From 3,500 entries, three Wingspan staff members were nominated as finalists for individual awards by the National Scholastic Press Association, the latest being announced Sunday night. 140 out of the 280 finalists will be announced as winners in November and presented with plaques indicating their top-five ranking.

WTV Special Projects Producer Marisa Uddin was nominated for Broadcast News Story of the Year for “Campus Prayer Room”.

“I worked really hard on my story and the fact that not only is it the most viewed story since WTV launched in August of 2016, but it’s also being honored by a prestigious organization,” Uddin said. “Broadcast journalism is something that I’ve been apart of for all four years of high school, so it feels amazing to be honored for something that I enjoy doing.”

Wingspan Editor-In-Chief Brooke Colombo is a finalist for Story of the Year: Diversity Series for her story  “Proposed police interaction law an old habit for some”.

“Writing a story over a politically-charged topic like police brutality is a bit more challenging and definitely takes more effort,” Colombo said. “I had to put a lot more thought into it, so that makes it even more fulfilling to be a finalist.”

Former WTV Executive Producer and current UNT student Maddie Owens is up for Broadcast Feature Story of the Year for “Teen Pregnancy” and Broadcast Sports Story of the Year “Behind the Scenes at The Star”.

“Since starting college, I haven’t been involved with any broadcast stuff because freshman year is really tough,” Owens said. “It makes me sad because that’s what I really love doing and it feels weird to not be editing or filming or creating. So to hear the news that I’m a finalist is a really good reminder of what my strengths are and that I should still be working on them.”

Winners will be announced at the Fall NSPA National High School Journalism Convention on November 16-19 in Dallas.