The Foothill Dragon Press was awarded on Saturday with the highest national honor in scholastic journalism: the Pacemaker.

The Pacemaker is presented each spring by the National Scholastic Press Association to the country’s top yearbook, print, digital and online scholastic publications.

This year the announcement was made in Anaheim at the national convention held April 14-17 and co-sponsored by the Journalism Education Association.

“This is a really big step for the paper, and it’s such an honor to be recognized in the site’s second year,” said Anaika Miller, editor-in-chief of the Dragon Press.

Online newspapers are judged in categories such as content, design, writing and editing, rich media, and breaking news, and must show evidence of excellent photography, compelling writing, and effective use of multimedia.

Each of the 166 entries in the 2011 Online Pacemaker Competition  {sidebar id=3}was judged holistically over the months of January and February. A team of “new media experts” at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis selected 18 schools from across the U.S. to be given the Pacemaker award. The schools were divided into two levels: high schools with enrollment over 1,500 students, and schools under 1,500. Foothill has a student enrollment of approximately 950.

Adviser Melissa Wantz restarted the journalism class at Foothill in the fall of 2009 after sponsoring a lunch club the year prior. Foothill had a print newspaper called Dragon Ink from 2001-2005 with Melanie Lindsey as the adviser, but it was disbanded due to lack of funds.

“I’m very pleased for the Dragon Press staff because their learning curve as a new journalism program has been very steep, and I have expected them to hit the ground running,” Wantz said. “To be honored with a Pacemaker in only our second year is pretty amazing. I’m still pinching myself.”

The bi-annual convention drew more than 4,000 high school and middle school journalists, who participated in two days of workshops and

listened to keynote presentations by respected professional journalists such as Lisa and Laura Ling and the Los Angeles Times’ Steve Lopez.

However, receiving the Pacemaker brings a bittersweet end to several staff members’ journeys with the Dragon Press.

Multimedia editor Lauren Parrino, news reporter Maya Morales and managing editor Heather Luscombe are the only remaining staff members who have been with the publication since its beginning as a lunch club in 2008, and they will soon be graduating.

“I’ve spent three years working on this program, and I’m thrilled to still be here when we received our first Pacemaker; to still be here so I could see all my hard work pay off,” said Parrino upon receiving the award.

Morales, though also ecstatic to receive the honor, smiled sadly upon realizing her goal for the last three years had finally been accomplished.

“Three years ago, I didn’t even know what a Pacemaker was, and now we’ve got one! {sidebar id=4} I can’t wait to see what else the Dragon does; I’m so glad I was able to influence something that I know will continue to shine so brightly,” she said.

Miller, who joined the newspaper last year as a sophomore, acknowledged  the 30-member Dragon Press staff for its hard work.

“The staff is great, and that’s why I’m so glad we were recognized this year,” she said. “It’s rewarding to know that all the hard work has paid off.”

The Dragon Press also received fourth place in the Best of Show Competition at the Anaheim convention in the smaller high schools category.

View a gallery and list of Pacemaker winners.