MIPA stands for Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. Senior and Update editor in chief, Megan Pisarczyk explains the process of MIPA.

“The yearbook and Update staff submit work from the yearbook and the paper to get judged on a state wide level,” Pisarcyzk said. “Every year in the winter we go through the paper from the previous year through what we made at the beginning of the year,  like the stories we’ve written and designs we’ve come up with and then we choose which ones fit in the categories best and then we submit them and try and win awards for them.”

DHS journalists headed to the state capital of Lansing, Mich. on April, 21 to see what work won awards. The two publications won 64 awards combined, making it one of the biggest years yet.

“This is some of the most we’ve had over the past few years that I’ve been here at least. So it was really exciting to see so many people get that recognition for the work they’re doing,” Pisarczyk said.

Last year in 2015 The Update won The Spartan award, which is an evaluation of the entire paper as a whole. The highest award is The Spartan Award, below that is Gold, followed by Silver, and then Bronze.

“They recognize the best overall papers and books based on a variety of criteria,” Pisarcyzk said. “This includes writing, design, photography, caption writing, and every element that that comes together to make an issue of the paper.”

This year the Update got a Gold Award but sent their paper back in to get reevaluated to try and win the Spartan Award.

Pisarczyk says that MIPA is very important to the DHS publications.

“It allows us to compare ourselves to other papers around the state,” Pisarcyzk said. “Its important as a school that our paper is a representative of what other high schools are doing and we want to stay up to date with what we are producing.”

To learn more about MIPA click here

By: Delaney Strouse