A senior at St. Mark’s School of Texas was named the best among all writing award winners in The Dallas Morning News High School Journalism Day and Competition. Daniel Valella also collected three first-place awards at the 17th annual event.

Daniel, 17, was given sweepstakes honors for his award-winning portfolio of columns. He wrote about the “rapist” stigma attached to the exonerated Duke lacrosse players, the true meaning of U.S. citizenship, and Americans’ small-mindedness about the rest of the planet.

Daniel Valella

The judge who chose Daniel’s portfolio from among all first-place winners said he found himself reading every word.

“Each sentence built toward the next, and the style was conversational yet incredibly confident – his voice came across loud and clear!” the judge wrote.

Daniel also was named a first-place winner for headline writing and news page design in Class B, the category for smaller schools. He earned honorable mentions for long feature writing and graphics.

Kim Chastain

Kim Chastain, a 18-year-old senior at Lewisville High School, was named best photographer. The judges who chose her work wrote: “Every image in Kim's portfolio was strong; this gave the winning edge in the best portfolio competition.”

Both Kim and Daniel receive $100 prizes.

Newspaper staffs from more than 50 North Texas schools participated in the day's events, which included workshops led by professional reporters and editors on topics such as sports writing, developing a beat, graphic design and Web reporting.

The competition was split into two categories: Class A for schools with more than 2,000 students and Class B for smaller schools. Students submitted articles in categories such as hard news, sports news, features, layout, photo and graphics. Their work was judged in advance by professionals at The News and the winners were announced Wednesday.

The journalism instructors selected their most valuable staffer. Those students were honored as well.

The ReMarker, St. Mark's school newspaper, edged competitors at Red Oak High School, Episcopal School of Dallas and Yavneh Academy to win best newspaper honors in the small school category. The ReMarker also earned this distinction in 2007.

Among the large schools, Panther Prints at Duncanville High School was judged the top newspaper. Runners-up were Mansfield, Plano Senior and Skyline high schools.

Greenhill School's Web site was judged the best among all entries, while Colleyville Heritage was named runner-up.

Also Wednesday, John O’Rourke, an assistant sports editor and coordinator of The Dallas Morning News’ high school internship program, introduced the seven students chosen for the competitive program. They are: Christina Geller, a Coppell junior; Billy Eichenholz, a St. Mark’s junior; Katelyn Smitherman, a Midlothian senior; Charles Scudder, a Colleyville Heritage senior; Trish Byron, a Lake Highlands senior; Ashley Hensley, a Duncanville senior; and Zach Endres, a Keller senior.

Results from Dallas Morning News High School Journalism Day:

Hard News-Class A

Winner: Michelle Ward (Marcus); Honorable mentions: Meredith Hillgartner (Marcus); Claire Klimko (Highland Park); Maria Ortiz, (Berkner)

Hard News-Class B

Winner: Zeena Alkurdi, (Brighter Horizons); Honorable mentions: Sam Mallick and Sharan Shetty (St. Mark’s); Jessica Park (McKinney)

Sports News Reporting-Class A

Winner: Chris Beesley (Coppell); Honorable mentions: Natalie N. Hill, Coppell; Allie Perison (Coppell); Katie Reeves (Hebron)

Sports News Reporting-Class B

Winner: Billy Eichenholz (St. Mark’s); Honorable mentions: Alex Smith and Will Weinstock (Episcopal); Ayre Zucker, (Yavneh)

Short Feature-Class A

Winner: Katelyn Smitherman (Midlothian); Honorable mentions: Jack Carney (Marcus); Lizz Rachow (Plano East); Shelby Wallace (Mansfield); Hallie Workman (Marcus)

Short Feature-Class B

Winner: Deanna Bailey (Ursuline); Honorable mentions: Billy Eichenholz (St. Mark’s); Allie Fowler (McKinney North); Trevor O’Meara (Red Oak)

Long Feature-Class A

Winners: Lauri Valerio and Alex Cheatham (Keller); Honorable mentions: Lena Price (Lewisville); Shelly Williams (Duncanville)

