Congratulations to the Blue Print staff for being awarded Best Website in class B, schools with fewer than 2000 students, by the Dallas Morning News Journalism Day judges.

Five staff members went to Southern Methodist University for a day of seminars and announcement of journalism winners.

“Sitting in the auditorium was anticlimactic until Blue Print came across the screen as best website,” Editor in Chief DJ Brennan said. “It was a groundbreaking experience for the staff.”

The students: Brennan, Caitlyn Bogart, Abbey Reynolds, Laine Griffey and Ana Meraz, joined Adviser Casi Thedford for the trip.

“I thought I wasn’t going to learn very much, but I learned a lot about social media and how that ties into professionalism with journalism,” Reynolds said. “It was a great opportunity to bring the staff closer together.”

Griffey was also up for an award for “Sports Reporting.”

“I was really excited and looking forward to having the chance to receive an award,” Griffey said. “I ended up being a runner up, so it was an interesting day.”

The seminars varied from using media in an online world to how to conduct the perfect interview to getting  stories online on a short deadline.

“In only a short time period, we’ve been able to jumpstart an entire website completely based on the student body,” Brennan said. “Not only is that an accomplishment in itself, but it shows a bright light for the future of our paper and our staff.”