In only its first year of publication, beverlyhighlights.com was recognized as a First Class website by the National Scholastic Press Association. The site was also granted two marks of distinction in Coverage and Content and Design and Navigation.
“It’s both exciting and nerve wracking to receive this type of critique from the NSPA,” adviser Gaby Herbst said. “I feel like not only do we have to live up to this, we have to exceed it.”
Dr. Vincent F. Filak, who judged the website, awarded the mark of distinction for Coverage/Content based on the “strong news and feature content.” He also noted that the website needs more student interaction, which happens to align with Web Editor-in-Chief Pasha Farmanara’s goals for the year.
“I’m really happy to have gotten this critique. Receiving such a positive critique makes me want to do even more for the website. My main goal is to make the website a staple at Beverly Hills High School so that every student, parent and teacher has it bookmarked on their computers,” Farmanara said.
When beverlyhighlights.com launched in January 2012, it was run by eight students who were enrolled in Herbst’s ROP Desktop Publishing class. This year, however, the majority of the content will be created by students enrolled in Herbst and Katie Murray’s Advanced Journalism class. With more students contributing to the website, and with a greater tie-in to the print edition, the staff hopes that the website will continue to grow its following.