Long Feature-Class B

Winner: Megan Goodson (Crandall); Honorable mentions: Taylor Johnson and Stephanie Rogan (Greenhill); Sharan Shetty (St. Mark’s); Daniel Valella (St. Mark’s)

Sports Feature-Class A

Winner: Lyndsey Rodriguez (Carroll); Honorable mentions: Virginia Hawkins (Highland Park); Claire Jordan (Highland Park); Deanna Kelley (Duncanville); Colby Shelton (McKinney Boyd)

Sports Feature-Class B

Winner: Billy Eichenholz (St. Mark’s); Honorable mentions: Christy Carry (Episcopal); Cody Dunlap (St. Mark’s); Erin Goldman (Greenhill); Archit Kumar (Greenhill); Lauren Slaton (Mabank); Grace Wielebinski (Greenhill)

Editorials-Class A

Winner: Daphne Chen (Coppell); Honorable mentions: Christina Geller (Coppell); Nelly Shora (South Garland); Jennifer Wilt (Coppell)

Editorials-Class B

Winner: Franci Rooney (Episcopal); Honorable mentions: Catherine Leppert (Episcopal); Jake McAuley (St. Mark’s); Kate McPherson (Ryan)

Review-Class A

Winner: Danny Khan (Lewisville); Honorable mentions: Sean Gale (Plano East); Chris Nguyen (Coppell); Samantha Silvas (South Garland)

Review-Class B

Winner: Alec Jacobs (Greenhill); Honorable mentions: Liz Durham (Ursuline); Ashley Feinberg (Greenhill); Michael San Soucie (Yavneh)

Hard News Photo-Class A

Winner: Ashley Allen (Lewisville); Honorable mentions: Hannah Greer (Duncanville); Ashley Hensley (Duncanville)

Hard News Photo-Class B

Winner: Megan Robinson (McKinney North); Honorable mention: Mitchell Blumka (Yavneh)

Sports Photo-Class A

Winner: Laura Carroll (Marcus); Honorable mentions: Chris Green (McKinney Boyd); Dylan Jackson (Flower Mound); Nicole Silva (Marcus); Ian Velarde (Duncanville)

Sports Photo-Class B

Winner: Nick Dyslin (St. Mark’s); Honorable mentions: Audrey Ward (Red Oak); Getty Hall (St. Mark’s); Dylan Birch (St. Mark’s)

Feature Photo-Class A

Winner: Mallory Brasher (Hebron); Honorable mentions: Ashley Hensley Duncanville); Katie Milewski (Duncanville); Charles Scudder, Colleyville Heritage)

Feature Photo-Class B

Winner: Audrey Ward (Red Oak); Honorable mentions: Casey Drake (St. Mark’s); David Henry (St. Mark’s)

Headline Writing Portfolio-Class A

Winner: Jessica LaBerge (Flower Mound); Honorable mentions: Daphne Chen (Coppell); Hallie Workman (Marcus)

Headline Writing Portfolio-Class B

Winner: Daniel Valella (St. Mark’s); Honorable mentions: Sam Ames (Yavneh); Rebecca Simon (Episcopal)

Columnist Portfolio-Class A

Winner: Andy Rowell (Midlothian); Honorable mentions: Brent Johnson (South Grand Prairie); Kaylinh Ly (Central); Melissa Pan (Plano); Audrey White (Coppell)

Columnist Portfolio-Class B

Winner: Daniel Valella (St. Mark’s); Honorable mentions: Christy Carry (Episcopal); Yoon Cha (Greenhill); Jake McAuley (St. Mark’s)

Photo Portfolio-Class A

Winner: Kim Chastain (Lewisville); Honorable mentions: Ashley Allen (Lewisville); Allison Harp (Midlothian); Ashley Hensley (Duncanville)

Photo Portfolio-Class B

Winner: Tyler Tamplen (Decatur); Honorable mentions: Tyler Brackeen (Red Oak); Casey Drake (St. Mark’s)

Graphics Portfolio-Class A

Winner: Melissa Huynh (Hebron); Honorable mentions: Brenna Lavin (Lewisville); Emily Nutt (Midlothian)

