By Ilhan Raage
Editor-in-Chief
BLOOMINGTON ó The Echo student newspaper won five awards in the Minnesota Newspaper Associationís Better Newspaper Contest award ceremony on Jan. 24 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.
The Echo finished first place in General Excellence, a significant achievement because it competes against student newspaper from four-year universities throughout Minnesota. It was the first time for a community college newspaper to place first in the MNA awards since The Echo did it in 2012.
Lydia Hansen, the editor-in-chief during the 2017-2018 school year, placed in three individual categories, while former Editor-in-Chief Angelina Labonne placed second in column writing.
ìThis is our Super Bowl, and Lydia Hansen is our Tom Brady,î said Echo faculty adviser Dwight Boyum. ìLydia led by example and mentored our staff to do their very best.î
Hansen placed second for business writing for a profile of an on-campus dental clinic, third in sports feature writing about an RCTC soccer player who is an activist against domestic violence, and third in column writing.
ìThis practical, talented writer has a great communications career waiting for her,î judges wrote.
Angelina Labonne, who served as editor-in-chief during the 2016-2017 school year, placed second for a column about how grieved the loss of her mother.
ìAngelina Labonne doesnít take any day for granted,î the judges wrote. ìForegoing self-pity, she describes how she spent six months caring for her terminally ill mom, a relatively young woman who accepted the cards she was dealt. It taught Labonne invaluable life lessons.î
This is the third consecutive year that The Echo placed in general excellence in the MNA contest. It placed second in 2018 and third in 2017. This year, it took home first place.