Awards

2024-2025

John Swett Media Awards – Best Student Journalism (in all forms) Merit Winner

Columbia Scholastic Press Association | Columbia University Pre-College Programs

Columbia Scholastic Press Association 2025 Gold Circle

2025 Gold Circle | Entertainment Review (3rd Place) – Nathan Perera | “Olivia Rodrigo Spills Her GUTS In New Album”

2025 Gold Circle | Entertainment Review (Certificate of Merit) – Nandita Bussa & Justin Le “Mean Girls Adaptation Enters Burn Book of Film”

2025 Gold Circle | Informational Graphics (Certificate of Merit) – Chris Phan “Who’s Your Plush Pal”

Best of SNO – Nathan Perera | “Tate McRae gets “So Close” to pop perfection”
Best of SNO – Nandita Bussa | “OA alum Sophia Park is the youngest person to pass the California Bar”
Best of SNO – Nandita Bussa | “OA Voters encourage voter pre-registration”

Southern California JEA - Home

Newspaper Sweepstakes (3rd Place) – The Gamut

News Writing (4th Place) – Celine Park
Feature Writing (5th Place) – Haley Nguyen
Feature Writing (10th Place) – Nandita Bussa
Editorial Writing (5th Place) – Rachel Yoon
Editorial Writing (6th Place) – Audrey Lee
Critical Review (1st Place) – Nathan Perera
Critical Review (6th Place) – Sydnee Cho
Editorial Cartoon (7th Place) – Eva Kim
Newspaper Layout (4th Place) – Gia Khang Nguyen
News Photography (6th Place) – Millie Kwon
News Photography (8th Place) – Isabella Sanchez
Feature Photography (10th Place) – Miriam Santos
Sports Photography (2nd Place) – Aarya Halankar
Novice News (Superior) – Alaisha Singh
Novice News (Excellent) – Natalie Akins
Novice News (Honorable Mention) – Kenzie Laing

Newspaper Sweepstakes (2nd Place)
Best in Show Print (2nd Place)
Best in Show Online (3rd Place)
News Writing (2nd Place) – Celine Park
Feature Writing (2nd Place) – Nandita Bussa
Feature Writing (3rd Place) – Haley Nguyen
Editorial Writing (5th Place) – Rachel Yoon
Editorial Writing (8th Place) – Audrey Lee
Editorial Writing (9th Place) – Jasmine Nguyen
Sports Writing (1st Place) – Mikaela Woo
Critical Review (3rd Place) – Nathan Perera
Critical Review (5th Place) – Sydnee Cho
Editorial Cartoon (6th Place) – Chris Phan
Editorial Cartoon (8th Place) – Vanessa Marin-Ixlan
Newspaper Layout (5th Place) – Eva Kim
Newspaper Layout (7th Place) – Isabella Sanchez
Magazine Cover (1st Place) – Gia Khang Nguyen
Magazine Cover (3rd Place) – Kathleen Vo
News Photography (2nd Place) – Tyler Nguyen
News Photography (10th Place) – Amy Bao
Novice News (Superior) – Natalie Akins
Novice News (Superior) – Aarya Halankar
Novice News (Superior) – Kenzie Laing
Novice News (Superior) – Alaisha Singh
Novice News (Excellent) – Mico Melgar

2023-2024

Southern California JEA - Home

Newspaper Sweepstakes (1st Place)
Feature Writing (1st Place) – Haley Nguyen
Editorial Writing (1st Place) – Lavanya Shyamsundar
Editorial Writing (2nd Place) – Rachel Yoon
Sports Writing (5th Place) – Mikaela Woo
Critical Review (1st Place) – Nathan Perera
Critical Review (7th Place) – Zoharys Jaen
Editorial Cartoon (6th Place) – Eva Kim

2022-2023

Southern California JEA - Home

Newspaper Sweepstakes (2nd Place)
News Writing (Christine Nguyen / 7th Place) – Christine Nguyen
Feature Writing (Trisha Phan / 6th Place) – Trisha Phan
Editorial Writing (Lavanya Shyamsundar / 1st Place) – Lavanya Shyamsundar
Editorial Writing (3rd Place) (Rachel Yoon / 3rd Place) – Rachel Yoon
Sports Writing (Christian Festin / 2nd Place) – Christian Festin
Critical Review (Anjali Suva / 3rd Place) – Anjali Suva
Critical Review (Lavanya Shyamsundar / 10th Place) – Lavanya Shyamsundar
Editorial Cartoon (Sam Wild Salubre / 1st Place) – Sam Wild Salubre
Editorial Cartoon (Vivian Nguyen / 10th Place) – Vivian Nguyen
Newspaper Layout (Gia Khang Nguyen / 8th Place) – Gia Khang Nguyen
Sports Photography (Nathan Truong / 4th Place) – Nathan Truong
Novice News (Nathan Perera / Honorable Mention) – Nathan Perera

Newspaper Sweepstakes (4th Place)
Best in Show Print (3rd Place)
News Writing (5th Place) – Christine Nguyen
Feature Writing (3rd Place) – Trisha Phan
Editorial Writing (4th Place) – Rachel Yoon
Sports Writing (4th Place) – Christian Festin
Editorial Cartoon (9th Place) – Sam Wild Salubre
Newspaper Layout (4th Place) – Gia Khang Nguyen
News Photography (8th Place) – Sarah Li
Novice News (Honorable Mention) – Nandita Bussa

2021-2022

Southern California JEA - Home

News Writing (2nd Place) – Christine Nguyen
Sports Writing (6th Place) – Theoden Melgar
Editorial Cartoon (2nd Place) – Sydnee Cho
Newspaper Layout (2nd Place) – Jake Chang
News Photography (6th Place) – Sarah Li

2020-2021

News Writing (8th Place) – Jake Chang
Feature Writing (9th Place) – Vinutha Sandadi
Sports Writing (9th Place) – Anya Nguyenkhoa
Editorial Cartoon (1st Place) – Angela Xia
Editorial Cartoon (9th Place) – Sam Wild Salubre