Mundelein High School District 120

Mundelein High School's student newspaper, The Mustang, was recently awarded a first-place finish in the American Scholastic Press Association school newspaper contest with a score of 900 of a possible 1,000.

According to one of the judges, The Mustang is "an excellent school newspaper, which shows the creativity and journalistic knowledge of your editors, reporters, writers, photographers, layout/graphic designers and adviser."

To help the student staff celebrate their accomplishment, the staff spent some time recently with 2011 MHS graduate Jordyn Reiland, who works as a courthouse reporter for Northwest Herald.

Reiland served as editor-in-chief for both The Mustang and for The Daily Iowan, the student newspaper of the University of Iowa, where she graduated.

Many of the senior editors on staff will continue their careers in journalism after they graduate from MHS. Delaney Appelhans, feature/centerspread editor, will major in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Melissa Burgett, print editor-in-chief, will major in mass media at Illinois State University; Michael Del Rosario, production editor-in-chief, will study journalism and computer science at Northwestern University; Adriana Feijoo, features/centerspread editor, will major in political science and public policy at George Washington University; Alex Loding, sports editor, will study mass communications at Concordia University of Wisconsin; Kate Siltman, management editor, a pre-law student, will major in psychology and communications; Ben Szalinski, sports editor, will major in political science at the University of Illinois, Springfield; and Stefani Zeiger, online editor-in-chief, will major in communications and political science at Ripon College.

"These senior editors have put in countless hours in their four years at MHS to produce a quality print product for the student body, as well as to start and maintain an online edition," The Mustang adviser Michelle Didzbalis said.

"I've been inspired by their passion to serve the MHS community through their reporting and writing skills. I am even more inspired by their commitment to serve society beyond high school as many of them continue their education in the field of journalism, communications and political science."

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