Entries were judged by journalists from the Chicago Tribune, Tribune Interactive and Tribune Media Services. Presentation makes good use of subheads, new briefs, and quote or definition boxes.
Writing is consistently interesting with few grammatical flubs.
A sensitive memorial pullout marks the death of a security officer and a student athlete. Opinion includes early comment on such emerging topics as school's posting the Ten Commandments. Reporter Kirtan Mehta thoroughly covered the outbreak of the fire on campus. He conveyed early in the story the complications associated with a silent alarm and followed up with reactions to the school's evacuation from students, teachers and fire officials. Reporter B.J. Wiseman gets special credit for coming up with a creative and interesting lead that still manages to convey the point of the story.