Roundtop yearbook team captures state championship

The Bobcat Roundtop yearbook captured the Golden Pony and All-State Honors with a first place champion ranking in 1A/2A at the 2022 Wyoming Student Media Association (WYSMA) Convention held at the University of Wyoming. The Bobcats won these honors with last year's book, which was published through Jostens with the theme - Caution: Organized Chaos. 

This was the first state convention and competition held by WYSMA in three years.  Over 200 students and 13 schools attended the convention and even more schools entered the competition. "The convention content was put together and run by WYSMA and the University of Wyoming Communications Department," said Yearbook Sponsor and Secretary of the WYSMA Board, Lyle Wiley. "UW did a fabulous job of providing educational workshops and keynote speakers for our journalism students," added Wiley. 

"This was my first high school state championship award, so it was really exciting to hear our names get called as State Champions," said Sophomore Jordan Christian.  Christian had the opportunity to run to the front room to pick up the trophy for the team.  "Picking up that trophy," said Christian, "after all of our hard work made it really feel like we'd all accomplished something great." 

Sophomore Maddison Andreen who is on the Bobcat Yearbook team for the second year said, "Seeing our hard work pay off is so rewarding, and I'm really proud of everyone who worked so hard last year." 

Wiley expressed pride in the work of his Bobcat Yearbook staff. "These students work hard juggling a number of important skills to produce a quality book for our community.  They take photos, design pages, interview others, write stories, and do it all on a printing deadline," said Wiley.   

Individual Bobcats were also honored with All-State honors and awards for their outstanding work in Journalism.  Senior Karina Lea received a Golden Pony, first place, and All-State Honors for Yearbook Design. Sophomore Zoey Larson received a Silver Pony, first place, and All-State Honors for Journalism Writing. Sophomore Tymber Eckley received a Golden Pony, second place, and All-State Honors for Yearbook Design. 

Tymber Eckley said of her experience, "Being a part of our yearbook team and all of our success has been such a fun experience. We definitely need to give credit to Mr. Wiley.  He's an incredible teacher that is truly dedicated to his work.  It is rewarding to experience working with such an amazing team."