Awards and Grants

In addition to providing scholarship opportunities for students, GSSPA offers recognition and growth opportunities for schools and advisers.

Since 2008, GSSPA has offered mini-grants of up to $500 for journalism programs that want to embark on special projects in their communities. That year’s recipient was Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, whose editors helped create a paper at a local middle school. Fanscotian Editor Michelle Conway explains:

Receiving the GSSPA mini-grant allowed me and two of my fellow editors to complete a project we had wanted to get off the ground for a long time, but, more importantly, it allowed a very enthusiastic, energetic group of middle schoolers to make their own professionally printed newspaper for the first time. With the grant, we went from helping the students edit their articles and brainstorm their story topics to helping them write headlines for their newsprint, tabloid-sized publication! Not only was the group of budding journalists amazed by their end product, but their entire middle school as well.

Details and ideas are listed on our application form, available here.

GSSPA provides two other recognitions: the Golden Quill, which is presented to individuals whose efforts have bettered scholastic journalism in the state, and more recently the Friend of Scholastic Journalism Award, which seeks to recognize non-instructional personnel who make a difference for scholastic journalism students.