WOODBURY — For the second year in a row, School Newspapers Online (SNO) has recognized Nonnewaug High School’s Chief Advocate as a 2024-25 SNO Distinguished Site, a testament to the excellence of Nonnewaug’s journalism program.

SNO, a platform that initially began to aid school newspapers in transitioning to an online format, is now the largest provider for scholastic news programs in America, hosting more than 2,700 schools along with Nonnewaug. In order to be recognized as an SNO Distinguished Site, a journalism program must demonstrate outstanding achievement in six categories: continuous coverage, site excellence, audience engagement, story page design, multimedia, and writing.

Having fulfilled the requirements of all six categories, The Chief Advocate makes Nonnewaug one of only 60 high schools in America and one of just two in Connecticut to receive the distinction this school year.

“Being recognized as a SNO Distinguished Site requires a full team effort and one that reflects a diverse range of skills,” says Chief Advocate advisor Kyle Brennan. “I think, overall, the award is a testament to the fact that Nonnewaug’s student media program is one of the best, not just in Connecticut, but anywhere in the country.”

Fellow advisor Conor Gereg agrees, excited about the Chief Advocate’s two-year streak being an award-winning program. 

“This award validates so much of the effort our kids put into pieces that range from events within our school to events that directly impact our community,” Gereg adds. “This class is unique in that no two days are the same, and students need to be adaptable and willing to tackle a variety of issues; Nonnewaug journalism students are undaunted by that challenge.”

“The multimedia badge is always difficult for us to earn. Luckily, we had Mrs. [Katie] Blake’s video production students produce a number of videos that we were able to use,” Brennan says, sharing that this honor did not come without its challenges. “Because this [class] is an English credit at Nonnewaug, we focus a lot more on writing, and so it can be more difficult to earn the badges that require video and podcast production just because we can’t spend as much time on it as some other journalism programs might.”

Gereg, who hopes to maintain the Chief Advocate’s continued success, shares future plans for the program.

“We’d like to continue this momentum and continuously improve the quality of what our students are able to produce,” Gereg says. “We understand that our website is, in a way, a ‘front porch’ for our school, so we take tremendous pride in ensuring that the work of our student writers reflects the work of our collective student body.”

The Chief Advocate staff has also published nine award-winning stories this year. These articles were featured on the national Best of SNO website.

• “The Spoon: The Life and Greatest Stories of the Greatest Mascot in the BL” (Bryce Gilbert ‘28)
• “NHS Players and Fans ‘Flip’ Over Stankevich’s Throw-In” (Deme Jones ‘26)
• “Nonnewaug Wrestling Closes in on 50th Anniversary of Program’s Inception” (Olivia Bernardi ‘25)
• “Nonnewaug Field Hockey Players Fear Facial Injuries” (Maia Colavito ‘26)
• “McGee Knows Highs and Lows of Being an Athletic Trainer” (Anna Crocker ‘26)
• “For NHS’ Sapack, Soccer is More Than a Sport” (Brianna Johnson ‘25)
• “Alumni Return to ‘Create the Fibers of Nonnewaug’” (Addison Bushka ‘27)
• “Sudden Cardiac Arrest a Silent Threat for Young Athletes” (Aubrie Salisbury ‘27)
• “As More Students Vape, Nonnewaug Staff Seeks to Help” (Lila Farrelly ‘28)

Nearly 90 students are enrolled in Nonnewaug’s journalism program. The group of 19 editors is led by editor-in-chief Maia Colavito and deputy editor-in-chief Anna Crocker.