The Centurion, the student run newspaper of Bucks County Community College, is at it again with its impressive Division III 2025 Sweepstakes win at the Keystone Media Contest. The sweepstakes award is for the school newspaper that wins the most awards in its division.
These awards reflect the work that was done during the spring and fall semesters of the 2024 school year.
The Centurion won 16 awards in categories that ranged from Ongoing News Coverage of the 2024 elections, a feature story on the solar eclipse, and a movie review of DreamWorks’ “Wild Robot.”
The Student Keystone Media Awards are administered by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. The contest recognizes the work of high school and college journalists. The Centurion competes in Division III for two-year colleges and since 2010 The Centurion staff have won roughly 200 awards.
Here is the full list of the 2025 Sweepstakes Award Winners: Division I – University of Pennsylvania, The Daily Pennsylvanian. Division II – Delaware Valley University, The Full 160. Division III – Bucks County Community College, The Centurion. Division IV Conestoga High School, The Spoke.
The awards will be presented during a luncheon on Thursday, April 3 in Harrisburg at WITF’s Public Media Center. During this time students will tour WITF’s building, have an Ask Me Anything session with professional journalists and attend the award ceremony. WITF is central Pennsylvania’s leading public media organization.
The Centurion is a student-led organization comprised of diverse teams of editors, graphic designers, and photographers, all working together to bring the publication to life. Students dedicate their time during and after school hours to bring the newspaper to all three Bucks campuses every two weeks.
With the help of her staff, current editor in chief, Journalism student Kassandra Castillo, dedicates her time to write and edit an extensive array of stories. Last semester Castillo covered events ranging from the college celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month to the death of Liam Payne.
Castillo’s’ favorite piece was a story she did about a group of Tibetan monks who visited the Newtown campus. In her article she wrote, “This Tibetan Monk event was a way for them to represent their monastery through forms of expression such as art, and prayer. The monks showcased the creation of a beautiful mandala made with sand and even had handmade goods for sale.”
Castillo said she “learned a lot about Tibetan culture.” And she even was able to do a full photo spread of the monk at work from the shots she captured over the four-day event. She said, “it was a very involved piece” that she is proud of putting together.
Her Tibetan Monk piece, Tibetan Monks Bring Interfaith World Peace Mandala, won first place in both the Feature Photo and Photo Story categories.
Since becoming the Editor in Chief, Castillo’s biggest goal for the paper has been “trying to get students more involved in reading the paper or at least picking it up.” The staff have worked toward this goal by adding more photo spreads, an interactive Valentine’s Day note booth, and a Saint Patrick’s Day crossword puzzle.
Castillo says she “would encourage students to join The Centurion because we need to keep news relevant.” She added, “Printed news is important because it offers a community engagement aspect that digital formatting cannot compare to.”
Tony Rogers, the college’s journalism professor and faculty advisor to the Centurion, said, “I couldn’t be more proud of my students. Even after 27 years as a professor here, I’m still amazed by their seemingly boundless energy, creativity and dedication.”
The Centurion Newspaper is always seeking students to join its staff. If you’re interested in becoming part of the student-run newspaper, check out the weekly staff meetings held every Thursday at 12:30p.m. in Rollins 127.
The Centurion website is located at www.bucks-news.com and on Instagram @ centurion_bucks.
For more information or to join the club contact [email protected] or [email protected]
List of the awards won by The Centurion:
First Place Ongoing News Coverage
Election 2024
Anna Sztenderowicz, Kassandra Castillo, Raeanne Raccagno, Christian Grosso, & Jordan Evans
Second Place Ongoing News Coverage
Bucks Searches For New President
Anna Sztenderowicz & Christian Grosso
First Place Public Service/Enterprise Package
Election 2024
Anna Sztenderowicz, Kassandra Castillo, Raeanne Raccagno & Christian Grosso
Second Place Public Service/Enterprise Package
Special Report: Working Students
Raeanne Raccagno, Daulton Parry, Christian Grosso, Jesse Fischer & Cristopher Ramirez
First Place Feature Story
Solar Eclipse Dazzles the Sky Across America
Christian Grosso
Honorable Mention Feature Story
Welcoming President Jones to Bucks
Anna Sztenderowicz
First Place Personality Profile
Music Teacher Jazzes Up His Classes
Raeanne Raccagno
Second Place Personality Profile
Khush Patel Thrives Under Pressure
Cristopher Ramirez
Honorable Mention Personality Profile
Professor Rackin Keeps Busy with Writing, Readings & Teaching
Jesse Fischer
First Place Review
DreamWorks’ ‘The Wild Robot’ Has the Makings of an Animated Classic
Cristopher Ramirez
First Place Cartoon/Graphic Illustration
Dog Life by Connor Sturza
First Place Feature Photo
Tibetan Monks Bring Interfaith World Peace Mandala
Kassandra Castillo
First Place Photo Story
Tibetan Monks Visit Bucks
Kassandra Castillo
First Place Layout and Design
The Centurion Vol 59 issue 6 layout
Raeanne Raccagno & Arianna Keith
First Place Website
https://www.bucks-news.com/
Christian Grosso, Madison Kifolo & Raeanne Raccagno
First Place Video Story
Discovering the Hidden Underground History of Tyler Hall
Raeanne Raccagno