Annie Warner

Spartan Shield staff members Sarah Danielson [left] and Kaitlyn Ryan [right] discuss edits for an article draft.

The Spartan Shield online has been named a SNO Distinguished Site as of March 2019.

This honor came upon the site through the hard work of the Shield staff and journalism teacher Maureen Dyer, with each of them working to help the Shield meet the 23 qualifications required of Distinguished Sites.

SNO stands for School Newspapers Online. They provide websites for college, high school, and elementary journalism programs who are learning to publish their work online. SNO has set up their sites with high quality templates and images as well as with a security system to make the journalism learning experience as convenient as possible.

The journalism advisers, educators, and writers who make up the SNO organization have dedicated their time to make SNO sites user friendly, because they each have a desire to teach and support students who have a passion for journalism. In addition to providing site templates, they have also created multiple honors for various journalistic endeavors.

Maureen Dyer teaches journalism and was instrumental in the process of helping the Shield receive honors and become a SNO Distinguished Site. “This is only our 3rd year with the website operation and the first year we felt prepared enough to participate in the SNO badges contest,” Dyer said. “I think the addition of taking part in the contest has caused students to put more effort into crafting their articles to be ready for submission into the contest.”

The different types of honors on SNO recognize different aspects of journalism. Individuals can have their articles published on Best of SNO; for a publication, there are six different possible badges: continuous coverage, site excellence, story page excellence, excellence in writing, multimedia, and audience engagement. Once a publication, such as the Spartan Shield, earns each of these badges, they can earn the distinction of being a SNO Distinguished Site.

The Spartan Shield online has dedicated themselves to excellence, with the journalism class adjusting to fit SNO’s recommendations and guidelines. “We’ve changed the class requirements to align with the SNO requirements for those badges,” Dyer explained. “[This is] not because it’s important to have all the badges, but because this is a website telling us how to make our work excellent.”

The motivation of SNO also helps students in the journalism class as they progress with their writing skills. Sarah Danielson, a copy editor for the Spartan Shield online who also has had two articles published on Best of SNO, explained her views on journalism and SNO.

“I love talking to people and hearing their stories, which is probably why I like journalism so much. Through journalism, I get to take their words and put it in writing in order to fulfill a purpose, which is just so interesting.” Danielson said. “I tried really hard on the articles that made Best of SNO, and was very happy when I found they had qualified, because it validated the hard work I put into my articles,” she said.

The Spartan Shield online is committed to excellence and continually works to improve in every manner possible. With opportunities available, honors won, and a hardworking staff, the future of the Shield is sure to continue exhibiting journalistic excellence.