Corsair staff wins 14 awards at Florida College System conference

Corsair staffers Tracey Squaire and Jennifer Tonnaer only wanted to document the devastation of a tornado that hit Century on Feb. 15.
The two never imagined their story about the damage an EF-3 tornado inflicted on the north Escambia County hamlet would garner them statewide recognition.
Squaire, now editor of the Corsair, and Tonnaer, a former Pensacola State student who is now at the University of West Florida, won first place for In-depth Reporting at the 57th annual Awards Conference of the Florida College System Publications Association for the story.
Squaire and Tonnaer were among nine Corsair staffers to win individual awards at the conference held Oct. 12-15 in Orlando. And the award was only one of five first-place wins for the Corsair which also received a slew of other accolades including a second place in the General Excellence category.
“We didn’t write the story to win an award. Jennifer and I knew it was important to cover the tornado – especially since Pensacola State has a campus there and one of our student’s home was destroyed by the storm,” recalled Squaire.
“Dr. (Paula) Ingram drove us up there the day after the tornado and we spent about five or six hours interviewing the residents there and taking pictures of the devastation. When we got back we had to write the story on deadline so we could get it in the March edition.”
The Corsair won additional awards in the following categories:
● First Place Arts Review: Gary Bogers
● First Place Sports Writing: Corsair Staff
● First Place Sports Column: Jamir Sellers
● First Place Editorial Cartoon: Katherine Chen
● Second Place On the Spot Photo Contest: Bara’ah Jaraiseh
● Second Place Ad Design: Nicole Durst
● Second Place Newspaper Design: Bara’ah Jaraiseh
● Second Place Sports Photo: Monica Wilson
● Second Place Illustration: Katherine Chen
● Third Place Editorial: Kimberly Bogers
● Third Place Feature Photo: Monica Wilson
● Third Place Photo Story: Kimberly Bogers and Bara’ah Jaraiseh
“It was so exciting to see all of the Corsair staff recognized at the state level for their hard work. Tracey and Jennifer put a lot of work into the story on the Century tornado and to see them recognized for that effort at the state level is wonderful,” said Ingram, the Corsair’s adviser. “I’m thrilled with how well we did at state. This really makes us want to work even harder and do more great work.”
The Kilgore Review literary magazine also won several awards:
● First Place Fiction: Matt Daniel
● First Place 2-Page Spread
● Second Place Individual Photo: Christopher Mills
Squaire, who wants to eventually become an editor for a publishing company and write novels, said working on the Century tornado story and as Corsair editor has taught her the value of teamwork.
“Teamwork is everything. I couldn’t have written that story without Jennifer and Dr. Ingram’s help. In fact, the Corsair staff could not be what it is today without all of us working together to put out the best newspaper that we can each month,” she added.