Graphics Portfolio-Class B

Winner: David Fine (Yavneh); Honorable mentions: Catherine Leppert (Episcopal); Daniel Valella (St. Mark’s)

Cartoons/Illustrations-Class A

Winner: Elizabeth Ygartua (Highland Park); Honorable mentions: Zach Endres (Keller); Maxwell Tucker (DeSoto)

Cartoons/Illustrations-Class B

Winner: Sydney Sharp (Greenhill); Honorable mentions: Max Katzenstein (Greenhill); Javariah Khan (Brighter Horizons)

News Page Design Portfolio-Class A

Winner: Elizabeth Ygartua (Highland Park); Honorable mentions: Jonathan Schober (Plano East); Shelly Williams (Duncanville)

News Page Design Portfolio-Class B

Winner: Daniel Valella (St. Mark’s); Honorable mentions: Jordan Downs (Episcopal); Kathryn Weinmann (Episcopal)

Feature Page Design Portfolio-Class A

Winner: Lena Price (Lewisville); Honorable mention: Jonathan Schober (Plano East)

Feature Page Design Portfolio-Class B

Winner: David Fine (Yavneh); Honorable mentions: Amanda Fuller (Crandall); Stephanie Rogan (Greenhill)

Series or Project-Class A

Winner: Staff (Plano East); Honorable mentions: Vanessa Jenkins and Shelly Williams (Duncanville); Katie Milewski and Erica Dominguez (Duncanville); Katelyn Smitherman, Allison Harp and Emily Nutt (Midlothian)

Series or Project-Class B

Winners: Casey Leamon, Megan Goodson and Lacey Keel (Crandall); Honorable mentions: Ryan Constantine and Patrick Neligan (St. Mark’s); Jordan Elrod and Luke Erickson (Episcopal); Catherine Leppert, Elizabeth Barnes, Luisa Navarro, Annie Pechenik, Cristina Schooler and Arzu Molubhoy (Episcopal)

Most valuable staffers:

Megan Malone (Azle); Brittany Vaughn (Berkner); Jennifer Suter (Bishop Dunne Catholic); Anam Bakali (Brighter Horizons); Kassiopia Jackson (Bryan Adams); Alyssa Edson (Carroll); Laura Collins (Central); Charles Scudder (Colleyville Heritage); Chris Beesley (Coppell); Megan Goodson (Crandall); Kayla Slimp (Decatur); Chantel Martin (DeSoto); Shelly Williams (Duncanville); Miesha Smith (Faith Family Academy); Jessica LeBerge (Flower Mound); Holly Sims (Fort Worth Country Day); Sydney Sharp (Greenhill); Melissa Huynh (Hebron); Molly Brown (J.J. Pearce); Zach Endres (Keller); Garrett Schooling (L.D. Bell); Danielle Wright (Lancaster); Daniel Sanchez (Lewisville); Brooke Robertson (Life School Oak Cliff); Brittany Billington (Lincoln); Rachel Escanlar (Mabank); Sarah Nguyen (Mansfield); Gregory Uribe (Mansfield Legacy); Michelle Ward (Marcus); Molly Sexton (McKinney); Phillip Richardson (McKinney Boyd); Megan Robinson (McKinney North); Melanie Cortez (Mesquite); Katelyn Smitherman (Midlothian); Andrea Piamonte (Newman Smith); Amy Pham (North Garland); Lauren Crawford (Northwest); Amberley Romo (Parish Episcopal); Jonathan Schober (Plano East); Melissa Pan (Plano); Lindsey Allen (Ponder); Alex Harris (Poteet); Zach Toombs (Red Oak); Candice Lindsey (Richland); Ryan Garrett (Rockwall); Jennifer Bates (Ryan); Casey Parvin (Sachse); Natali Vega (Sam Houston); Isaac Villafana (Skyline); Nelly Shora (South Garland); Melissa Ayala (South Grand Prairie); Anita Filuk (Thomas Jefferson); Jenny Goertz (Trinity); Deanna Bailey (Ursuline); Samuel Ames (Yavneh).