Journalism Program Earns National Acclaim

The St. Mark’s journalism program earned national distinction at the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Conference in Nashville. Students returned to Dallas with top awards in the publication and individual categories after a weekend that drew more than 5,100 student journalists from across the country. 

Twenty Marksmen attended the conference along with adviser Jenny Dial Creech and Associate Director of College Counseling Josh Shandera.

In NSPA’s most prestigious competition, both The ReMarker newspaper and Focus magazine were named Pacemaker Award winners, placing St. Mark’s among the top student publications in the United States. Only a handful of publications earn this recognition annually, and St. Mark’s was the only school in Texas to receive the honor.  

Additionally, last year’s ReMarker editor-in-chief Hilton Sampson ’25 was named Designer of the Year—NSPA’s highest recognition for design work. The March 2025 ReMarker cover story, Women Among Boys, placed third in Story of the Year, and the February 2025 cover, Sculpting Perfection, earned second place in Design of the Year. In on-site competitions, the October 2025 issue placed third in Best in Show, while smremarker.com ranked tenth among student news websites. 

Current Editor-in-Chief Christian Warner ’26 and Enterprise Editor Doan Nguyen ’26 represented St. Mark’s as speakers at multiple sessions, including a panel on leadership and one on the process of managing complex publication cycles. In another session, Jenny Dial Creech joined Christian and Doan to share how the staff handles production of The ReMarker. 

“I’m extremely proud of the Marksmen on our publications staff,” Creech said. “I’m so impressed with the way they juggle their responsibilities—classes, sports, other clubs—while producing high-quality, meaningful work. We appreciate the recognition from NSPA, and we’re grateful for opportunities like this trip where students meet peers from around the country, learn from industry experts, and grow together as a team.”